April 6, 2017

The

Minnesota State University Mankato

www.msureporter.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

MSSA party elections soon approaching President and Vice President positions running uncontested.

LUKE LARSON Staff Writer The student senate election is fast approaching and campaigning is in full swing. All MNSU students can vote for MSSA President, Vice President, and senators this Tuesday, April 11 at mnsu.edu/voting. This year’s

candidates for President and Vice President have provided the Reporter with some insight into who they are and what they envision for the future of MSSA.

Abdulrahmane Abdul-Aziz and Kayla Cremers–both acting senators–are running uncontested on the Mavericks Empowering Mavericks party ticket.

Abdul-Aziz and Cremers declined to answer questions by the deadline the Reporter sent.

Candidates for MSSA positions as of Wednesday,

April 5, 2017 are as provided by MSSA Election Commission Chair Connor Martin and can be seen in the graphic presented at the bottom of page 2.

Letter to the Editor: Aaron Eberhart uncovers MSSA election corruption MSU Student Body, I am Aaron Eberhart-you may have seen my posters around campus and the Facebook page online featuring the rest of the ‘Accountability Party’ along with our platform.

In mid-January, I began to seriously consider a run for President of MSSA (our student government on campus). The reason I decided to pursue this was not for myself, but because I complained about what I saw, and instead of just sitting on the sideline, I felt an obligation to do what I believe is right and fix and improve things on our campus. With the political connections I have made and my personal experiences, I believed I could do a fine job leading the student body of MSU to new heights by lessening the burden on individual students by slashing student fees while also building our brand to reintroduce our University as a hidden gem in the Midwest.

When meeting with VP of Student Affairs David Jones about another topic in

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early February, I concluded the meeting by asking him where I could find updated election rules, because the most current ones posted for public consumption on the MSU website were from 2014-2015 (this has been confirmed by multiple people including John Bulcock, MSSA Advisor). I was referred to the MSSA office where I was deflected away and told that the 2017-2018 rules were not ready yet. After patiently waiting and checking the website frequently over the next month, I reached out to VP Jones again during spring break, and only at that time were the rules posted for anyone to see.

The rules were posted (as confirmed by Mr. Bulcock) on March 2nd, 2017, after being approved the previous day. These rules had massive changes from the rules I was abiding by on the website.

The rules were put into effect retroactively. This means that people who had the 2016-2017 rules, which the public did not have, received a two month and one-day head start on everyone else.

I will mention that with all

incumbent senators on the same ticket, one party of the two parties had these rules ahead of time from last year, and I can confirm the “Accountability Party” had no incumbents on the ticket.

This shocked me because with this being a country of free and fair elections, I thought that a publicly funded university would comply with the rest of America. After more research, I found out I was wrong; there were multiple instances by different people and bodies on campus that did not follow their responsibilities which make this election in my eyes, as well as many others, an illegitimate election.

There were many examples of the rules either being discriminatory or the rules not being followed. Students are mandated to know and be accompanied by a member of the residence hall to be on the floor they each live on.

This rule limits campaigning by someone’s living situation which is discriminatory. Rules for campaigning for local, state, and federal elections are more relaxed when the candidates aren’t even a part

of our student body. Other violations, besides hiding the rules from students who are interested in running, come from Article III of the MSSA Spring Election Rules dated 2/27/17.

“1.

The Elections Commission shall distribute posters advertising upcoming elections and candidacy filing procedures.” This was not done, and that is the fault of the Elections Commission, appointed late in the process

by MSSA President Faical Rayani.

2.

“The Elections Commission shall work with the Office of Student Affairs to distribute an all-student email advertising upcoming elections and candidacy filing procedures.” This is the fault of the Elections Commission and the Office of Student Affairs for not giving you and every other student a fair shot in the election.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, this was never about me from the start. After seeing how poorly the administration and MSSA handled the upcoming election, I made the decision on Tuesday of this week to

The lasting power of the written word

Aida a story about an ancient love triangle

MNSU’s eight-game winning streak snapped

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inform the MSSA Elections Commission that I would be rescinding my candidacy and immediately be suspending my campaign for President of MSSA. I did this because I believe all students have the same right to participate in these elections and those rights were violated.

I refuse to be a part of an illegitimate election. I will make a commitment to all of those who supported me during my campaign, that I will hold the people who decided it was okay to step over the students (the same ones who pay their salaries) accountable at each step of the process. This battle for students’ rights is much larger than any one of us, and we must stay vigilant.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about your individual rights, and I encourage you to stand up for what you believe is right.

We need your voice to be heard.

Respec t fully, Aaron Eberhart.

Have a story idea or a comment?

EMAIL

News Editor Nicole Schmidt nicole.schmidt-3@mnsu.edu

2 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Police object to California marijuana regulation revamp LOS ANGELES (AP) — California law enforcement officials objected Wednesday to Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed streamlining of the state’s marijuana regulations, saying his plan could endanger public safety.

Brown’s administration released documents late Tuesday outlining proposed changes to square the state’s new recreational pot law with its longstanding law on medical marijuana.

But the California Police Chiefs Association representing all of the state’s municipal police forces said the governor’s proposal could turn traditionally small marijuana businesses into much larger ones controlling the entire supply chain from growing operations to retail sales.

The proposed legislation to allow single businesses to hold multiple licenses to grow, distribute, manufacture and sell retail marijuana would be an opening for criminals to consolidate the booming industry, said association Ken Corney.

“The proposal favors big marijuana grows over the

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Photo courtesy of The Associated Press welfare of our communities,” Corney said.

The state’s two laws took different approaches in many areas — including whether one entity could hold multiple licenses to grow, manufacture, distribute and sell in retail stores.

The governor is seeking to “harmonize” those regulations. The proposal needs legislative approval.

Medical marijuana

providers are currently prohibited from holding both licenses but Brown proposes to lift that restriction after it becomes legal to sell recreational pot in California on Jan. 1.

The head of California’s newly established marijuana agency defended the governor’s proposal.

“This proposed legislation helps build an effective statewide regulatory system

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for cannabis to achieve our goals of protecting public safety with clear and consistent rules that are not overly burdensome,” said Lori Ajax, head of the Bureau of Cannabis Medical Regulation.

She added: “It harmonizes the many elements of the two main statutes governing medicinal and adult-use cannabis, while preserving the integrity and separation of those industries.”

The police chiefs and other law enforcement agencies suppor ted legislative passage of medical marijuana rules last year but opposed Proposition 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana after voters approved it in November.

The administration of Brown, a Democrat, has stressed that one regulatory framework is needed to avoid duplicating costs and confusing businesses in a marijuana economy expected to grow to $7 billion in annual sales annually after recreational sales become legal in California next year.

Hezekiah Allen, head of the California Growers Association, also said his organization has concerns with the elimination of the multiple licenses prohibition.

“It could lead to megamanufactures and megachain stores,” Allen said.

Allen said his organization is urging the governor to adopt a regulation that would temporarily ban a single business from owning more than three retail stores and having a farm larger than four acres (1.6 hectares), which Allen said may help to keep out big corporations.

Representatives of the Los Angeles Cannabis Task Force, comprised of Southern California marijuana businesses, said they’re still reviewing the plan.

“This takes us another step closer to a uniform industry and puts this state in a position to set the national standard,” Avis Bulbulyan, president of the group, said in an email.

California joined a growing number of states in legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults.

The regulations and rules governing the emerging legal market will cover issues ranging from where and how plants can be grown to guidelines on tracking marijuana buds from the fields to retail stores.

People 21 and over are allowed to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow six marijuana plants at home.

Those changes must be approved by the state Legislature.

Earlier this year, Brown proposed spending more than $50 million to establish programs to collect taxes and issue licenses while hiring dozens of workers to regulate the industry.

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MSU Reporter • 3

News

High court may re-examine Civil Rights Act after LGBT ruling CHICAGO (AP) — A ruling by a U.S. appeals court in Chicago reopens the question of whether the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s protections apply to LGBT workers in the same way they bar discrimination based on someone’s race, religion or national origin.

The immediate impact of the 7th Circuit’s decision Tuesday is that employers in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin — the states under the court’s jurisdiction — would be breaking federal law by showing bias against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees.

But because the ruling conflicts with all the others made by federal appellate courts since the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately have to decide whether to uphold the Chicago ruling as national precedent or strike it down as judicial overreach.

Here’s a look on how that might happen on a court currently operating with eight justices pending the Senate confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee, Neil Gorsuch: THE RULING Eleven 7th Circuit judges heard arguments in November in a lawsuit by an Indiana teacher, Kimberly Hively, who alleged that Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend didn’t hire her full time because she is a lesbian.

After deliberating for four months, the court ruled decisively — 8 to 3 — that the 53-year-old law most closely associated with prohibitions on racial discrimination also barred discrimination against LGBT workers.

In the past four decades, nine other federal appellate courts nationwide heard similar cases and invariably reached conclusions opposite to the Chicago-based court.

CORE ARGUMENTS The issue largely hinges on one word in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act: “Sex.” That’s the relevant section outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin or sex.

Previous decisions concluded lawmakers in 1964 clearly intended for “sex” to refer only to whether someone was male or female.

But the 7th Circuit found the word “sex” can just as well mean “sexual orientation.”

In an opinion concurring with the majority, Judge Richard Posner wrote that changing norms call for a change in interpretation.

“We understand the words

of Title VII differently, not because we’re smarter than the statute’s framers and ratifiers but because we live in a different era, a different culture,” Posner wrote.

ROAD TO THE HIGH COURT The Supreme Court typically agrees to take up an issue when it sees judicial discord between the nation’s 13 U.S. circuit courts.

Now that the 7th Circuit’s interpretation of the Civil Rights Act stands alone, the odds improve that the Supreme Court will take it on one day.

The more immediate ripple effect of the 7th Circuit ruling will be on other U.S. courts of appeal, explained Greg Nevins, of Lambda Legal, which brought the case on behalf of the Indiana teacher.

When similar cases come before them, they’ll have to account for findings of the 7th Circuit, which Nevins said is well-respected for the intellectual rigor of its judges and so has tremendous influence on other courts.

“Courts elsewhere can’t just sit back and rely on rulings over 15 or 20 years as being the last word,” he said.

While the 7th Circuit is forcing a reexamination of the law and will likely influence other courts, the Hively case will likely not be the one that goes before the high court. Ivy Tech, which denies ever discriminating against Hively, has indicated since Tuesday that it doesn’t intend to appeal to the Supreme Court.

THE GORSUCH FACTOR The nation’s highest court has tended to split between liberals and conservatives on the hot-button social issues.

That’s frequently left the deciding vote to moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy, including when he cast the decisive vote in a 2015 ruling that gave same-sex couples the right under federal law to marry.

It’s likely that by the time any such case makes it to the high court, Neil Gorsuch — Trump’s nominee to fill a vacancy on the nine-member court left by Antonin Scalia’s 2016 death — will have taken his seat.

A Supreme Court with Gorsuch on the bench would mean five justices appointed

by Republican presidents and four by Democrats, though the 7th Circuit’s ruling demonstrates that who makes the appointments isn’t always a reliable indication of how judges vote. Out of the eight appellate judges who agreed the Civil Rights Act

should incorporate bias against LGBT workers, five were Republican.

Gorsuch’s judicial philosophy of focusing on the original texts to resolve conflicts over the law suggests he’d sympathize with the views of the three dissenting 7th Circuit judges. The dissenting opinion accused the majority of making law, not interpreting it, adding: “Legislative change is arduous and can be slow to come. But we’re not authorized to amend Title VII by interpretation.”

That strongly echoes pronouncements by Gorsuch. He wrote in a 2015 opinion that there was always a remedy if existing law is unclear: “It’s called legislation. ... Admittedly, the legislative process can be an arduous one.

But that’s no bug in the constitutional design: It is the very point of the design.”

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press This Sept. 30, 2015 photo provided by Lambda Legal shows Kimberly Hively at the federal courthouse in Chicago. A federal appeals court ruled for the first time Tuesday, April 4, 2017, that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBT employees from workplace discrimination, setting up a likely battle before the Supreme Court as gay rights advocates push to broaden the scope of the 53-year-old law.

The case stems from a lawsuit by Indiana teacher Hively alleging that the Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend didn’t hire her full time because she is a lesbian.

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4 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, April 6, 2017 EMAIL THE EMAIL THE EDITOR CHIEF: EDITOR IN IN CHIEF:

The lasting power of the written word Opinion

RAE MATTHEW FRAME EBERLINE alyssa.frame

matthew.eberline @mnsu.edu @mnsu.edu OR AT reporter-editor OR AT @mnsu.edu reporter-editor@mnsu.edu

RACHAEL JAEGER Staff Writer Most students—myself included—sometimes find that they cannot set their phones aside for even an hour to concentrate on what they should. While we tend to complain about the lack of value we have in friendships, looking first at ourselves to see how we might be adding to the problem can be the best option.

From the outside looking in, the issue boils down to an apparently simple, yet complex problem— smartphone use.

Most people tend to use their smartphones in the course of their busy lives to schedule reminders or to plan the free time we do have with our friends. But throughout all this, the art of quality communication has been lost.

I have worked toward overcoming the problem in my own life by turning back to the written word.

In Jan. 2016, I resolved to limit my activity on Facebook and other social media, instead keeping in touch through the old-fashioned route—not necessarily the pony express, but through the mail.

The fact that half my friends live across the country also gave me an excuse to

SPRING FALL 2015 2017 EDITOR IN IN CHIEF: CHIEF: EDITOR Matthew Eberline..................389-5454 Rae Frame.............................389-5454 NEWS EDITOR: NEWS EDITOR: Nicole Schmidt......................389-5450 Nicole Schmidt.......................389-5450 SPORTS EDITOR: SPORTS EDITOR: Tommy Wiita. .......................................

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(CC BY 2.0) by Alexander Savin indulge my creativity outside of technology. Not only does writing letters allow you to choose from a wide variety of stationery but receiving something in the mail other than bills and junk is such a surprise.

The act of letter writing also forces you to give someone your full focus when you are unable to visit them face to face. It provides an opportunity to discipline yourself to sit down, center your thoughts, and keep writing until you are finished.

Getting to choose stationery based on your friend’s personality and knowing it will bring a smile to their face is also what makes it special to write to someone. I do not buy my stationery from Barnes &

Pulse

Noble, but instead I invest in artists’ work to help support their careers. I admire their paintings, but since I lack the money right now to support them that way, I make a point of using whatever cards they have.

Sometimes I will go out of my way to the St. Peter Co-op down the road in order to snag some beautiful landscapes and animal portraits made by Malia Wiley, who lives in Crystal Lake.

In case anyone gets the wrong impression, I don’t feel like I have to write to every single friend I have. I start with a couple of friends I have gone a few years without talking to, which gives both of us plenty to catch up on.

A person cannot

completely avoid change, however—and not just with technology. I have realized this, especially the older I get, as friends become occupied with their careers, families, or other commitments in life.

So even though sometimes our communication lasts only a couple of letters, I know that I was still able to get a glimpse into the life they now lead and find out how they are doing.

I am grateful for having gotten reacquainted with my friends throughout the year, even if it is only through a letter every other month.

I have also learned the meaning of true friendships, that despite the fact that a friend may face challenges of their own, they will still make time for me.

“How do you feel about talking on the phone?”

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“I prefer it. I’d rather talk than text.

It’s more personal.”

“I’m not sure if people are listening to me.”

“It depends on the person.”

“I hate it. When I get nervous I stutter, and I feel like they judge how you talk.”

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POLICIES & INFO • If you have a complaint, suggestion or would or would likelike to point to point outout an an error error made made in the in the Reporter, Reporter, callcall Editor Editor in Chief in Chief Matthew Rae Eberline Frame atat 507-389-5454.

507-389-5454.

The The Reporter Reporter will will correct correct any any errors errors of fact of fact or misspelled 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 student-run 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 507-389-1776.

Subscriptions for the academic school year are $55.00 and subscribers will receive the paper within three to five days after publishing.

• 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.

THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE MSU REPORTER ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OR STUDENT BODY.

Compiled by Nicole Schmidt

ALLISON BERNDT GENDER & WOMENS STUDIES AND SOCIAL WORK “It depends if it’s a stranger or not.”

Thursday, April 6, 2017

MSU Reporter • 5

News

Raiders’ move to Vegas shows ugly truth Opinion COLTON MOLESKY Staff Writer The Oakland Raiders are officially moving to Las Vegas, showcasing yet another perfect example of greed in sports—and particularly the NFL. Constructing the new stadium in Vegas is projected to cost $1.9 billion. Taxpayers, regardless of whether or not they live in Nevada, will be shelling out $750 million to pay for the Raiders’ new home, complete with retractable roof and stateof-the-art facilities. And just like that, we were signed up

to foot the massive bill— without a say or a vote—by officials that most of us never elected.

The reason why this is even happening is that the city of Oakland is unwilling to build a new stadium for the Raiders, just like how the Chargers moved to Los Angeles because of the city of San Diego being unwilling to build them a new stadium.

These cities are virtually held hostage by billionaire team owners who are part of multi-billion dollar leagues.

For some reason, the majority of the costs of building these monstrous stadiums ends up with the state while the majority of its generated revenue goes to the owner and the league.

“Constructing the new stadium in Vegas is projected to cost $1.9 billion.”

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press This is a huge problem that has really shown itself in the last two years with the movement of three NFL teams and the start of a new hockey team, also in Vegas.

The commissioners of each league need to take a hard look at how they do business with the cities they live in.

If they truly care about the

fans and their communities like they claim to, they would change the way they conduct contract talks with the city.

Shouldering more of the load for the stadiums would not only be a great look, it would also open up more markets that cannot pay for a stadium.

While property taxes and bringing in new customers

for restaurants and hotels is something that comes with the team, it reaches nowhere near the cost of building a stadium. The NFL finally showed their true colors, and it was all green.

6 • MSU Reporter

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MSU Reporter • 7

News

Will Bill O’Reilly survive advertiser defections?

NEW YORK (AP) — The rapid defection of advertisers this week from Bill O’Reilly’s show because of sexual harassment allegations raises what once seemed an unthinkable question: Can O’Reilly survive at Fox News Channel?

In just the few days since The New York Times reported that Fox News’ most popular prime-time host and his employer have paid $13 million to five women to settle allegations he mistreated them, some 20 advertisers have said they don’t want their products associated with O’Reilly’s show, drugmaker Eli Lily and Coldwell Banker among the latest. Others include Mercedes-Benz, Bayer and Allstate.

The companies appeared to be acting on their own, to the surprise of advocacy groups that usually orchestrate such campaigns.

“This is a surprisingly

Fox has many factors to weigh. O’Reilly has long been its most lucrative personality.

His show generated $178 million in advertising revenue in 2015, according to Kantar Media. His audience was larger in the first three months of this year than it has ever been, according to Nielsen.

It is also largely because of O’Reilly that Fox News is the most popular network in all of cable TV and can thereby extract higher rates from cable companies to carry it.

Ending O’Reilly’s show without evidence his appeal is dwindling carries a risk: It could ignite a backlash among fans.

“When your favorite show leaves a network, you don’t watch the network very much anymore,” said Jonathan Klein, former CNN president.

It’s essentially up to Rupert Murdoch and his sons to decide when or if O’Reilly has become a liability. The

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press the Times on Wednesday.

“Personally I think he shouldn’t have settled,” Trump said. “Because you

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010, file photo, the Allstate logo is displayed at an insurance office, in Omaha, Neb. Bill O’Reilly’s top-rated Fox News show may be starting to feel a financial sting after allegations that he sexually harassed several women. Allstate announced Tuesday, April 4, 2017, they are joining the other advertisers that are pulling their ads from “The O’Reilly Factor.” quick and strong exodus of advertisers,” said Jane Hall, a professor at American University’s School of Communication and a former Fox media analyst.

The key will be whether the advertisers that backed out will stand their ground.

It’s not uncommon for a company to abandon a show at the first sign of controversy, then slip back a few weeks later when things quiet down.

Some of the companies that abandoned O’Reilly issued strongly worded statements that may be hard to explain if they return, said Angelo Carusone, president of the liberal watchdog Media Matters.

Fox parent 21st Century

Murdochs aren’t afraid to act quickly and without sentimentality: Gretchen Carlson filed her sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes on July 6, and he was out of a job by July 21.

One sign in O’Reilly’s favor: The Wall Street Journal reported that Fox renewed his contract, which was due to expire at the end of the year, while fully aware of the accusations, which stretch back more than a decade.

On Wednesday, the pugnacious conservative received the endorsement of Fox’s most highly placed fan, President Donald Trump, who called O’Reilly “a good person” in an interview with

should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”

O’Reilly hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing and said he settled for the sake of his family.

Adver tising boycotts have succeeded in the past. Glenn Beck was essentially forced out at Fox when his advertising dried up following a sustained campaign against him that eventually enlisted some 200 companies, said Rashad Robinson, executive director of the liberal advocacy group Color of Change.

But similar efforts to force Rush Limbaugh off the radio haven’t worked. Robinson said an advertising boycott was more difficult to organize

against Limbaugh because he receives more support from local companies in individual markets.

“This is about money,” Robinson said. “Bill O’Reilly will stay on the air as long as he is making money.”

A danger for O’Reilly is if he becomes symbolic of a toxic workplace culture intolerant of women and out of step with the times.

Besides Ailes, Fox recently fired a male executive for trying to force a subordinate to perform oral sex in his office, and a female executive for repeated instances of racial intolerance.

When Ailes was forced out, 21st Century Fox said it was determined to change the culture to make it a more respectful workplace, and its top human resources executive this week re-emphasized that in a staff memo following the filing of another lawsuit by a woman who said her career stalled because she rejected Ailes’ sexual advances. The lawsuit, filed by Julie Roginsky, charged that current Fox management did nothing to investigate her claim.

Separately, the securities

fraud division of U.S. Attorney’s office in New York is investigating how 21st Century Fox handled the scandal. Prosecutors have declined to discuss the case, but a lawyer for one of the alleged harassment victims has said his client received a subpoena from a grand jury looking into whether Fox News sought to hide settlements.

One of O’Reilly’s former producers, Joe Muto, said O’Reilly’s natural instinct — indeed, a key part of his persona — is to fight back.

But O’Reilly was silent about the accusations in the first two shows he anchored after the initial Times story.

“My gut says he survives this round as long as no other shoe drops,” Muto said. “He’s going to hunker down and might lose other sponsors, but if nothing else happens he’ll survive.”

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8 • MSU Reporter

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Thursday, April 6, 2017

Veteran NASA spacewoman getting 3 extra months in orbit CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The world’s oldest and most experienced spacewoman is getting three extra months in orbit.

NASA announced Wednesday that astronaut Peggy Whitson will remain on the International Space Station until September.

The 57-year-old astronaut arrived last November and was supposed to return to Earth in June. But under an agreement between NASA and the Russian Space Agency, she’ll stay another three months and take advantage of an empty seat on a Soyuz capsule in the fall.

This mission — her third — will now last close to 10 months. Scientists are eager to monitor any changes to her body, to add to the knowledge gained from retired astronaut Scott Kelly’s recent one-year flight.

The two men she flew up with in November — France’s Thomas Pesquet and Russia’s Oleg Novitskiy — will return in June without her.

Whitson has already spent more time in space than any other woman, counting all her

In this Jan. 13, 2017 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Peggy Whitson, center, floats inside the Quest airlock of the International Space Station with Thomas Pesquet, left, and Shane Kimbrough before their spacewalk. On Wednesday, April 5, 2017, NASA announced that Whitson will remain on the ISS until September 2017, adding three months to her original mission. (NASA via AP) missions, and just last week set a record for the most spacewalks by a woman, with eight.

This weekend, she’ll take over as space station

commander, her second time at the job.

And on April 24, she’ll set a new U.S. record for most accumulated time in space.

That NASA record — 534

days — is currently held by former space station resident Jeffrey Williams.

Whitson welcomed Wednesday’s news.

“I love being up here,”

she said in a statement.

“Living and working aboard the space station is where I feel like I make the greatest contribution, so I am constantly trying to squeeze every drop out of my time here. Having three more months to squeeze is just what I would wish for.”

NASA’s space station program director, Kirk Shireman, said Whitson’s skill and experience make her “an incredible asset” up there, and her extra time will be put to good use.

There will be a return seat for Whitson in September because the Soyuz due to launch later this month will carry up one American and one Russian, one person fewer than usual. Russia is temporarily cutting back to two station residents. With Whitson’s extended stay, the orbiting outpost will continue to have a full crew of six.

Whitson, a biochemist who grew up on a farm in Iowa, became an astronaut in 1996. She served as NASA’s chief astronaut from 2009 to 2012, the only woman to ever hold the job.

Professor behind designated drivers takes on distracted ones BOSTON (AP) — A Harvard University professor who introduced Americans to the concept of designated drivers to deter drunken driving is now taking on the deadly problem of motorists distracted by cellphones and other electronics.

Jay Winsten is consulting with federal and Massachusetts officials to develop a new generation of public awareness messages.

“We wanted to find out why all efforts to date to tackle distracted driving have utterly failed,” Winsten said.

Distrac ted driving killed 3,477 people in 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Governors Highway Safety Association recently cited it as contributing to a surge in pedestrian fatalities last year.

Just last week, after a crash killed 13 people in Texas, a witness said a pickup driver who collided with a minibus acknowledged he was texting; the crash is being investigated.

It’s not as if Americans aren’t aware of the risks, said Winsten, director of the Center for Health Communication at Harvard’s

School of Public Health.

It’s just that many drivers, surveys show, are mistakenly confident in their own ability to “multitask and handle the problem,” he added.

Paradoxically, those same drivers fear they’ll be victimized by others who text, email or check social media while driving. It’s bravado like that of tipsy drivers confident they can handle the road after a few drinks even if others cannot, he said.

Faced with a surge in drunken driving fatalities in the 1980s, and similarly ineffective public education efforts to reverse behavior, Winsten and colleagues at the center seized upon a concept pioneered in Scandinavia and built a campaign that quickly entered the American lexicon.

It was simple enough.

Friends go out, but one — the designated driver — refrains from alcohol and gets the others home safely.

“It promoted a new social norm, a social expectation that the driver doesn’t drink, Winsten said. “It brought social legitimacy to the nondrinking role.”

News coverage and public service announcements

spread the message. The designated driver was written into story lines of the beloved bar-set sitcom “Cheers” and other popular TV shows. Today, a majority of adults report having been a designated driver or getting a lift home from one.

As with drunken driving, Winsten said, tough laws, new technology and education must all be brought to bear on distracted driving, which he considers a more persistent and complex behavior to change.

Public safety advocates agree.

“It’s not like drunken driving, when you worry most about Friday and Saturday nights,” said Emily Stein, who founded the Safe Roads Alliance after her father was struck by a car and killed in 2011. The driver was programming her GPS device at the time.

“This is happening at 8 in the morning on your way to work, at 2 in the afternoon when you are picking up your kids at school, every hour of the day,” Stein said.

Winsten is working with federal highway safety officials to design a campaign that will help shift casual

attitudes toward distracted driving, in much the way designated drivers changed attitudes among social drinkers.

The key, he said, is finding a way to convince motorists they have but one job: drive the car. Studies demonstrate the plummet in a driver’s ability, when absorbed by an electronic device, to anticipate potential risks and react in time.

Winsten also hopes to empower passengers, including children, to speak up if a driver is distracted.

Massachuset t s got advice from Winsten before

launching on its own this week a campaign stressing the importance of drivers being fully engaged. It features the message “Drive Present” below pictures of parents with children.

“Instead of ‘don’t drive distracted,’ which is a ‘no’ message, we’re trying to come up with a way of saying, ‘here is what you need to do, how you need to drive,’” said Jeff Larason, the state’s highway safety director.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

MSU Reporter • 9

News

Federal agents raid California business in green card probe LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal authorities on Wednesday raided a Los Angeles-area business suspected of cheating a U.S. government visa program to obtain green cards for wealthy Chinese investors.

Investigators searched the office of the California Investment Immigration Fund in San Gabriel as part of the fraud investigation.

Under a U.S. government program, foreign investors who commit at least half a million dollars to job-creating projects in designated areas can apply to obtain green cards. In this case, the California fund sought green cards for more than 100 Chinese investors for construction projects that were never built, according to federal court filings.

“As a result of the fraudulent scheme, many foreign nationals were able to improperly obtain U.S. green

cards through the EB-5 visa program, even though those foreigners did not in fact truly invest in U.S. businesses, nor were new American jobs created,” FBI Special Agent Gary Chen wrote in the papers.

Chen also wrote that some of the $50 million raised through the scheme was refunded to investors while their immigration applications were pending or used to buy personal homes for Victoria Chan, an attorney, and her father Tat Chan, who purportedly ran the fund.

In some instances, the fund fronted the money for people who were not legitimate investors, he wrote.

In addition, at least three investors who obtained green cards through the program were fugitives wanted by the Chinese government, Chen wrote: A message left at the fund’s office seeking comment was

“Investigators searched the office of the California Investment Immigration Fund in San Gabriel as part of the fraud investigation.”

Federal agents are seen inside California Investment Immigration Fund in San Gabriel, Calif., Wednesday, April 5, 2017. Federal authorities on Wednesday raided the Los Angeles-area business they say cheated a U.S. government visa program to obtain green cards for wealthy Chinese investors. (AP Photo/Rich Vogel) not immediately returned.

Phone and email messages were left for Victoria Chan.

The company claims on its website to focus on developing hotels, retail, mixed-use residential and senior living facilities.

No charges were filed Wednesday and no arrests were expected, said Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman.

The investigation dates back at least four years, when Homeland Security investigators looked into one of the listed project sites.

School district to pay $100,000 over ‘drunk goggles’ injury KAYSVILLE, Utah (AP) — A Utah school district agreed to pay $100,000 to the family of a teenage girl who was injured while wearing goggles to simulate drunkenness in a 2014 health class experiment.

The Davis School District will put more than $61,000 into a trust account for Kylie Nielsen to settle a personal-injury lawsuit, The Standard-Examiner repor ted Wednesday (http://bit.ly/2nXXMCQ ).

She can get access to that money when she turns 18.

The district also agreed to pay $13,000 for medical expenses and nearly $26,000 for legal fees. The settlement was reached about two months ago, according to district spokeswoman Shauna Lund.

Nielsen was 13 when she participated in an exercise to simulate alcohol impairment at Centennial Junior High School north of Salt Lake City. Her teacher, Rick Smith, encouraged students to play tag and run around a classroom while wearing “drunk goggles,” according to court documents.

Nielsen’s foot got stuck in a desk, and she broke her ankle in multiple places, requiring two surgeries.

It also resulted in one of Nielsen’s legs being shorter than the other, and pain and swelling when she does any physical activity, her parents said.

Lund on Tuesday called it a “tragic accident.”

“We are sorry for all Kylie went through as a result of it,” she said.

Miles LeBaron, the family’s attorney, did not respond to phone and email messages.

Nielsen ran track and had qualified for an allstar track meet the day she was injured, according to the lawsuit. She could not compete in the meet because of the injury and has since switched to playing golf, the claim said.

The teacher “breached a duty owed to her by failing to act with reasonable care,” according to the school district’s statement in court papers.

Smith left the school district, but officials have not said when or why.

The site appeared the same a few months ago and no construction permits had been pulled, Chen wrote.

The probe in California comes as U.S. lawmakers weigh proposed changes to the visa program that has grown popular among wealthy foreigners seeking to move to the U.S. but faces widespread criticism amid allegations of fraud and misuse.

The EB-5 program, which began more than two decades ago, lets foreigners pool their investments through so-called regional centers aimed at boosting economic growth in exchange for green cards.

As of last year, more

than 800 centers had been approved to participate in the program, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Critics say many of the investments purportedly aimed at assisting poor areas of the U.S. have instead wound up going to projects in more affluent neighborhoods.

In addition, programs in Vermont, South Dakota and elsewhere have been wracked by fraud scandals.

Earlier this year, a man who once ran South Dakota’s program was sentenced to probation and a fine after striking a deal with federal prosecutors.

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Aida a story about an ancient love triangle New MNSU theatre musical features music composed by Elton John.

ALEXIS VENCILL Staff Writer The musical Aida will be showing in the Ted Paul Theatre of the Performing Arts Center from April 6 to April 9 and April 13 through April 15.

With music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice, Aida follows the love triangle of Aida, a Nubian princess, Amneris, an Egyptian princess, and Radames, an Egyptian soldier. When the show begins, Egypt and Nubia are at war. Aida, along with her people, was stolen from her land by Egyptians and brought to Egypt as a slave.

Radames presents Aida as a gift to Amneris to make up for the long time spent away from her. Aida and Radames quickly fall for each other, but must face the obstacle of Amneris, Radames’ betrothed. Aida must decide what is more important: her love for Radames or saving her people.

Aida is based on an opera of the same name by Giuseppe Verdi. Walt Disney originally wanted to create an animated film with the story and acquired the rights to it. However, the idea was

Photo courtesy of Amanda Dyslin soon put on hold and eventually formed into the musical it has become today.

After being presented to executives at Disney in 1996, it was put into production two years later.

The show won a Tony for Best Original Musical Score in 2000 and was praised for its rock score.

“The music is rock and roll influenced, being written by Elton John, and the dance numbers are some of the best I’ve seen,” said Delanie Weidrich, who plays Amneris in the show.

“The show has powerful music that will draw people into the story,” said Anastasia Ellis.

Ellis, the understudy for the role of Aida, is making her Minnesota State University, Mankato theatre debut in Aida. Taking on such a major role and responsibility in the show would be enough to shake the confidence of a lot of newcomers, but Ellis is taking it in stride.

“I think this story is im-

portant to show right now because of the racial controversy of Egyptian versus Nubian. It shows that you can love or care about whoever, no matter the race or social class,” said Ellis.

Ellis and Weidrich both are confident audiences will fall in love with the show just as they have.

Weidrich voiced her passion in saying, “It’s a fun show for the entire family and would make for a great family night at the theatre. No matter the age or previous involvement or understanding of theatre, people will love the spectacle and entertainment this show provides.”

Aida opens Thursday, April 6, runs through Sunday, April 9, and runs the following weekend from Thursday, April 13, through Saturday, April 15. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. nightly with 2 p.m. shows on Sunday, April 9, and Saturday, April 15. Tickets are available in the Performing Arts box office from 4 to 6 p.m. throughout the week, or starting an hour before each show. Tickets are $11 for current MNSU students and $16 for general admission.

Envelope, please! Spelling bee will use test to break ties

Competitors will submit written spelling tests prior to primetime finale.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Scripps National Spelling Bee is adding a new wrinkle this year in an attempt to stop a streak of ties for the championship.

This year, the top spellers will sit for a written tiebreaker test before they begin spelling words in the primetime finale. The results will be revealed only if two or three spellers get through the final rounds unscathed. The speller with the highest score would then be declared the champion. Only if the top spellers get exactly the same score will the competition end in a tie.

The bee has ended in a tie three years running. Last year’s was the most improbable. The bee made the final rounds more than twice as

to one that spellers must ace to get into the top 50 — except more difficult. Spellers’ results will be sealed in envelopes that are opened only if necessary, setting up a potentially dramatic new end to the competition.

The new rules were shared with spellers and announced Tuesday by Scripps. Bee organizers made the change after considering feedback from spellers, sponsors, fans and ESPN, which televises the competition from its longtime venue at a convention center outside Washington. This year’s bee will be Photo courtesy of The Associated Press long, with harder words, and two spellers still ended up hoisting the winner’s trophy.

This year the top 10 or so

spellers who make it to the final evening will have the written test added to their busy schedules. It will be tak-

en in a small room away from the cameras, with 12 spelling words and 12 vocabulary words. The test will be similar

SPELLING BEE

page 13

Thursday, April 6, 2017

MSU Reporter • 13

A&E

Joe and Jill Biden receive multi-book deal Former Vice President’s memoir to explore values, political history.

NEW YORK (AP) — First the Obamas, now the Bidens.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, have book deals.

Flatiron Books told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it will release two books by Joe Biden and one

by Jill. Joe Biden’s first book will “explore one momentous year,” when his son Beau died in 2015 and his agonized decision against running for president. Biden has said recently that he regrets his choice and believes he could have defeated Republican Donald Trump, who pulled off a stunning upset against the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.

Biden’s memoir is currently untitled and no release date was announced. Flatiron, a Macmillan imprint, is calling the book “the story of not just a politician, but of a father, grandfather, friend and husband.”

“We’re so deeply honored to be the publisher of these books by Vice President and Dr. Biden,” Flatiron president

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press and publisher said in a statement. “The Vice President’s book promises to give us all a deeper understanding of recent political history, but it will clearly also be a book about the values that have given the Vice President strength in both good times

and bad.”

Flatiron did not provide details about the two other books it acquired or about financial terms. Two publishing officials with knowledge of negotiations said bidding went at least into seven figures. The officials were not

A Minneapolis-area Prince pilgrimage a year after his death MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis offers many places where fans can pay homage on the anniversary of his death, from his favorite record store to the humble house used in his Oscar-winning “Purple Rain” film.

Paisley Park, his massive, gleaming white studio and performance complex, was turned into a museum soon after his death on April 21, 2016.

A “celebration” planned there for April 20-23 with panel discussions, concerts and tours is mostly sold out. But don’t worry, there’s plenty more to see.

PAISLEY PARK This is a must, even if it’s just a drive-by to see the sprawling place rise up from the flatlands in Chanhassen, an easy 20-mile drive from downtown Minneapolis. Guided tours average 70 minutes and include rooms where Prince created some of his biggest hits. The museum is a work in progress, with a recently added room displaying costumes and other artifacts from his “Lovesexy” album and tour.

Optional add-ons include a VIP tour of extra rooms, a photo opportunity, Friday night dance party and Sunday brunch featuring some of his

favorite foods.

Much has been made of Prince’s Paisley Park-shaped urn. It was moved from the main atrium at the family’s request to a frosted high-walled fixture above a little kitchen where he sometimes watched TV. FIRST AVENUE & 7TH ST. ENTRY This downtown club in a former Greyhound bus depot remains a mecca for Prince fans and an indie rock hot spot. There are guided tours, though most were sold out ahead of the April 21st anniversary. A separate entrance and fee gets you inside the club where Prince played several times, including his first time in 1981 when it was called Sam’s and in 1983 when he unveiled a longer version of his ballad “Purple Rain.”

That gig was recorded, including the mega-hit that became his signature and other songs used in the film.

Brick walls outside are adorned with painted, white stars for other artists who played there. Prince’s star stands out in gold.

ELECTRIC FETUS Prince frequented the Electric Fetus record store. He visited just days before he died, on Record Store Day, April 16,

tweeting: “FETUS, THANX 4 THE TUNES! ROCKED STEVIE’S TALKING BOOK ALL THE WAY HOME! #RecordStoreDay,” to which Electric Fetus replied: “Thanks 4 coming in today and for supporting indie record stores yearround!”

His final tweet, April 18, was another nod to Electric Fetus, promoting the written program for his “Piano & Microphone” tour. The tweet displayed the program’s cover and said, simply: “electricfetus.com.”

When the store opened in 1968, National Lampoon magazine singled it out for the worst name of a business.

But it remains an indie mecca for audiophiles — including vinyl-lovers — and drew grieving fans when Prince died.

PRINCE MURALS There are some beauties.

Downtown near 10th Street and Marquette Avenue, a five-story, white-painted wall of musical notes is where Prince shot some of his first publicity photos at age 18.

At the time, it was home to Schmitt Music Company, which sold sheet music, pianos and organs. The musical notes are from a piece for piano by French composer Maurice Ravel.

authorized to discuss negotiations and asked not to be identified. The Bidens were represented by Creative Artists Agency.

In late February, former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, jointly agreed to write book deals

with Crown, a Penguin Random House imprint. Their combined deals are worth well into eight figures.

Biden was a popular vice president and the death of Beau Biden brought him widespread sympathy. His book stands a good chance of becoming the rare notable vice presidential memoir, a list even shorter than the list of notable vice presidents.

The job had little influence until well into the 20th century and only in recent decades have books by former vice presidents, at least the ones who never became president, attracted much attention. The most widely read vice presidential memoir is likely Dick Cheney’s “In My Time,” a best-seller published in 2011.

Both Bidens have written books before. Joe Biden’s “Promises to Keep” was released by Random House in 2007. Simon & Schuster published Jill Biden’s “Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops,” a picture book, in 2012.

SPELLING BEE Continued from page 12 May 30-June 1.

“There is certainly a point of view that the level of competition has risen to a place where we are likely to see more co-championships unless we further raise the bar,” Paige Kimble, the bee’s executive director, told The Associated Press on Monday, ahead of the announcement.

Tejas Muthusamy, who’ll be competing in the bee for the fourth and final time this year, told AP he likes the idea of the tiebreaker test, but he’s not sure others will.

“I actually perform better on tests than on stage.

For me specifically, the rule change is really good,” Tejas said. “If I end up tied with someone else, I’ll still have a good chance of winning.”

Before 1998, the bee had no formal rules for how to declare co-champions, and the only previous tie was in 1962. It wasn’t until 2014 that it happened again, but no changes were made following that result.

In 2015, though, Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam — veteran spellers and pre-bee favorites — shared the title after plowing through the final words with ease. They

are two of the many Indian-American kids who’ve come to dominate the bee over the past two decades.

With their mastery of Greek and Latin roots, top spellers — who can compete through 8th grade — have forced the bee to dig deeper into the dictionary every year.

Mirle Shivashankar, the father of Vanya and her older sister, also a bee champion, said he doesn’t like the idea of the winner being determined behind closed doors.

“If that ever were to happen, that might not be the best scenario,” Shivashankar said. “But I’m hoping, and I’m confident that the bee is going to be able to get a sole winner this year without having to use the tiebreaker.”

Last year, the bee stopped using a pre-determined list of 25 “championship words” and instead declared that the top three spellers would have to endure 25 “championship rounds,” meaning up to 75 words could be used. Bee judges were also given the discretion to adjust the difficulty of those words on the fly. Those rules remain in place.

14 • MSU Reporter

A&E

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Family recognized stolen Rockwell painting by pool-cue hole $1 million painting lost over 40 years ago to go into storage facility.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A family who lost a Norman Rockwell painting in a burglary at their home over 40 years ago got it back Friday and knew for sure it was theirs because of a scrape and hole the exact size of the butt-end of a pool cue.

The 1919 painting, valued at $1 million and known as “Taking a Break” and “Lazybones,” was returned to members of the Grant family

by FBI art-crimes agents in Philadelphia. The piece was one of a number of items stolen from the family’s home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, during the June 30, 1976, break-in.

After the FBI recently went to the media with a story of the missing painting in hopes of generating tips, an antiques dealer who had the painting hanging in his home for nearly four decades came forward.

The dealer, whose name has not been released, had thought the painting was just a copy and couldn’t manage to sell it, U.S. Attorney Louis Lappen said.

“So he put it up in his kitchen,” he said. “And there this painting was, hanging in his kitchen for close to 40 years.”

How the Grant family came to own the painting might be an even better story.

Robert Grant was playing pool at a friend’s house in

1954 when he drew his cue back a bit too dramatically, damaging one of four Norman Rockwell paintings in the room.

In a “you break it, you buy it” moment, Grant paid the pal $50 for the piece, according to his son. The artwork depicts a boy sleeping on the ground, his dozing dog’s head in his lap, and the hoe he should be using for chores perched between his knees.

For Grant’s children, being reunited with the painting was emotional.

“It was the one thing in the house that everybody cared about because my dad thought it was such a special thing,” John Grant said. His parents are now deceased.

The work was insured for $15,000, and insurer Chubb made a payout to the Grants back in the 1970s. With that payment, Chubb retained ownership of the missing painting, said Robert Poliseno, regional executive officer of Chubb’s Mid-Atlantic Region. Once the painting was found, the insurer decided “the right thing to do” was return the painting to the family for the same $15,000, he said. The company will donate that payment to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, he said.

How the antiques dealer ended up with the painting wasn’t revealed, but FBI

Photos courtesy of The Associated Press agent Jake Archer said the dealer isn’t suspected of stealing it. Agents are working up a composite of who might have committed the burglary, he said, but no information would be released.

What happens with the painting going forward is uncertain.

It will initially go into a storage facility, said Robert Grant’s daughter Susan Murta.

“I’m one of six kids, so we’ll store it for now and talk about it,” she said.

Controversial tribal artifacts sale lures few bidders PARIS (AP) — An auction of precious tribal Kanak artifacts got a tepid response from bidders in Paris Tuesday, with buyers apparently scared off by lingering questions about whether the items were acquired legally.

Nine sculpted-wood objects, including large decorative arrows dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, bought by a private collector from the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, went under the hammer.

Parisian auction house Aguttes estimated the items would sell for up to 775,000 euros ($825,000), but only two of the least valuable lots sold for 10,455 euros ($11,134).

Organizers said buyers apparently were scared off by a protest in 2015, in which a group linked to the Kanaks alleged the objects had been stolen.

FIND A PLACE TO RENT AT

M A N K AT O ' S R E N TA L L I S T I N G W E B S I T E

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press Collector Jean-Louis Roiseux said he had subsequently established the provenance of the rare artifacts that he came across in shrub land in the South Pacific French territory. He produced documents attesting to their purchase from tribal leaders in 1972, giving the green light for Tuesday’s auction.

“They are among the oldest such (Kanak) collec-

tions in existence,” Roiseux said.

Auctioneer Claude Aguttes, who collaborated with Paris’ Quai Branly Museum, said the surreal 2-meter (6 feet, 5 inches) -long sculptures adorned hut roofs, their size and intricacy growing according to a resident’s social importance.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

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MNSU’s eight-game winning streak snapped

COREY YUMAN Staff Writer Minnesota State softball’s eight-game winning streak and undefeated record in the NSIC came to an end, as they split games against the University of Sioux Falls Cougars on Tuesday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After the split, Minnesota State’s record moves to 29-5 and 7-1 in the NSIC. Sioux Falls entered the double-header holding on to a 16-15 and 4-4 record in the NSIC. After losing two straight to Winona State this past Saturday, the Cougars were going to be looking to snap that short, losing stint.

Minnesota State made sure to get the scoring started quickly and early.

In the first inning, senior infielder Ashley Thell got things started with a bang as she nailed a homer to left center and scored junior outfielder Jess Meidl in the process. Meidl would score her second run in the third inning after freshman infielder Amber Kral and Thell advanced to third to score Meidl.

With the Mavericks up 3-0, Sioux Falls drilled back-toback homeruns in the bottom of the third and fourth innings. The scoring came to an abrupt stop for both teams and the Mavs picked up the 3-2 win in game one of the double-header.

Senior pitcher Coley Ries remained tough to beat, picking up her 15th win. She pitched seven strong innings while striking out nine batters and allowing six hits.

Game two of the dou-

ble-header started with Sioux Falls getting on the board first. The Mavericks struck back in the second inning with freshman outfielder Carly Esselman getting the RBI and senior infielder Dana Mogren scoring.

Meidl continued to shine on the day, as she drilled a homerun in the fifth inning and scored sophomore outfielder McKenzie Paap and freshman infielder Caitlin Stone in the process to put the Mavs up 4-1 heading into the sixth inning. The Cougars ended up going on a scoring barrage, adding four runs over the final two innings to win 5-4. Courtney Matthews picked up the win for Sioux Falls, allowing four hits and striking out one batter.

Junior pitcher Libby Bemis took the loss, allowing eight hits and striking out four batters. She moves to 14-3 on the year.

The Mavericks will be back

Photo by BoHyun Ahn in action this coming weekend in more NSIC action on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Minnesota State will travel to Duluth to take on the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. The Bulldogs enter the weekend holding onto a 23-9 record and 7-1 in the NSIC. Sunday will see the Mavs make a stop in St. Cloud to

take on the St. Cloud State Huskies. The Huskies will play a double-header on Saturday, but head into the weekend 21-13 and 5-3 in the NSIC. Minnesota State takes on Minnesota Duluth at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday in Duluth, and St. Cloud State at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday in St. Cloud.

Women’s golf eyeing NSIC Championship The Mavericks have been performing well as of late, going into postseason play.

RYAN SJOBERG Staff Writer Much like the weather, the women’s golf season is starting to heat up for the Mavericks. Minnesota State has already participated in three tournaments during the spring and only one remains until the NSIC Championships in Morton, Minnesota.

Minnesota State has continued to improve over the spring season and look to continue this trend leading into the big tournaments coming up in a few weeks.

The Mavericks are coming off

Nattiya Somboonsup

their best team effort at the Upper Iowa Invitational. Held at Sunnyside Country Club in Waterloo, Iowa, MSU finished third in the pool of eight teams with a score of +89.

Leading the charge for the

ticipated in two other tournaments this spring as well.

First, Minnesota State took a flight to the southwest as they competed in the SMSU Spring Invite.

The SMSU Spring Invite is held in Litch-

field Park, Arizona at the Wigwam Resort Heritage Course.

The Mavericks finished fifth with a score of +65. Final results don’t tell the whole story at this tournament though, as the field was very compet-

“The Mavericks are coming off their best team effort at the Upper Iowa Invitational. Held at Sunnyside Country Club in Waterloo, Iowa, MSU finished third in the pool of eight teams with a score of +89. “ Mavericks was a trio of sophomores. Sophomore Nattiya Somboonsup tied for fifth (+18) posting 81’s both days, sophomore Haley Tollette took seventh (+20) and shot 77/87, and sophomore Abbe Partington tied for tenth (+23) shooting 86/81 to round out the top ten. Not to be forgotten however is freshman Kayla Thielen, who tied for 16th (+28) after posting scores of 82/90 and junior Genie Short (+30) rounded out the top-20 after a couple of rounds in which she shot 85/89.

The Mavericks have par-

Kayla Thielen

itive and super close. Sophomore Haley Tollette’s golf game was as warm as the weather as she finished in a tie for first. Shooting terrific rounds of 75/74, Tollette finished +5 for the tournament.

Sophomore Abbe Partington (+15) and Kayla Thielen (+18) also managed to crack the top-20 for Minnesota State.

Shortly after the SMSU Invite, MSU took their talents to Axtell, Nebraska to compete in the UNK Spring Invite. Awarii Dunes provided a stiff challenge for the field and Mavericks alike. MSU

placed eight out of 17 teams and had a couple players play extremely solid golf. Tollette finished in a tie for sixth after rounds of 80/71 and sophomore Madison Jewell finished in a tie for 27th with scores of 80/78 respectively.

It will be interesting to see if the Mavericks can continue on the upward trend they are currently on. If they can, this team should contend with the top bunch of teams in their conference for the NSIC championship coming up in a few weeks.

Haley Tollette

Thursday, April 6, 2017

MSU Reporter • 17

Sports

Brooms out: Mavericks sweep Mustangs Minnesota State remained tough to beat on the hill, and the hitters continue to rake.

CHELSEA DORVAL Staff Writer The Minnesota State Mavericks swept the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears Wednesday afternoon at the MSU Baseball Complex.

Dalton Roach picked up his fifth win of the season, going the first six innings allowing only two runs on four hits while retiring nine in the Mavericks’ 12-2 win. Senior Austin Franzen came in to close out the last inning, allowing only one hit while striking out two.

The Golden Bears were able to kick off the scoring in the top of the first, yet only achieved one additional run for the rest of the game in the fifth inning. Tommy McDonald notched his second homerun of the season with a grand slam in the first. McDonald totaled two runs, four runs batted in (RBI) in three

at-bats. Josh Wenzel also hit his fourth homerun, totaling two runs on two hits in his four at-bats.

The Mavericks exploded in the fourth inning, earning six of their 12 runs, starting with Jordan Hart singling to center to bring home Eric Peterson. Dylan Dresel followed up by reaching second as a result of an error by the third baseman as Hart crossed the plate. McDonald earned one of his hits by advancing on a fielder’s choice while Hart scored as a result of an error by the catcher. Senior catcher Hunter Harnisch advanced to first after being hit by a pitch to score Dresel. Cody Ulfers closed out the inning by singling through the right side to score McDonald and Hunter Walsh.

“We got two great starts on the mound today and the guys who came in from the

bullpen did a really nice job as well. Offensively I thought we did a good job setting the tone early by scoring right away in the first inning both games. It was great to get contributions from a lot of different guys. When you pitch well, play good defense and put the ball in play you have a chance to win,” assistant coach PJ McIntee said of the team’s performance.

The Mavericks completed the sweep with an 8-2 win in the second game of the double-header over the Golden Bears. Senior Mitch Bauer earned his seventh win of 2017. Bauer threw the first eight innings allowing only five hits and two runs in the 31 batters he faced. Aaron Rozek closed out the last inning with two hits.

Minnesota State got the game started early, putting up three runs in the first in-

Reporter Archives ning. Peterson made it to first after getting hit by a pitch before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Hart then singled to right to bring Peterson home. The Golden Bears then responded with one in the second. The Mavericks’ Dresel doubled down the left field-line before advancing to third on a balk. Hart smacked

his fourth homerun of the season to drive in him and Peterson for the last Maverick runs of the game. Hart totaled two runs on two hits and four RBI in the contest.

The Mavericks continue Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play in Minot, North Dakota Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m.

Twins keep bats hot, defeat Royals 9-1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins were halfway through the first month of the season before they picked up their second win last year, a putrid start that weighed on their shoulders for the rest of a miserable season.

A fresh start has done wonders for the Twins and slugger Miguel Sano.

Eduardo Escobar homered and drove in four runs and Sano added a bases-loaded triple to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 9-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.

Hector Santiago (1-0) gave up one run and four hits and struck out four in five innings for the Twins. After starting last season 0-9 to set the stage for a 103-loss season, the Twins are 2-0 for the first time since 2007.

“Everybody is playing happy,” said Sano, who homered in the season opener and just missed two more on Wednesday. “It’s a game. It’s got a name: game. Everybody try to play normal. Nobody like in a hurry or something like that. No pressure. Only play and win.”

Ian Kennedy (0-1) gave up three runs and three hits with five strikeouts and five walks in five innings for Kansas City.

Paulo Orlando drove in the lone run for the Royals, who walked nine Twins batters on the day.

“You’re just putting yourself in a position for them

to put big numbers on the board when that happens,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Sano broke the game open with his triple that almost cleared the high wall in right-center field and Escobar’s three-run drive just reached the seats in left field.

“I’m not a home run hitter, so as soon as I hit the ball I started hustling like I usually do,” Escobar said. “Once I got to second base and saw my teammates celebrating I was able to slow down and enjoy it.”

The Royals’ Alex Gordon was hit on the right hand by a pitch from Santiago in the first inning, but remained in the game after being examined by team athletic trainers.

He went 0 for 3.

Kennedy couldn’t find the strike zone, walking three in the Twins’ three-run second inning. That followed a season opener on Monday in which Royals pitchers walked seven Twins hitters, a troubling sign for a team that had its title defense done in last season in large part to a lackluster starting rotation.

The bullpen has been the bigger problem this season, with Nate Karns and Matt Strahm giving up all six runs in the seventh.

“Just starting off on a bad foot, really,” Karns said. “I don’t think there’s anything that can point to why we’re not doing really well right out of the gate. We’ll tighten it up

and get it going tomorrow.”

Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer might have had the play of the day in the sixth inning when Eduardo Escobar sent a line drive screaming toward him. Hosmer got his glove on it, but the ball popped out. Hosmer snared the ball with his throwing hand, but had to do a bit of

a juggling act before securing it and stepping on first to double up Juan Castro.

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton is being counted on to have a breakout season after looking overmatched at times at the plate last season.

Manager Paul Molitor is hitting Buxton third in the order, a spot generally given to one

of the team’s top hitters.

The early returns have not been promising. He has struck out six times in 10 atbats with just one infield single.

18 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, April 6, 2017

NBA Playoffs: It’s Cleveland’s title to lose Staff writer James Andersen gives his take on who to watch for in the upcoming NBA playoffs.

JAMES ANDERSEN Staff Writer There is just over a week left in the NBA regular season. The first playoff games will begin on April 15, and there are plenty of viable options for potential NBA champions.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will look to repeat. The Golden State Warriors will be seeking a third-straight appearance in the Finals, hopefully to reclaim the trophy. There are the always-formidable San Antonio Spurs, who have become the second team to reach 60 wins this season on Tuesday night. This season also has two dark horse candidates in the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics have looked great all season and have the superstars to make a deep playoff run.

There are still a few games left in the regular season, so the playoff seedings are not set in stone. The Cavs and Celtics are battling for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. And speaking of the Eastern Conference, the teams ranked 5 to 11 are all within a couple of games of each other, so a lot can happen between now and the start of playoffs.

In the Western Conference, the playoff picture is pretty much set aside from a shift in seeding from the

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press Boston’s rookie Jaylen Brown and the rest of the Celtics are aiming to surprise many basketball fans and the rest of the NBA when playoffs begin. Their biggest challenge will be getting past the Cleveland Cavaliers. teams already guaranteed in. Realistically, there are only two teams battling for the eighth seed. The Portland Trailblazers and Denver Nuggets are currently sitting at eighth and ninth, respectively, and the Nuggets are a half-game behind the Blazers. The Pelicans and Mavericks are tied at tenth place right now, but they are five games behind the Nuggets, so I don’t see them making the playoffs.

There are some interesting, future scenarios that could play out this postseason. The easy bet would be that the Eastern Conference Finals will be a Cavs-Celtics matchup. However, the Wizards are an interesting team that plays very well at home.

John Wall and Bradley Beal remain to be a dynamic back-

court that can compete with the best.

The same argument can be made for the Toronto Raptors. Demar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are a great guard duo, but Lowry is still nursing a wrist injury. One of these two teams are most likely going to face off against the dangerous Milwaukee Bucks.

Let’s not kid ourselves though, these teams can beat each other up as much as they want, the Cavaliers will be representing the East in the Finals. LeBron James is in a class of his own, and Kyrie Irving is the most talented scorer in the league. They’ve had some injury issues this season, but if those two can stay healthy, it will be their playoffs to lose.

The same could be said for Steph Curry and the War-

riors. They have the best record in the league and their star-studded roster looks appealing. It’s time to see if the Kevin Durant addition can pay off, because it’s championship or bust.

The Spurs are the only

team that can give Dub City a run for their money. Kawhi Leonard is the second-best player in the NBA, and Head Coach Gregg Poppovich has proven to be the best coach of this generation. The Rockets aerial attack from beyond the arc has won them a lot of games this season, but history has shown that Mark D’Antonio’s teams can’t win in the playoffs, and this year is no different.

History says that the NBA Finals has been LeBron James’ team (Miami Heat/ Cleveland Cavaliers) versus either Warriors or the Spurs.

So, this year’s Finals matchup will be the Cavs and the Spurs.

While the Cavaliers might not have the best record during the regular season, LeBron James’ real season begins in the playoffs, and I don’t see anyone stopping him on his quest for his fourth NBA title.

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Thursday, April 6, 2017

MSU Reporter • 19

Sports

NHL Stanley Cup playoffs right around the corner Many fans have expressed their concerns in the second movement of an NFL team this season.

COLT JOHNSON Staff Writer With three games or less left to play on every NHL team’s schedule, the playoffs are nearly set with only two playoff spots left to clinch in the Eastern Conference.

The Western Conference is set; the Nashville Predators and the Calgary Flames clinched the final two spots in the West. Both are only a point behind the St. Louis Blues and pose a threat to shifting the playoff picture in the West before season’s end. In the East, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the eighth playoff spot nearly clinched.

It would take a three-game collapse to lose their spot to the New York Islanders who sit five points back of Toronto with three games left on each of their schedules. For the sake of the argument, if playoffs started today the Maple leafs and the Predators would sit in the second wild card spots in each conference.

In the West, the Chicago Blackhawks clinched the first seed and the Western Conference, which means they would play Nashville in the first round. Though the

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press Calgary Flames’ Lance Bouma, from left, Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan and Micheal Ferland celebrate a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks and a ticket to the playoffs after the third period of an NHL hockey game in Calgary, Alberta, Friday, March 31, 2017.

Minnesota Wild sit in the second seed of the Western Conference, the NHL playoff format is such that division winners have the top seeds in the playoff bracket format. This means instead of Minnesota getting Calgary, who holds the top wild card spot, they would play St. Louis if the playoffs started today. The Wild would have to go through their former head coach, Mike Yeo, and divisional opponent before they would have the chance to play the Blackhawks in the conference semi-finals, barring a Nashville upset over Chicago.

The Anaheim Ducks have their division nearly locked up with the Edmonton Oilers,

only four points behind them and one more game left to play than the Ducks on their schedule. Unless Edmonton steals away the division, Anaheim will play the Flames, who sit in the top wild card spot. The Oilers would then get the San Jose Sharks and the winner of the two would play either Calgary or the Ducks in the Western Conference semi-finals.

In the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals have the conference and the President’s Trophy for top team in the NHL locked up with 114 points and three games left on their schedule. The Capitals as of now would get Toronto in the first round and like the Wild, the Pittsburg

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Penguins, who are the second seed in the East, would play the Columbus Blue Jackets instead of the New York Rangers who sit in the top wild card spot. The Blue Jackets are the third seed in the East, giving the Penguins the toughest first-round matchup in the playoffs.

The Montreal Canadiens

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The regular season is wrapping up and coming to an end. Teams are beginning to prepare for playoff hockey starting next week. There’s a chance teams shuffle around a little, but there probably won’t be much movement happening in the coming week. The last regular season games are April 9. Playoff beards will be coming out soon after and the race for the Stanley Cup will be underway.

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20 • MSU Reporter

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Thursday, April 6, 2017