April 20, 2017

The

Minnesota State University Mankato

www.msureporter.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

Candidates pitch their case at MSSA debates Students pose questions to presidential and VP hopefuls.

LUKE LARSON Staff Writer Student s gathered Wednesday in the Heritage Lounge in the CSU for debates between the presidential and vice-presidential candidates for this year’s MSSA election scheduled for April 25.

What follows are highlights from the nearly two-hourlong event.

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE Question from the gallery: “Former presidential candidate Aaron Eberhart wrote a letter to the editor in which he accused the Elections Commission of corruption.

What were your roles on the Elections Commission?”

Abdul-Aziz (Mavericks Empowering Mavericks): “I played no role in the Elections Commission at all. I’m just a presidential candidate.”

Fred de Ruiter (Support

Our Students): “I did play a role. I attended two meetings in which we went over the election rules and made some changes—those were presented to senate. I resigned from it because I felt biased against a particular candidate and I felt it was in the best interest, along with other people who provided me feedback, to resign. As you know, you don’t want bias in that. Ironically, the Thursday after I resigned the article came out with the allegations that there was corruption. So I resigned before any corruption was unsurfaced in that regard.”

Question from the gallery: “How will you promote diversity in your role as president?”

Fred de Ruiter: “I’m a supporter of Affirmative Action, that nobody gets overlooked, and that’s one of the key foundations of diversity, is that we all have our own differences but that should not make anybody more or less qualified for a certain thing. So really it’s about communication.

When I was a senator my very first year here, there

was talk about cutting the multicultural funds during the SAC presentation during the 81st Senate. I am a cis white male. It did not necessarily pertain to me, so what I did was I went out and there were people in our gallery who worked with CLASA and Latino Wellness and I asked them, what did they think about this? Why would they be against it? I made my decision, I made my vote based on what they wanted not necessarily because it didn’t pertain to me, it’s because it’s what they wanted.”

Abdul-Aziz: “I think in my role as MSSA president is to understand in life, no one’s the same, you’re not going to meet somebody who’s exactly the same as you. They make look the same as you, but they don’t have the same experiences as you. You’re all going to have different experiences, you’re all going to go through different things, and I think it really comes down to the part where I stated […] about communicating and sponsoring events with other cultural RSOs on campus,

and we can promote those…

But essentially, having more of those events on campus, sponsoring more of those event, and really, really working on outsourcing it to students that this is something they can come to.”

Question from the gallery: “I see that on the home page of the MSSA website, there was a mention about $22.6 million in student activity fees for 18 programs. I know the Student Allocations Committee spent a lot of time with hearing student senate spend hours deliberating that.

So what happens, whoever wins, there’s still five weeks of the Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate—there’s a bill out there to destroy that concept of students getting involved with student activity fees. So what do you think about that House bill, and are you even going to be around this summer to help fight it?”

Abdul-Aziz: “Basically, what I understand about this bill is that it makes student fees optional. So Students United… they had delegates April—basically a while back they had a conference where

there were more than one motion written about how we should take it… before the motion, prior to the conference, Students United didn’t take a stance on a bill that effectively threatened to defund them. But through these motions, basically they now passed and they are now taking a stance that this motion of course… it is making student fees optional, that they can opt out of them. It is making Students United, the student government obsolete. What I think about the bill, to me I just don’t understand, because essentially we use student fees to essentially power the resources on campus for these students to use. So, if the student did feel the need to opt out of them we wouldn’t have the adequate resources or funding to keep up with the necessary things we use, such as the CSU, the bussing system, the weight room. To me, it was just confusing…”

DEBATE page 8

Students to vote on three constitutional amendments

LUKE LARSON Staff Writer While the race for MSSA president, vice president, and senators have commanded much of the attention this election season, this Tuesday’s ballot will also feature three constitutional amendments proposed by the Constitution Commission.

TODAY’S FEATURED STORIES

According to commission member David Cowan, in order for a constitutional amendment to pass, there must be a 10 percent student body voter turnout and it must be approved by more than half of all votes.

Article XI Section 2 states that amendments “shall be subject to ratification during elections by a simple majority of a number equivalent to at least ten (10) percent of the non-extended campus students and to approval, modification, or disapproval by the University President.”

The text of this year’s

proposed amendments has not yet been finalized, but Constitution Commission chair Daniel Gries explains the content of each amendment.

One of the amendments would change the voting procedure so that presidential and vice presidential candidates of the same party run as a combined ticket. Under the current constitution, students vote for the positions of MSSA president and vice president separately. This means that students could conceivably elect a president and vice president from opposing

parties. Gries notes that this has in fact occurred in the past and that the Constitution Committee is seeking to avoid such a potentially dysfunctional situation in the future.

Another amendment deals with the constitutional amendment ratification process itself. The current constitution requires more than half of all votes cast to be in favor of a proposed amendment in order for that amendment to be ratified.

Because of this, abstentions count as votes against the amendment.

The new

What brings you true happiness?

Fate of the Furious takes a turn for the worse

Maverick baseball outscores NSU 18-2

Page 4

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amendment would not factor in abstentions. Ratification of amendments would simply require more “yes” votes than “no” votes. The new amendment would not affect the 10 percent threshold requirement.

Another amendment proposes several fairly insignificant “housekeeping” changes to the text of the constitution. Gries notes that one such change is to replace each mention of “MnSCU” with “Minnesota State,” the system’s new name.

Have a story idea or a comment?

EMAIL

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

2 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Letter to the Editor: Eberhart and Ringhand object to decision MSU Students, On Tuesday April 18, 2017 there was a crucial “public” forum hearing on the constitutional crisis which has transpired over the last couple of weeks of the spring semester. Corruption, lack of coherence, and cover ups.

This has been the theme of the response on both the administration front and the MSSA front. This theme continued well into the “public” forum that occurred this past Tuesday.

I put the word public in quotations because it did not

seem like the public entirely knew that there was such a hearing taking place. The only notice that was given out for the student body was one line in The Reporter.

Only three students showed up to address their concerns with the hearing officials.

If more than just a handful of students were to show up, the concerns of us as the students of this school would have carried more weight rather then just being shrugged off by people who will face no repercussions for any of the violations that have occurred this election. Sad!

There was a fairly unfriendly atmosphere in the room where we did not know that we could give our input and address our issues until we had to ask at the very end of the meeting when the board was about to cast its votes. This put us at a heavy disadvantage since the weight of our argument could not fully settle before they voted on such an important issue. The meeting was even started before the so called chairmen showed up and continued on for about fifteen minutes until he arrived. Very unprofessional!

It appeared that the hearing’s main objective was not to fix the root of the problem of the MSSA scandal, but rather to either sweep it under the rug or to just attempt to appease the portion of the student body that is extremely upset by the incompetence of this administration and the MSSA as a whole. This is more than apparent when the main goal of the hearing was to figure out how to break the fewest amount of rules. A new low!

The solution we proposed was to push the election to the fall to give everyone a

fair shot with a true restart.

This would get new students with fresh ideas involved and change the lazy culture in the Senate where there is a bunch of talk and no action.

This culture change and ownership of responsibility is crucial to our growth as a campus. Shutting students out of an election is just the icing on the cake to the deep list of issues that plague our campus. We have to hold them to the truth!

-Derek Ringhand Aaron Eberhart

and

Take time to enjoy tasty tacos with TKE

STEPHANIE VOGEL Staff Writer

Want to eat tacos and support a good cause at the same time? Then you’re in luck! The fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon, or TKE, is hosting an event called “Tacos with TKEs” in conjunction with Live Active Apartments.

All-you-can-eat walking tacos will be served in the lounge of Live Active Apartments on 200 Briargate Rd. on Saturday, April 22, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. The cost for the event is $5 at the door. All of the proceeds will go to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Lydia Long, the marketing

and leasing manager at Live Active Apartments, emphasized why people should go to the event: “I think it’s a great cause to raise funds for children with cancer, and also to meet the TKE fraternity, and just get together on a Saturday morning and have a good time,” Long said. “We’ll have music and games and prizes, and we’re doing a drawing for an Xbox One as well.”

Long said that this is the first event that Live Active Apartments and the TKE fraternity have sponsored together.

Jesse Aland, the community service and philanthropy chair of TKE, is

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hosting Tacos with TKE. He explained what prizes will be given out at the event: “Every ticket is a chance to win a Live Active windbreaker and an Xbox One,” Aland said.

Tacos with TKE is just one example of what the TKE fraternity does on campus and in the community.

Aland explains what the fraternity TKE is and what they do, saying, “Our fraternity is an organization that focuses on leadership and community service. Our motto is ‘making better men for a better world.’ We do volunteering, we help out with special Olympics, we rake the town. We just did

highway cleanup yesterday.

We also hold leadership programs within our own fraternity. We participate in various events on campus as well.”

Aland says that he has “loved every minute” of being a part of the fraternity for his past four years at MNSU. There are other ways that the TKE fraternity helps out the community. Aland says, “We also do the security in the winter for the Kiwanis Light Show.”

Coming up, TKE will be hosting a barbecue in St. Peter on the first Sunday of May for the special Olympics Area 9, which, according

to the Gustavus website, encompasses “Athletes from Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Nicollet and other southern Minnesota counties.”

“It’s the spring Olympics that they host at Gustavus, and we host a barbecue for all the athletes,” Aland said.

The barbecue helps bring the community together for the special Olympics event.

For more information about TKE, visit www. mankatotke.com.

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Thursday, April 20, 2017

MSU Reporter • 3

News

Constitution Commission upholds election postponement

LUKE LARSON Staff Writer Ever since former presidential candidate Aaron Eberhart sent a letter to the editor to the Reporter alleging election corruption on April 8, the story on this year’s election has only continued to develop.

The Elections Commission acknowledged rule violations that they had made and sought to remedy these violations by postponing the election by three weeks (from April 12 to April 25).

In a public hearing (Zachary J. Orum vs. MSSA Elections Commission) held in the MSSA office on Tuesday, the Constitution Commission entered the discussion and took a stand on the issue.

In attendance were commission chair Daniel Gries and commission members Tien Bui, Kwadwo Owusa, David Cowan, and Ginger Zierdt.

The complainant, Zachary Orum, is a former independent senatorial candidate in this year’s election. Orum challenged the constitutionality of the Elections Commission’s decision. He emphasized

that he wanted to make sure that this never happens again. Future prevention of the issue was discussed during the event, but Cowan reminded the commission members that their job was to interpret the situation at hand. The commission did, however, note in a statement that “convening the Elections Commission early enough so its members can be educated as to its duties and responsibilities would help to avoid a repeat of the errors of omission that led to this Spring’s election controversy.”

Two clauses of the constitution were the crux of the discussion.

Article III Section 1 of the constitution states that “the Spring Elections of the MSSA shall be held on the second (2nd) Tuesday in April,” suggesting that the Elections Commission’s decision was a constitutional violation.

On the other hand, Article V Section 4 states that “the Elections Commission shall have sole authority to develop and enforce any and all rules and regulations regarding the Spring Elections, as well as any special elections,” suggesting that the Elections Commission made its decision within its legitimate constitutional authority.

Cowan made clear that the commission’s decision hinged on one question: was the Election Commission’s

NOW LEASING!

decision to postpone the election beyond the second Tuesday of April unconstitutional or was it within their constitutional power granted in the “sole authority” clause?

The commission members made arguments in favor of both sides.

Cowan said that, while the “second Tuesday” clause is clear as to the date, a special circumstance had arisen and that the commission’s interpretation of “sole authority” should permit reasonable actions taken in response to “substantial” circumstances. He compared the situation with severe weather events like blizzards and floods which would make holding the election difficult or impossible. Orum noted that the situation at hand was not an act of God, but a failure on the part of the Elections Commission to fulfill its duty.

Cowan argued, however, that it was important to take into consideration that the error was acknowledged by the Elections Commission.

Bui pushed back against Cowan’s interpretation.

He said that the “sole authority” clause should not be interpreted to mean that the Elections Commission can violate the constitution.

If that was admitted, he said, there would theoretically be nothing stopping the Elections Commission from determining the outcome

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of the election based on a coin toss. Cowan argued that the “sole authority” clause should be interpreted so that constitutional violations should be permitted so long as the Constitution Commission deems that there is “substantial reason” for doing so.

In a private meeting after the hearing, the Constitution Commission voted in favor of the Elections Commission.

In its statement, the commission concludes that “the date change was grounded in the attempt to broaden participation in the electoral process, a process that was initially hampered by shortcomings in its administration by that same Elections Commission. If the Elections Commission’s decision was arbitrary or capricious, the outcome of this Constitution interpretation may well have been different.”

Eberhart was in attendance along with Derek Ringhand, a former senatorial candidate for Eberhart’s Accountability Party.

Both expressed their belief not only in the unconstitutionality of the postponement, but also in the unfairness of holding any election this semester whatsoever. They made the case that the issue was that the Mavericks Empowering Mavericks party was given an unfair head-start in this semester’s election. The

Elections Commission’s postponement, they argue, does not remedy the issue— as the Elections Commission claims it does—because it does not change the fact that Mavericks Empowering Mavericks still has a headstart. At the hearing, Eberhart proposed that the election be postponed until fall semester so as to provide a “true restart.” Eberhart and Ringhand have submitted a letter to the editor detailing their position, which can be found on page two.

Objections toward the fall election proposal were made during the hearing. The commission commented on this in its statement, saying that it “would have created problems including issues of who governs for five months between a Fall Election and when the existing 84th session of the MSSA/Senate terminates following the May Commencement.”

No representative of the Elections Commission was present.

Cowan says that the circumstances of this year’s election are unprecedented in his experience with MSSA. Both Zierdt and Cowan referred to the issue as “huge.”

CONSTITUTION page 8

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4 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, April 20, 2017 EMAIL THE EMAIL THE EDITOR CHIEF: EDITOR IN IN CHIEF:

What brings you true happiness?

MARJAN HUSSEIN Staff Writer Happiness is a vital emotion for any human being. The state of happiness has no comparison as it is special in a way that is hard to describe yet simple and satisfactory.

Happiness is achieved through various means. For example, being with family, receiving an award, or completing a hard task can all bring people the feeling of happiness. Happiness can even be achieved by two complete strangers just sharing a smile.

We all search for happiness, but in today’s society of “things,” does accumulating possessions make people happier? The famous quote “money can’t buy happiness” comes to mind, though in today’s society, those well off seem happier.

Students at Minnesota State University, Mankato all had different takes on whether accumulation of possessions makes people happier.

Christopher Kahl, an undergraduate history major, states that possessions do not inherently make people happier but acquiring them

does bring a sense of joy. He gives the example of a family in search of a house wanting to start up a home.

Sara Baranczyk, an undergraduate double major in physics education and communication, arts and literature education, states that it depends on what the possessions are. She says that people want to gain more in life as they grow older or attain a given status influences their need for more possessions thus making them happier in a sense.

Troy Garland, an undergraduate pursuing a degree in interdisciplinary studies, also says it depends on the possessions and the people one chooses to share their possessions with.

Jamie Nelson, an undergraduate film and media studies major, had a completely different idea. She states that, in her perspective, possessions bring the least amount of happiness, making people feel trapped, because the more they have the more it weighs them down. She states that society plays a huge role in dictating how people accumulate possessions, because the motive today is for people to

Pulse

RAE MATTHEW FRAME EBERLINE alyssa.frame

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

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. .......................................

Luke Lonien............................389-5227 A&E EDITOR: Gabe Hewitt........................................

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389-1926 Jane Tastad............................. ......................... 389-1926

(CC BY-NC 2.0) by barbara carneiro just keep buying and piling things up, oftentimes hardly using any of the majority of the possessions they own.

Adam Anderson, an undergraduate pursuing a degree in law enforcement, states that possessions hardly make people happy and bases his argument on upbringing. He says that if one had grown up with massive amounts of possessions, then they would only be satisfied if they have the same when they come of age. He argues that it’s the same case if one grew up with a small portion of possessions; they can be pleased with little.

Society does in fact have a significant role in shaping the behaviors of people. Most of

the time, people want more because others are in pursuit of the same, without clear knowledge of how having more would benefit them.

In my perspective, happiness is achieved by being with the people one holds close to their heart— the individuals that bring out the best in you through times of trial and joy. Happiness is never achieved through accumulation of possessions because they come and go in a flash.

Being happy does not come from accumulating possessions, but rather from truly appreciating what one has.

AD. DESIGN/PROD. DESIGN/PROD. MGR.: MGR.: AD. Dana Clark............................

Clark........................... 389-2793 Dana

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.

“What brings you happiness?”

Compiled by Nicole Schmidt

SAMANTHA CRAFT SOCIAL WORK

BAYLIE GALBRETH ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

MATTHEW JENSEN POLITICAL SCIENCE

KIT INGERSOLL INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

JAMES AYALA MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

“My dog.”

“Family.”

“Life experiences with people I care about.”

“Money.”

“Understanding your classes and where you are going.”

Thursday, April 20, 2017

MSU Reporter • 5

News

Financial Aid’s Sandra Loerts to retire after 38 years

ALISSA THIELGES Staff Writer After almost 38 years of dedicated service, Minnesota State University, Mankato is saying goodbye to one of its esteemed employees, Sandra Loerts, who is retiring from her position as Director of Financial Aid Tuesday, April 25. With her extensive experience, Loerts has had the unique opportunity to see financial aid grow and adapt with the times into the office we have today.

Loerts first started working here at MNSU as a graduate assistant for the Financial Aid office while she was working on her Master’s degree in sociology, human service administration. Her work was to help automate the award and award letter process. After graduating from her Master’s program, Loerts applied for an open position as a financial aid advisor and got hired in August 1979. From there, she gradually worked her way to

her current position as the director.

“I thought I’d only stay for a year,” she said. “And then 38 years later, I’m still here.”

Prior to becoming the fulltime director, Loerts filled in as the acting director a couple of different times when the previous director took his sabbaticals. When the previous director decided to step down from the position, Loerts filled in for two years before eventually going through a national search and finally being hired as the official director in February 1990.

Loer ts enjoys the details and the fast-paced environment of the job.

The different layers of regulations that financial aid has to follow—from the federal government, state government, MnSCU, MNSU, and also student financial aid itself—are always fluctuating and changing, and Loerts enjoys keeping up with them and the research that goes along with that. She says that’s the reason she stayed as long as she has.

“I like the regulations, I like the detail, I like the paperwork, I like the research, I like presenting to students and parents and helping

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solve problems,” she said.

With a Bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology, Loerts passion is working with people who need assistance, so financial aid for college students is right up her alley.

“That’s the exciting part of the job—the students,” she says. “Working directly with them. If I didn’t have that piece, I wouldn’t like my job as much as I do.”

Loerts has been able to see the financial aid office change throughout the years.

As someone who worked in the computer division at Schwan’s for a year before pursuing her Master’s, Loerts sees how technology has made a huge impact in the way financial aid operates.

“We used to, when we would give an award to a student, print off a letter,

mail that out, and they’d mail things to us,” she said. “Now we push a few little buttons and the award notice goes out. The students know what their award is before we even send the email out, because they can see it on E-Services right away.”

Loerts urges students to be proactive in their rights as a student by keeping an eye on Congress and the laws that are brought to them.

Students have a greater impact on those decisions than if a financial aid director were to write to them, she says.

The decision to retire was not an easy one, she said, due to her love for her work and her dedicated staff. However, she felt that it was best to leave while things were going well, “versus when pieces are falling apart,” she said.

Loer ts’ plans for retirement include working with more individuals who need assistance; instead of students, though, she’s planning to do some volunteer work with individuals with dementia. She also has an interest in climate change and is hoping to take a class or go to seminars on that. Mostly, however, she is looking forward to a “freer structure.”

A retirement reception for Loerts will be held Friday, April 21 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in CSU Conference Rooms 253/4/5. Her successor, C. Tyler Heu, will begin his duties on May 15. Heu has 18 years of financial aid background and is currently serving as the Assistant Director of Student Financial Services for Washington State University.

6 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Columbine: Trying to understand the mind of a killer Many unanswered questions remain, even after 18 years.

RACHAEL JAEGER Staff Writer In memory of Columbine’s eighteenth anniversar y shooting, I believed it would be helpful to examine what may have gone on with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

The popular reasons, which I would like to call “a blame game,” range from teaching evolution versus creation in public schools, influence of the video game Mortal Kombat and music KMFDM/ Rammstein/Insane Clown Imposse, the drugs both shooters took for their mental health, and the lack of involvement of parents in their lives.

I will return to address especially the latter reason, having begun to read the book A Mother’s Reckoning, in which Sue Klebold wrote about her son Dylan. There is no one who could be harder on herself than a parent who did her best to raise her children with values and instill morals in them. She blamed herself for years after the tragedy, which is exactly why she had maintained a private life until her book’s publication last year.

Harris grew up in a military family, which moved around several times. From a young age, it was challenging for Klebold to make friends because he didn’t know how to approach them.

Brooks Brown, who recalls his friendships with both young men, started his own book with his last interaction with Harris in his own book No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine.

Harris, who had skipped his finals and his classes all morning, told Brown:

commons.wikimedia.org “Brooks, I like you now. Get out of here. Go home.”

Brooks had been on Harris’ list to kill only a few months before on an online page Harris had created.

In his whole book, Brooks is brutally honest about what life was like in Littleton, Colorado at the high school.

In contrast to Klebold, most of those kids did not grow up with the same values to respect others like he did, and so he was an easy target. He internalized his growing rage because of what was going on around him and searched for another meaning he could believe in.

“Dylan was a smart kid who could see the injustices of the world as clearly as I could,” Brooks observed in his book. “He was frustrated by them, and, like many kids, he saw a bleak future for our generation.”

Brown added that Harris had felt the same way because of how he was treated, too.

“And like Dylan, Eric saw the injustices of the world quite clearly, even as he was getting beat up at the high school locker room or jumping to avoid the glass bottles thrown at him out of the passing cars of Columbine football players,” Brooks also wrote, but added just a few sentences later that the difference between them is that he had a “dark side” and “mean streak” which these injustices only fueled.

Despite that Brown had alerted the police about the content of Harris’ webpages, the police would haunt Brown for months after the shooting based on a strong suspicion that he had some participation with what happened.

Brown wanted to make a difference in these two boys’ lives to the point that he gave Harris another chance after months of silence and even though they were still on shaky terms at that time. Brown had reported a three-page document that detailed the pipe bombs he and Klebold had made along with the “Rebel Missions” they went on.

Harris’ threat to Brown’s life and the fact that Harris had made a vicious record on the people he hated is enough to make everyone cringe. However, no one tries to understand why. All three of those boys—Brown, Harris, and Klebold—grew up in a

climate that they felt unable to survive in. They wanted to feel they had power in some way, even to the extent that they killed themselves at the end of the shooting rampage in the library.

Both Harris and Klebold knew the power they exercised over the high school would not last. They would have been imprisoned at the least or put in the electric chair. They had lived in prison for long enough at their high school that they would not be willing or have lasted, had prison been an option.

According to the tapes which Brown said in his book that have never been released to the public and just to the media, both Klebold and Harris had given their final comments. “‘Just know that I’m going to a better place than here,” Klebold had said. “I didn’t like life too much, and I know I’ll be happier wherever the f*** I go. So I’m gone.”

Even Harris may had more of a humane heart than what most thought.

“I just wanted to apologize to you guys for any crap,” Harris said. “To everyone I love, I’m really sorry about all of this. I know my mom and dad will be just f****** shocked beyond belief.”

Not much is known

COLUMBINE page 7

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MSU Reporter • 7

News

Tough talks addressed at Ostrander event STEPHANIE VOGEL Staff Writer During the months of March and April, a series of five panel discussions related to “American Politics and Our Democratic Principles” have taken place. The discussions were held in the Ostrander Auditorium of the CSU. On Wednesday, April 19, the last panel discussion was held, with the title “What Should I Say and How Should I Say It? Communication Strategies for Challenging Conversations.”

The event started with an introduction, followed by five speakers for five minutes each. The speakers were MNSU faculty with expertise on the topic of challenging conversations.

Kristen Cvancara, an associate professor of Communications Studies at

MNSU, was the first panelist to speak. She addressed holding challenging conversations with close relationships like family members, friends, and colleagues.

She said, “We all know what a challenging conversation feels like. It’s that sick pit in our stomach, sweaty palms, anxiety, and it is often associated with a bit of a cloud in our mind.”

She said that we often use avoidance to save ourselves from hassle, which in the end does not bring resolution to the problem at hand.

Briana Williamson, the director of student success for institutional diversity, was the next to speak. She has experience with interacting with students and helping them talk about their personal traumas.

She said, “When I heard the topic of the panel being

challenging conversations, initially I thought about, ‘what are the ways on a daily basis that we have these challenging conversations.’”

She thought about how she interacts with students on a day-to-day basis as a professional. She asked herself, “What are the things that the students wish that we, as the professionals in the situation, knew about them?”

How do those unknown aspects of our lives impact our relationships?

Sachi Sekimoto, an associate professor of Communication Studies, first thought about race when thinking about the topic of this discussion.

She said, “Race, I think, is one of the most challenging things to talk about, especially in this political climate. It is everywhere: it is always on the news, on our minds,

shaping our relationships, our conflict, and also solutions that we provide.”

She brought the challenging dialogue regarding race to a local level by mentioning “Minnesota nice.”

“Minnesota nice can be a genuine niceness and hospitality. On the other side of the spectrum, Minnesota nice is just simple passiveaggressiveness. Minnesota nice is about kind of understating your worth and your culture,” Sekimoto said.

Minnesota nice can therefore be perceived as a barrier or wall between cultures, preventing people from talking about real issues.

Chris Brown, a professor of Communication Studies, was interested in civility, fear, and managing conflict.

Renee Turgeon, the assistant director of the Women’s Center focused

on empathy and active listening.

After all of the panelists had spoken, the discussion was opened up to the audience, who asked questions for the panelists to answer.

The open discussion lasted for about 30 minutes. The panel closed with remarks of gratitude toward those who had helped make the event possible.

Panel discussions similar to these are planned to take place next year as well. Future themes may be related to agriculture, as that plays a large role in our economy in Southern Minnesota, or health and biomedical sciences, as that academic area is being expanded on our campus with the addition of the new health and clinical sciences building.

guns in the Klebold household. She also thanks the people who have reached out to their family through their numerous letters and various considerate acts.

There are many other topics I would love to hit on but would not have room or time for. While Sue advocates for mental illness awareness and while it may be a factor, I also believe it is the effect of the social environment that drove Harris and Klebold to their horrendous deed.

Does it excuse what they did? No. But once someone

has fought for long enough and have reached a point where they have had enough, you will never know when they will give up or respond to their circumstances.

Loneliness is a monster that will consume you. I know how it feels, while not in a hostile environment like Columbine, but ostracized because you have never fit into a group even though you have tried and your life has been in a state of flux because you are trying to constantly adapt.

Sometimes it is difficult to see what few friends you do

have and why they matter to you. Sometimes you do want to give up.

Brown shared his reason for coming out with his book in 2002, just a few years after the Columbine shooting.

“My hope is that the people who read this book will look at the big picture behind Columbine, and see what needs to change,” Brown wrote. “I hope that people will open their eyes.”

COLUMBINE

Continued from page 6 about Harris’ parents, but the Columbine incident sure devastated Klebold’s parents. In her memoir, Sue discusses how her emotions sucked any other energy out of her to accomplish basic tasks like putting on a sock.

After she finally was able to do that after several hours, she remembers staring into the darkness.

“I have 17 phone messages and don’t have the energy to listen to them,” Sue records in a journal entry dated May 1999. “Dylan’s room is just as the law enforcement people

left it, and I can’t face putting it in order.”

So as to the remark about Sue not being a meticulous parent to notice any changes in Klebold, she loved the vibrancy and the compassion she saw in her son. But she also didn’t blame others for blaming her.

“Obviously, the parents had been oblivious, irresponsible, secretly abusive,” Sue writes in her memoir. “Of course the mother had been a shrew, a smotherer, a doormat.”

Yet to anyone who believes that, Sue never encouraged

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8 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, April 20, 2017

DEBATE

Continued from page 1 Fred de Ruiter: “So, I did my homework on this one… Now, from what I’ve heard, this bill is dead in committee. That this bill will not even be coming back to the floor. Now, I heard that from various contacts at the University of Minnesota who testified on behalf of that…it could come back, in which case I think we need to go advocate for it. We do have a lobbying organization in Students United, but I don’t think Students United can necessarily advocate for everything that Mankato wants or desires. It’s about taking it to our senators, and if this becomes an issue, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be calling Jack Considine and saying ‘as students, we do not support this,’ and making sure that our voices are heard in the legislature.”

Question from the gallery (President Rayani): “As president of Mankato State University, you will basically be serving on a board of directors for the statewide student government. So what are some initiatives that you plan to take on statewide and how do you feel about the appropriation model in the MnSCU system?”

Fred de Ruiter: “I am very skeptical about this directorship position; I have been ever since the controversy of two years back about the Minnesota Higher Education Illuminati. And it’s skepticism which I still hold about the organization and its intent. However, I think this is a very healthy skepticism that I am always mindful about what is going on with the organization. With specific initiatives, I was able to attend the meeting previously in April, and I got some motions, such as providing free hygiene products across all campuses, making sure it’s a more holistic and family environment for all students.

And also trying to see what we can do to protect our students so ICE doesn’t take them away… To prepare myself for that position, I’ve actually read every piece of legislation that was going in the House as of April, and state Senate, in order to prepare myself and actually have a list of certain bills and such that we should support.

I think that we’re here for Mankato first before the other schools and I think we should voice that we want specific things that may not benefit the other schools. Try to promote that ‘all for one

and one for all’ kind of vibe so that we can support our own individualistic institutions and also supporting Minnesota as a whole.”

Abdul-Aziz: “I’m actually very optimistic about the next group of Students United. I think essentially when you have that many students getting together and collaborating on what they can do to advocate for seven campuses across the state of Minnesota, I think that’s great. I think we need to see more advocacy with that. That’s great. But overall, I think the collaboration is, the fact that we all get together and we do have all these different universities that do need different things but we can collaborate on it because if MSU has this and specifically needs this, in the motion that we’re writing, it may not pertain to Winona, but they go, ‘hey, it would also be great if you add this in.’ We didn’t think of that before. Collaboration will make the overall plan better.

So I’m very optimistic in the way that Students United is headed and if I do get elected and I am on the Board of Directors I’ll be very happy, because once we get there, we can start talking about issues that maybe aren’t as prevalent on our campus but are very prevalent on other campuses. And we can… possibly address those and fix it. … As for specific things you want to work on, we also talk about accessibility resources… and I think that’s a huge one across campuses… so it’s taking that issue to a state level and specifically addressing the individual things that they need to happen on each campus.”

VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE Question from the gallery: “What specific initiatives and projects would you undertake as Vice President to make MNSU more transparent and accessible to everyone?”

K ay l a Cremer s: “Transparency is very important to our students—a lot of the students don’t know what MSSA is and that needs to change. Things that I would like to do is improve communications and introduce Town Hall Tuesdays which Abdul had previously talked about, which is we would come down to the Hearth Lounge for a couple hours and make sure that we are available to our fellow students and make sure that we are hearing their concerns and how we can address them in the senate meetings and then invite them to the senate meetings and make sure that we are representing them efficiently.”

Jeremiah Kirch: “If I were elected as Vice President, I would be serving as the voice of students and not my own personal views—whereas I cannot make decisions right now on behalf of them because that would not be fulfilling my duties as Vice President of MSSA.” “How are we going to engage the domestic student population? What is your party going to do to engage the domestic student population?”

Kayla Cremers: “I think international students, because I have a work study in graduate admissions and I know that what they have to submit is far more than what a domestic student would have to submit— as documentation and

achievements and so forth.

The point that I was just trying to get at is we hold them to a higher standard. We expect so much from them and if we do the same thing then for our domestic students, we raise the standard for them, and maybe that in turn will get more involvement and more engagement and more opinions and so forth.”

Jeremiah Kirch: “I actually do realize the issue with domestic students not sharing their opinions, I personally

am one of those and they make up this campus. For some reason, they just don’t give their voice in as much as they should. And a part of our party is finding out how we can reach those students that aren’t as loud as any of the other students (UNSURE)… that’s part of what our party is trying to do, is trying to figure out (UNSURE), even if they’re not trying to talk.”

CONSTITUTION Continued from page 3 While Cowan made clear that the Constitution Commission was focused on the constitutionality of the postponement, for the sake of context it is worth noting the two rules the Elections Commission failed to comply with.

They are listed as follows in the MSSA Spring Election Rules: 1) “The Elections Commission shall distribute posters advertising upcoming elections and candidacy filing procedures” and 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.”

The Constitution Commission is one of five independent MSSA boards

and commissions, whose members are appointed by student senate and the MNSU president, according to MSSA advisor John Bulcock. The Elections Commission is also an independent commission. Bulcock notes that the Constitution Commission acts more or less as the Supreme Court of MSSA. According to the constitution, the commission has “ultimate authority for the interpretation of this Constitution and its Bylaws, and the internal articles of operations and procedures of the Student Senate and its committees” and that the “rulings of the Constitution Commission are final and not subject to appeal.”

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Minnesota State University, Mankato

A&E

MSU Reporter • 9 Have a story idea or a comment?

EMAIL

A&E Editor Gabe Hewitt

gabriel.hewitt@mnsu.edu

Fate of the Furious takes a turn for the worse Latest installment in franchise pits the family against each other.

DAVID PARPART Staff Writer Warning: This review may contain some mild spoilers.

Now that Dom and Letty are on their honeymoon, Brian and Mia have retired from the game, and the rest of the crew has been exonerated, the globetrotting team has found a semblance of a normal life. But when a mysterious woman named Cipher (Charlize Theron) seduces Dom (Vin Diesel) into the world of crime he can’t seem to escape and a betrayal of those closest to him, they will face trials that will test them as never before.

From the shores of Cuba and the streets of New York City to the icy plains off the arctic Barents Sea, the elite force will crisscross the globe to stop an anarchist from unleashing chaos on the world’s stage and to bring home the man who made them a family.

Dom and Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) go to Berlin with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel). They have an EMP in their possession and now have a number of goons on their tail.

They take them out with a

(CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore wrecking ball that Tej helped set up. When they get far enough, they split up. Hobbs rides next to Dom and thanks him for the help, promising beers when this is over.

Dom doesn’t say a word, but then slams into Hobbs’ truck, causing him to crash. Dom takes the EMP and leaves Hobbs to get arrested as he informs the others that Dom has gone rogue.

Hobbs is locked up in the same prison as Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), with their cells directly across from each

other. Before being taken to his cell, Hobbs meets with Agent Frank Petty, aka “Mr. Nobody” (Kurt Russell), and his new partner, Eric Reisner, who is later nicknamed “Little Nobody” (Scott Eastwood).

Mr. Nobody wants to help Hobbs and vice versa, but Hobbs doesn’t quite trust him. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew is hiding out at a garage, still in disbelief that Dom betrayed them.

Hobbs and Deckard (Jason Statham) join the rest of the crew at Nobody’s HQ as they

are briefed on the mysterious woman known as Cipher.

Deckard knows her because she recruited his brother, Owen (Luke Evans), to steal the Nightshade, and was also involved in getting Mose Jakande to steal The God’s Eye surveillance system.

Since Dom foiled both those plans, it makes sense that she would go after him directly. Letty recognizes Cipher’s henchman, Connor Rhodes (Kristofer Hivju), from her days working with Owen.

Roman suggests they use

God’s Eye to locate Dom. When Ramsey tries to do so, they get hit with signals from all around the globe. After removing the least likely areas, they are left with one location—the very building they are standing in.

An explosion goes off and knocks everyone down. Dom and Cipher come in and steal God’s Eye. As they are walking away, Letty calls Dom out and asks if he’s really going to turn his back on his family.

Dom doesn’t say a word, but Cipher walks up to him and kisses him in front of Letty and they walk out together.

I haven’t been able to watch the other seven films in the franchise, but this movie is definitely worth it for the fans. It has a touching dedication to Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker’s character) after he died. It definitely had so much adrenaline that I was on the edge of my seat with all the action sequences that made you feel like you were there.

I thought the story was well-written for the franchise that it’s in. It had the mixture of comedy and action that

FURIOUS

page 12

Netflix picks: Kubo and the Two Strings Follow a one-eyed boy on a journey to recover magical armor.

screen, along with a huge tidal wave about to swallow them whole.

Kubo’s mom is carrying a shamisen, a three-stringed Japanese musical instrument that looks somewhat like a banjo. She gives the strings of the shamisen a viscous strike with a pick and a magical sound wave is emitted from the shamisen, splitting the giant wave ahead of her down the middle.

The two are safe now, but only for a moment. To her surprise, Kubo’s mom doesn’t

CALEB HOLLDORF Staff Writer Life doesn’t give you a choice in regard to the hand you’re dealt; your job is to play it to the best of your ability and hope for the best, maybe.

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) follows Kubo, a one eyed magical boy who escaped on his mom’s back from his magical, malevolent aunts. His aunts are constantly hunting him for his other eye, not resting until they obtain them both. Kubo is a powerful character whose potential is discovered as he wanders through the world he’s in. He is on a quest to

(CC BY-NC 2.0) by Pink Cow Photography reclaim the magical armor his father wore, compiled of a helmet, sword, and body

armor.

The film starts with the narrative voice of Kubo speaking

to the viewer. A small boat with Kubo and his mom in a treacherous storm come on

KUBO

page 10

10 • MSU Reporter

A&E

Sharp-tongued drag queens take stage RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants roast each other.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

KUBO Continued from Page 9

(CC BY 2.0) by BagoGames

(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by DeShaun Craddock DAVID PARPART Staff Writer For those who don’t know, this “Shady Tour” features past drag queens that were in RuPaul’s Drag Race. There are only three actual winners from either RuPaul’s Drag Race or RuPaul’s AllStars and they were Alaska, Jinkx Monsoon, and Bob the Drag Queen.

If you have seen, for example, The Roast of Justin Bieber from Comedy Central, this is what it is except for drag queens going at each other. These sharp-tongued queens take to the stage with stingers and zingers from politics to love to social media and even their “sisters” on stage. Anything is fair game. It’s an evening of hilar-

ious comedy, the shady way.

The queens that were there were: Alaska, Kim Chi, Trixie Mattel, Jinkx Monsoon, Phi Phi O’Hara, Latrice Royale, and Bob the Drag Queen with Ginger Minj as the host.

The event took place at Pantages Theater in Minneapolis on April 13 and it was sold out. If you were a diehard or super fan, you were given the opportunity to get VIP tickets for premium main floor reserved seats plus meet and greet and pictures with the queens along with an autographed official tour poster.

I went with my best friend and we could not stop laughing at the burns made to each queen. It was filled with knee-slappers and “Oh my God” moments that made it

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a fun-filled Thursday night. I can’t really pick which queen was the best with their shade, but each queen had their own way of bringing out their shade that it made the roasting even better. If they come back, I definitely will be going again.

One thing that was so great about the roast is that even after all that was said, the queens are still sisters to each other to this day. No matter what, at the end of the day, these drag queens are there for each other as so are those in the LGBT community with what’s been going on in the world today. We all have thrown shade at each other, but what matters is that there is still love for each other.

Spread love and not hate.

realize the identical tidal wave rising directly behind her. Before she can do much else, she looks up and watches the wave crash down on her. She is sucked underneath the wave and her face smacks a rock on the ocean floor.

They both surprisingly survive, and yet tragedy never shies too far away from Kubo. After that night of lying on the shore, we see Kubo lead a simple life of storytelling with live origami pieces every day for the village he lives near.

We also see Kubo take care of his mom during the day because her brain is that of a vegetable, nearly all mush. The impact of her head hitting that rock in the beginning messed with her brain and caused irreparable damage.

It’s a bit confusing, though, since when Kubo returns to his home at night, his mom’s brain comes back to life. Nighttime seems to be the only time she’s able to be with

Kubo as her fully functional self. Upon sunrise, Kubo leaves her at home, where she sits all day blank-faced staring out into an ocean.

Most of the film revolves around Kubo trying to make his life better, and by better, that means happiness. It’s funny how we take for granted some of the best things we have in our life. They seem so small they end up blinding us from what we already have, and Kubo shows the audience those things in subtle ways.

The stop motion animation director Travis Knight uses in Kubo and the Two Strings is one of the most refreshing animation styles I’ve seen in a while, a bit baffling in fact. A beautiful picture accompanied with such a well-crafted story, this film, in my opinion, is up there with some of the best made in recent memory.

Reporter Rating

5 5

Thursday, April 20, 2017

MSU Reporter • 11

A&E

Album review: Future Islands’ The Far Field Synthpop band’s new album keeps usual rippling synths and basslines.

KRISTINA BUSCH Staff Writer Future Islands’ sound is one that is somewhat hard to explain, you’ll just have to listen.

Lead singer Sam Herring’s sad lyrics tend to contrast with the upbeat, lively mood of the music. In an interview with Slate, Herring said, “Where the songs have always been kind of upbeat and happy, the message is often melancholy. I like it that way, people’s natural instinct is to let their guards down and dance, and then they actually let the words seep in.

Instead of running away from the darkness, they embrace the light and find the darkness. I think the opposite is true too.”

In the song “Ran,” Herring sings about love, his life on the road, and the difficulty in balancing both, understood when he sings, “On these roads / Out of love, so it goes / How it feels when we fall, when we fold / How we lose control, on these roads.”

The following track, “Beauty on the Road,” carries a similar theme to “Ran.” The song has been mentioned to be about Herring’s former relationship he had in his early 20s, which came to an end because of troubles caused by constantly being on tour.

Herring reflects on the challenges of this relationship, with lyrics like, “Oh, at last! / You’re here in my arms again / And I don’t know how long / So I won’t waste a bit.”

“Candles” is a slower song, where Herring recognizes the

pain he causes for his former lover, when he sings, “Where does it go? / This one, for the last time, baby, I know / A little candle like you / Don’t deserve the hurt you’re going through.” Although the remaining songs in the album have more upbeat instrumentals, “Candles” is a nice reprieve and moment of reflection.

“Shadows” features the band Blondie’s vocalist Debbie Harry and is the most impressive track of the album.

The song hints at themes that show how memories from the past can affect the intimacy of a future relationship. The song merges 80s synth beats with a strong bassline, with lyrics like, “These old shadows (They’re just shadows) / Crotcheted and trembling, nude / I’m walking a ghost, but I wanna walk next to you.”

In an interview with The Skinny, Herring discussed the process in finding a guest vocalist for the song. He said, “She (Harry) recorded her vocals in New York, so we’ve not actually met her, but I did have the surreal experience of sending some emails back and forth with her. It really made sense because she’s singing from the perspective of this much greater presence, who’s pulling me out of the darkness—so to have somebody so iconic fill that role was what the song needed.”

As compared to Future Islands’ previous album, Seasons, The Far Field sticks to the same formula musically, which I don’t mind. Rather than meddling with a new

(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by DeShaun Craddock sound, Future Islands stays with what works, which is songs built around rippling synths and intense basslines.

Herring doesn’t change the fact that he expresses raw and honest emotions in his lyrics. If he didn’t, then it just wouldn’t feel right. Future Islands recently told NME that The Far Field to them is like a “driving album”, best enjoyed blasting while on the highway. I definitely agree.

Reporter Rating

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12 • MSU Reporter

A&E

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Prince William speaks with Lady Gaga on mental health British heir asks pop star to help educate public about mental health issues.

LONDON (AP) — Prince William has enlisted Lady Gaga in his campaign to persuade people to be more open about mental health issues.

The heir to the British throne released a video Tuesday in which he speaks with the pop star via FaceTime. Lady Gaga, who last year spoke out about her struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, places the call from her kitchen in California, and William answers at his desk in Kensington Palace.

“It’s interesting to see and hear from you how much having that conversation . has really made a difference to you,” William said in the video. “It’s so important to break open that fear and that taboo which is only going to lead to more problems down the line.”

The conversation is part of the latest blitz by the young royals as they campaign to end the stigma associated with mental health issues. William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, along with his brother, Prince

Harry, have made mental health a focus of their charitable work.

It comes a day after the Daily Telegraph published an unusually candid interview with Harry. The 32-yearold prince acknowledged that he spent nearly 20 years “not thinking” about the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and that he only got help after two years of “total chaos.”

Though the royal family has toiled for years for hundreds of charities, the work on mental health represents something of a departure — in part because of the taboo long associated with psychological issues. It can be seen as an extension of the work of Diana, who among other things shook the hand of an HIV-positive man during the height of the Aids crisis.

“She created the new template, the new orthodoxy,” said Ellis Cashmore, a visiting professor of sociology at Aston University and the author of “Elizabeth Taylor: A Private Life for Public Consumption.”

“She was rewriting the

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press script of the royals for the future.”

Mental health charities are flatly thrilled. Comments from the royals gain immediate attention — particularly when they offer tantalizing revelations about their private lives. But mostly the comments show that it is normal to seek assistance when going through tough times.

FURIOUS Continued from page 9 kept you entertained. For someone who hasn’t seen the other seven movies, I was able to understand what was all going on in the movie.

The highlight of the film was the main focus on the importance of family.

You should never give up

on family no matter what comes in the way.

If you’re a Fast & Furious fan or just a moviegoer, I would recommend seeing this movie. You will enjoy the ride.

Reporter Rating

4.5 5

MSU Reporter • 13

Thursday, April 20, 2017

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Minnesota State University, Mankato

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Maverick baseball outscores NSU 18-2 in sweep

JAMES ANDERSEN Staff Writer The Minnesota State baseball team swept Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) foe Northern State at home on Tuesday afternoon.

The Mavs won the first game 5-1, and the next game right after 13-1 in a shortened game.

For the first game, junior right-hander Dalton Roach owned the Wolves as he tossed a seven-inning complete game. He gave up two hits, struck out the Wolves twelve times, and didn’t allow an earned run. Roach notched his seventh win on the season, and lowered his team-best ERA to 1.36. Roach

is also leading the conference in strikeouts so far with 83.

The first run of the game didn’t come until the fifth inning. The Mavs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to the help of senior third baseman Eric Peterson’s double. That hit drove in sophomore left-fielder Tyler Berg.

Northern State did not help their cause in the next inning as their defensive errors caused four more runs for MSU. The Mavs had the bases loaded and freshman second baseman Tommy McDonald grounded into a fielder’s choice which drove in one run. However, NSU had their error which allowed two more runs. McDonald then scored later on in the inning due to a balk.

The Wolves scored their only run in the top of the seventh. Roach didn’t let the game get any closer and shut NSU down.

Senior right hander Mitch Bauer started in the second game. Bauer was very effective throwing 66 pitches, allowing only five hits and one run. He also struck out the Wolves five times in six innings. Bauer’s win brought his record to 6-0 on the season.

The Mavs scored early and often in this game. They were able to get 12 of their 13 runs in the first three innings. They scored three runs in the first, four in the second, and five in the third. The final run came in the fifth inning for the Mavs.

Junior catcher Noah Bluth hit his third homerun of the season. It was a solo blast over the left-field wall in the second.

Peterson led the Mavs in runs scored with four. That increased his all-time scoring mark to 204 at MSU. Peterson also leads the Mavs in hitting percentage, and this

Photo by BoHyun Ahn game improved that average to .392.

Sophomore right-hander Bobby Gauvreau pitched the final inning for the Mavs.

He made quick work of the Wolves as he did not allow a hit.

The two wins for the Mavs put their record at 30-7 overall, and 25-3 in the conference. MSU will travel to Bemidji, Minn. to take on the

Beavers of Bemidji State this weekend. They will play two double-headers on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at noon.

Bemidji is currently 12-22 with a 9-13 NSIC record. The last time the Mavs and Beavers faced each other was last season, where the Mavs swept them in a four-game series.

Women’s golf finishes first at Minnesota State Invitational The Mavs have been dealing with troublesome weather this season, but have performed well.

RYAN SJOBERG Staff Writer The Minnesota State University women’s golf team is peaking at the best time of the season. With the conference tournament coming up this weekend and a couple big-time national tournaments thereafter, the Mavericks finished first at the

Genie Short

Minnesota State Invitational this past weekend.

The tournament was held at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids, Minnesota.

The weather for this tournament was very interesting to say the least. Saturday called

for rain as it was off-andon all day while Sunday was warm and sunny throughout but extremely windy, causing golfers to adjust where they aim and how to play certain shots. Assistant Coach Tabitha Kunst applauded

the field in this one. Finishing first with a score of 624, the next closest team was Concordia-St. Paul with a total score of 643.

Individually, the Mavericks showed out. The team placed six golfers in the top-

80 to capture third. Placing in a tie for fifth was junior Genie Short. Short battled the conditions for rounds of 82 and 77. Sophomore Nattiya Somboonsup and freshman Kayla Thielan tied for 7th as Somboonsup shot 79/81

“‘The weather this spring has not been cooperative. We have had to play in tournaments with little to no preparation. Although we have yet to show our full potential, our coaching staff is proud of the girls for their perseverance through the tough conditions,’ Kunst said.” her team for playing in tough conditions throughout the spring.

“The weather this spring has not been cooperative.

We have had to play in tournaments with little to no preparation. Although we have yet to show our full potential, our coaching staff is proud of the girls for their perseverance through the tough conditions,” Kunst said.

The weather may have been irritating, but winning may have just made up for it as the Mavericks blew past

ten which is relatively unheard of at a tournament with more than three teams. Winning it all and finishing first was sophomore Haley Tollette with rounds of 80 and 73.

73 was the lowest round at the tournament as she came from behind to win. Tollette is continuing to build on her impressive spring season as this is now her second-first place finish. Sophomore Abbe Partington has also found herself in the top-ten a couple times this spring. Partington fired consistent rounds of 77 and

and Thielan recovered after a first round 84 to shoot 76 the second day. Rounding out the top-ten for the Mavs was freshman Maddy Schintz, who placed 9th with consistent scores of 81 and 80.

Kunst had encouraging words for a couple golfers on this young team.

“Sophomore Haley Tollette has had a strong start this spring with a couple subpar rounds and a couple first place finishes. After some minor struggles in the fall, she has made a putting

change and is stroking it beautifully. Sophomore Nattiya Somboonsup has been working hard on her mental game and is starting to see the results she has been looking for. Freshman Kayla Thielan has undergone a swing overhaul and is firing career low rounds.”

The Mavericks look to con-

Abbe Partington tinue their hot play as they play in the NSIC Conference Championship this Saturday/ Sunday at Dakota Ridge Golf Club in Morton, Minnesota.

14 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Upsets name of the game for NBA playoffs?

COLTON MOLESKY Staff Writer As the playoffs kickoff and teams start the first round, some find themselves in tight spots against teams they should be able to handle.

Most notably the one-seeded Boston Celtics, who currently trail the eighth-seeded Chicago Bulls who have them on the ropes, up 2-0.

The other teams who should be on high-alert are the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors, both of whom are tied 1-1 with the Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively. So why are these teams that range in seeding from 1-4 having trouble with the bottom seeded teams?

Time for some playoff breakdown.

Boston Celtics There are two huge problems that have hit the Celtics at the same time, mixed with the fact that Jimmy Butler

is one of the best 15, maybe even 10, best players in the NBA and can take over games when he chooses.

The first glaring problem is on the boards, an area Boston has struggled all season but has shown particular inaptitude during the Bulls series. Chicago’s Robin Lopez has made Boston pay for their lack-luster rebounding, grabbing 19 through two games while the team has grabbed 31 offensive rebounds alone in the series. This looks particularly bad because of the Celtics’ second problem: Depth.

They are an incredibly deep team, with players like Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Jamison Crowder, Jaylen Brown, and Al Horford all able to put up shots throughout the season, which masked their rebounding woes. In the playoffs, these guys cannot find a rhythm and have failed to hit the big shot in crunch

time.

Now someone needs to hit a shot or grab a board if they are to get back in the series.

Los Angeles Clippers If you watched any of the 82 games the Jazz played this season, you knew that Gordon Hayward would pose a problem for the LA squad.

The glaring issue at hand is the lack of a bench, which has caused the most havoc on the defensive side of the floor for the Clippers. In game one, the Jazz had 47 points off the bench to the Clippers’ 20. The best adjustment they made in game two was running more of their offense through DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin in the paint, taking advantage of the matchup versus Boris Diaw.

In game two, when they took the game to the paint and had the Jordan/Griffin combo go off for 42 points and 20 rebounds, it made the difference.

Toronto Raptors Image that out of the sky, an alien ship appeared in your backyard. He touched down on the grass, lowered the ramp, and every little green Martian stereotype that you had ever heard of rolled out of the ship. He immediately becomes fascinated with what you are doing and who you are watching, and of course you are watching the Raptors/Bucks series.

You naturally start to explain to him the game of basketball and how we have just entered into the playoffs as you crack open a few cold ones.

After hearing the game rules and objectives, the alien quickly assumes that the Greek God he is witnessing is the best player of the basketball world, and for this series he would be right.

On every game and series, weather it is AAU, pickup basketball, or the NBA, it becomes clear early on who is

the player that can take over a game and impose their will.

Despite the mid-season adjustments of bringing in P.J. Tucker and Serge Ibaka for the Raptors, it will not matter, because Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player on the floor. He plays in the paint like a center and gets out to the wing like a small forward and handles the ball like a point guard. While Middleton, Maker and Snell are important to the Bucks, the ‘Greek Freak’ is the reason they can upset the Raptors, and because he is the best player on the floor, they do not have an answer for him. IBC and Tucker are too slow, while DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry do not have the defense.

This game is truly up to Antetokounmpo, can and will he take over the rest of the series? If he does, Toronto is in trouble.

Minnesota State shuts out Mustangs in double-header

COREY YUMAN Staff Writer Minnesota State’s softball team extended their winning streak to 10-in-a-row after completing the sweep of Southwest Minnesota State on Tuesday in Marshall. The Mavericks picked up two shutout wins over the Mustangs by scores of 8-0 and 2-0.

“It is always good when you can go on the road and get a sweep especially with the weather conditions of 30-plus mph winds and cool temps in Marshall,” said Head Coach Lori Meyer.

Game one of the double-header was an 8-0 victory for the Mavericks, and was led by another great game on the mound by Coley Ries.

Ries improved to 21-2 on the year after striking out 11 batters and allowing just two hits in six innings.

Minnesota State got the scoring started quickly with Amber Kral doubling to left field and earning two RBI. Jess Meidl and McKenzie Paap scored the runs to put the Mavs up 2-0 early.

“In game one, we scored two runs right away and that really set the tone for us … as when we score first we are 35-1 this season,” Meyer said.

The Mavericks tallied another two runs in the third inning and ended with a four-run sixth inning to give the Mavs an 8-0 lead and the eventual win. Kral led the offense, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and Meidl was 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored.

Minnesota State kept momentum going heading into game two, where they picked up a 2-0 victory. The scoring was at a minimum and the Mavericks did not get on the board until the fifth inning. Kral hit a single to right, with Thell and Paap coming around to score.

Libby Bemis got the win, pitching all seven innings. Bemis struck out eight batters while allowing four hits. She improves to 19-4 on the year.

last year at their field so we have unfinished business to take care of on Saturday,” Meyer noted.

Northern State will come to Mankato with a 25-18-1 record and a nearly split NSIC record at 10-9-1. MSU Moorhead will be entering the weekend 8-27 and 3-15 in the NSIC. “We need to continue to play our game at our level Amber Kral With the victories, the Mavs improve to 40-6 on the year and 18-2 in the NSIC. They’ll be returning home for another pair of NSIC games with Northern State and MSU Moorhead.

“Northern State swept us

MINNESOTA STATE STUDENT ASSOCIATION (Student Government) Election Change • • • • • • •

offensively, defensively and pitching and trust our process and that we are prepared and if we do that this weekend we will achieve the outcomes we want on Saturday and Sunday,” explained Meyer.

Minnesota State plays Northern State starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday and MSU Moorhead on Sunday starting at noon in Mankato.

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Election Day: Tuesday, April 25, 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., online at www.mnsu.edu/voting For more information on the election, including the candidacy application and official election rules, visit http://www.mnsu.edu/mssa/involved/election.html, or click on this image.

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Thursday, April 20, 2017

MSU Reporter • 15

Sports

Minnesota Vikings to focus on o-line, defense for draft

COLT JOHNSON Staff Writer The NFL draft is a week away and the Minnesota Vikings have big gaps to fill on both sides of the football if they want to get back into playoff contention once again.

Round one of the NFL draft begins Thursday, April 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET and teams are finalizing their draft boards in preparation for the big night.

Unfortunately for Vikings fans, Minnesota lacks a first round draft pick as a result of last year’s trade that brought quarterback Sam Bradford over from the Philadelphia Eagles. But, they do have a number of third and fourth round draft picks in a draft that is widely seen by NFL analysts as one of the deepest drafts in recent memory.

If there is any position, or phase of offense that the Vikings are in desperate need of, it’s at the offensive line position. Minnesota’s frontline became scarce after a litany of injuries and other problems that reared their ugly heads during the course of last season. With left tackle Matt Kalil leaving via free agency to join his brother Ryan Kalil on the Carolina Panthers, the offensive line

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press Workmen construct the stage for the upcoming 2017 NFL football draft on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Wednesday, April 5, 2017.

has to be priority number one for Minnesota.

The Vikings did however acquire two offensive tackles from free agency. Tackles Riley Reiff from the Detroit Lions and Carolina’s Mike Remmers were brought in to help strengthen a depleted line, but quality depth on the offensive-line is still a major concern for a team that struggled to keep many healthy during the season. Minnesota’s first pick will come in the second round at the 48 overall spot, barring any trades to move up to an earlier pick.

If the Vikings do go with a lineman at the 48th pick, it will more than likely be offensive

guard Dan Feeney out of the

Dan Feeney University of Indiana, who is projected as the first lineman

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to be taken in the second round by SB Nation’s Dan Kadar. Feeney is viewed as the second-best offensive guard at his position and the 53 overall player on cbssports. com’s draft prospects.

Assuming Minnesota goes with Feeney at the 48th pick, they still have two thirdround and fourth-round picks to go with other positions of need. Behind their primary focus of offensive line help, the Vikings will have to look towards the defensive side of the ball, specifically at the cornerback positions and potentially defensive tackle. Even though cornerback Xavier Rhodes established

himself as a top-end corner this past season, the loss of savvy veterans like Captain Munnerlyn and Terrance Newman, have drastically weakened the depth of the Vikings’ cornerback stable.

Luckily for Minnesota, this is one of the deeper cornerback classes; so don’t be surprised if they take a corner with one of their two thirdround picks. The Vikings will have a lot of options in the deeper rounds and with the abundance of corners in this year’s draft, Minnesota will look to grab one that could potentially fall to them at the 79 or 86 pick. With 15 cornerbacks in the top 100 projected picks, the Vikings will have the pick-of-the-litter when their name is called to select in the third round.

Minnesota may not have a first round pick, but if there were any draft to stockpile mid to late-round draft picks, it’s this one. Even without a first-round draft pick, the Vikings have six picks within the first five rounds, and four picks between the third and fourth round combined. The hope is that they can make a splash on either side of the ball with one of their many picks, just don’t be surprised if it’s another addition to head coach Mike Zimmer’s defense.

16 • MSU Reporter

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