September 16, 2021 by MSU Reporter

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

By MAXWELL MAYLEBEN • Editor in Chief On Tuesday, the Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Student Government held a special election to fill 20 vacant seats on the senate. Although the typical Student Government election is held in the spring, due to the COVID pandemic and decreased on campus engagement, there was a low turnout for candidates as well as voters. The spring election left roughly 2/3rds of the senate seats open going into the 2021-2022 school year, creating a need for the seats to be filled. Exactly 298 students participated in the spring election that chose this year’s Student Government President and Vice President, among several senators.

In the election held on Tuesday, there were 477 students who cast their vote for the student leaders, filling 19 of the senate seats. While this was a steep increase in voter turnout, the voters make up roughly 3 percent of the student population. At the first meeting with the full senate, the new senators were sworn into their positions. At that meeting, President Reauna Stuff expressed the amount of work that went into the special election. “I’d like to thank the elections commission for running the smoothest last minute election,” said Stiff, “as you can see by the full table, it was a huge STU GOV on page 5 u

MAX MAYLEBEN • The Reporter

Student Government fills empty seats with new senators

Abi Saha and other new senators raise their right hand as they are sworn into the 89th Student Government after this year’s special election.

SMASH BROTHERS

Abortion laws causes concerns to students By JENNA PETERSON News Director

Weston Bring, a senior at MNSU, participated in the car smashing event organized by Phi Delta Theta on the Campus Mall Wednesday afternoon. Students paid to swing the hammer at the car, and proceeds from the event went to charities supporting ALS research. Photo by MADDIE BEHERENS • The Reporter

RSOs aim to involve, include and inspire By EMMA JOHNSON • Staff Writer Within your first minutes on campus, there’s a good chance some of the first words you will hear will be “get

involved.” And they’re right. Getting involved is one of the quickest ways to have a more enjoyable college experience. There are more than 250 registered student organizations (RSOs) to get involved in at Minnesota State University, Mankato. From Greek life to academics to sports, there is a multitude of clubs open to new members. Caitlin Trabant is the vice president program coordinator for Maverick Involvement, a club aimed at helping connect students with RSOs. Trabant says

she encourages students, especially incoming freshmen, to get involved with something as soon as possible. “It allows students to meet new people and create these connections based on similar interests and goals which can be important in helping drive them,” said Trabant. “It is a perfect way to get connected with people.” If students are looking for clubs to join, a new website called Involve U lists all the clubs offered at MNSU. Whether INVOLVE on page 7 u

Abortion has been a controversial topic for decades, and the recent law change proposals around the country have sparked conversation here at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Texas is one state in the spotlight for abortion and the new laws they are creating for it. With these laws, abortion is completely banned after the sixth week of pregnancy. Another component to this law is that anyone can sue those involved with an abortion process and receive $10,000 plus legal fees if they win. Erin Kotten, a second-year graduate student, said she believes laws like this and others being considered around the country are violating and controlling. “I think it goes against women’s rights to their own bodies as women wouldn’t have control over their own bodies or life. Some are pregnant because of situation of rape or they simply don’t want a child,” Kotten explained. Similarly, first-year graduate student Mai Ker Thao understands the importance of someone being able to make the best choices for themselves. “A lot of Americans like to preach your individual rights and this goes against that. Women get excluded from that choice with the new law against abortion,” Thao stated. Thao said she was conPRO-CHOICE on page 3 u

2 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Friction among Taliban pragmatists, hard-liners intensifies ASSOCIATED PRESS Friction between pragmatists and ideologues in the Taliban leadership has intensified since the group formed a hard-line Cabinet last week that is more in line with their harsh rule in the 1990s than their recent promises of inclusiveness, said two Afghans familiar with the power struggle. The wrangling has taken place behind the scenes, but rumors quickly began circulating about a recent violent confrontation between the two camps at the presidential palace, including claims that the leader of the pragmatic faction, Abdul Ghani Baradar, was killed. The rumors reached such intensity that an audio recording and handwritten statement, both purportedly by Baradar himself, denied that he had been killed. Then on Wednesday, Baradar appeared in an interview with the country’s national TV. “I was traveling from Kabul so had no access to media in order to reject this news” Baradar said of the rumor. Baradar served as the chief negotiator during talks be-

ZABI KARIMI• Associated Press In this Aug. 15, 2021 file photo, Taliban fighters take control of Afghan presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. (AP Photo/Zabi Karimi, File)

tween the Taliban and the United States that paved the way for the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was completed in late August, two weeks after the Taliban overran the capital of Kabul. Shortly after the Kabul takeover, Baradar had been

the first senior Taliban official to hold out the possibility of an inclusive government, but such hopes were disappointed with the formation of an allmale, all-Taliban lineup last week. In a further sign that the hard-liners had prevailed, the white Taliban flag was

raised over the presidential palace, replacing the Afghan national flag.A Taliban official said the leadership still hasn’t made a final decision on the flag, with many leaning toward eventually flying both banners side by side. He spoke on condition of anonymity

because he was not allowed to discuss internal deliberations with the media. The two Afghans familiar with the power struggle also spoke on condition of anonymity to protect the confidentiality of those who shared their discontent over the Cabinet lineup. They said one Cabinet minister toyed with refusing his post, angered by the all-Taliban government that shunned the country’s ethnic and religious minorities. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has denied rifts in the leadership. On Tuesday, the Taliban foreign minister, Amir Khan Mutaqi, dismissed such reports as “propaganda.” Baradar had been noticeably absent from key functions. For instance he was not at the presidential palace earlier this week to receive the deputy prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdur Rahman Al-Thani, who is also foreign minister and was making the highest-level foreign visit yet since the Taliban takeover. Baradar’s absence was jarring since Qatar had hosted him for years as head of the Taliban political office in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

News

Afghan killed by drone praised by co-workers in US aid group

MSU Reporter • 3

SpaceX aims for night launch of 4 on 1st private flight

ASSOCIATED PRESS The Afghan man who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last month was an enthusiastic and beloved longtime employee at an American humanitarian organization, his colleagues say, painting a stark contrast to the Pentagon’s claims that he was an Islamic State group militant about to carry out an attack on American troops. Signs have been mounting that the U.S. military may have targeted the wrong man in the Aug. 29 strike in Kabul, with devastating consequences, killing seven children and two other adults from his family. The Pentagon says it is further investigating the strike, but it has no way to do so on the ground in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, severely limiting its ability to gather evidence. Accounts from the family, documents from colleagues seen by The Associated Press, and the scene at the family home — where Zemerai Ahmadi’s car was struck by a Hellfire missile just as he pulled into the driveway — all seem to sharply contradict the accounts by the U.S. military. Instead, they paint the picture of a family that had worked for Americans and were trying to gain visas to the United States, fearing for their lives under the Taliban. At the home, the mangled, incinerated Toyota Corolla remains in the driveway. But there are no signs of large secondary blasts the Pentagon said were caused by

PRO-CHOICE Continued from page 1 cerned about the notion of forcing a woman to have a child and not knowing what the future of that child might be. “A woman shouldn’t have to risk her future and her life because someone believes something different than her,” Thao commented. Unlike many other states, Minnesota currently protects abortion under the state’s Constitution. Even if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, nothing would change, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Kotten pointed out how difficult it still is for people to get an abortion in Minnesota, as not all Planned Parenthood locations provide this specific service.

JOHN KRAUS • Associated Press EVAN SCHNEIDER • Associated Press An Afghan inspects the damage of Ahmadi family house in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021.

explosives hidden in the car trunk. In the tightly cramped, walled compound, the house is undamaged except for broken glass, even a badly built wooden balcony remains in place. A brick wall immediately adjacent to the car stands intact. Trees and foliage close to the car are not burned or torn. The family wants the United States to hear their side of the story and see the facts on the ground. “We just want that they come here. See what they did. Talk to us. Give us the proof,” Emal Ahmadi, Zemerai’s younger brother, said of the U.S. military. Near tears, he opened a photo on his phone of his 3-year-old daughter, Malika, in her favorite dress. Another photo showed her charred remains after she was killed in the strike. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged he did not

know if the man targeted in the strike was an IS operative or an aid worker. “I don’t know because we’re reviewing it,” he said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. The strike was carried out in the final days of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, as American troops were carrying out evacuations at Kabul’s airport. Only days earlier, an IS suicide bombers at the airport killed 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. servicemembers. The Pentagon says the strike prevented another IS attack at the airport. Officials said the U.S. military had been observing the car for hours as it drove and saw people loading explosives into the back. The U.S. acknowledged reports of civilian casualties and said they may have been caused by secondary explosions.

“We have a Planned Parenthood here in Mankato, but they’re mainly for health care checkups and anything for women’s health. For abortions, people still have to travel pretty far to the Cities.” Supporters of the Texas law say this law will protect the lives of the unborn, who deserve a chance at life. Religious groups will often use their beliefs to back up the pro-life movement, stating that life is a blessing and should be celebrated. There are still ways for people concerned about the abortion laws to help make their voices heard. Kotten brought up the idea of contacting politicians, “Write to your Senators, your Congresspeople about your feelings. You voted them in and they are meant to listen to you.”

Other ways to end the stigma around abortion includes better education and having real conversations about safe sex. Kotten added, “The only way to decrease abortions or unwanted pregnancies is to have more accessible birth control, sex education, and more rights over peoples bodies.” “Try to provide resources, whatever peoples opinions or beliefs might be,” said Thao. “Provide the resources for what people could do and what their choices are, no matter their opinion.” “When you’re banning abortions you’re banning safe abortions and accessible abortions. People are still going to find ways to try to hurt themselves in order to have those abortions,” Kotten said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS SpaceX aimed to blast a billionaire into orbit Wednesday night with his two contest winners and a health care worker who survived childhood cancer. It’s the first chartered passenger flight for Elon Musk’s SpaceX and a big step in space tourism by a private company. “It blows me away, honestly,” SpaceX director Benji Reed said on the eve of launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. “It gives me goose bumps even right now to talk about it.” The Pennsylvania entrepreneur who is picking up the tab — Jared Isaacman — won’t say how much he paid. He and his fellow passengers will spend three days orbiting Earth at an unusually high altitude of 357

miles (575 kilometers) — 100 miles (160 kilometers) higher than the International Space Station — before splashing down off the Florida coast this weekend. In July, Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson and Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos launched aboard their own rockets to spur ticket sales. Their flights barely skimmed space, though, and lasted just minutes. Isaacman and the others — St. Jude physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux and sweepstake winners Chris Sembroski, a data engineer, and Sian Proctor, a community college educator — said on the eve of launch that they had few if any last-minute jitters. It will be the first time in 60 years of human spaceflight that no professional astronaut is aboard an orbit-bound rocket.

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4 • MSU Reporter

News

As COVID-19 vaccine mandates rise, religious exemptions grow

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Warning from Newsom helped turn California recall tide

RICH PEDRONCELLI • Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SETH WENIG • Associated Press A woman holds a sign during a protest at the state house Jan. 13, 2020 in Trenton, N.J. Religious objections, once used only sparingly around the country to get exempted from various required vaccines, are becoming a much more widely used loophole against the COVID-19 shot.

ASSOCIATED PRESS An estimated 2,600 Los Angeles Police Department employees are citing religious objections to try to get out of the required COVID-19 vaccination. In Washington state, thousands of state workers are seeking similar exemptions. And in Arkansas, a hospital has been swamped with so many such requests from employees that it is apparently calling their bluff. Religious objections, once used sparingly around the country to get exempted from various required vaccines, are becoming a much more widely used loophole against the COVID-19 shot. And it is only likely to grow following President Joe Biden’s sweeping new vaccine mandates covering more than 100 million Americans, including executive branch employees and workers at businesses with more than 100 people on the payroll. The administration acknowledges that a small minority of Americans will use — and some may seek to exploit — religious exemptions. But it said it believes even marginal improvements in vaccination rates will save lives. It is not clear how many federal employees have asked for a religious exemption, though union officials say there will be many requests. The Labor Department has said an accommodation can be denied if it causes an undue burden on the employer. In the states, mask and vaccine requirements vary, but most offer exemptions for certain medical conditions or religious or philosophical objections. The use of such exemptions, particularly by parents on behalf of their schoolchildren, has been growing over the past decade. The allowance was enshrined in the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which says employers must make reasonable accommodations for employees who object to work requirements because of “sincerely held” religious beliefs. A religious belief does not have to be recognized by an organized religion, and it can

be new, unusual or “seem illogical or unreasonable to others,” according to rules laid out by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But it can’t be founded solely on political or social ideas. That puts employers in the position of determining what is a legitimate religious belief and what is a dodge. Many major religious denominations have no objections to the COVID-19 vaccines. But the rollout has prompted heated debates because of the longtime role that cell lines derived from fetal tissue have played, directly or indirectly, in the research and development of various vaccines and medicines. Roman Catholic leaders in New Orleans and St. Louis went so far as to call Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 shot “morally compromised.” J&J has stressed that there is no fetal tissue in its vaccine. Moreover, the Vatican’s doctrine office has said it is “morally acceptable” for Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines that are based on research that used cells derived from aborted fetuses. Pope Francis himself has said it would be “suicide” not to get the shot, and he has been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer formula. In New York, state lawmakers have attempted to make the vaccine mandatory for medical workers, with no religious exemptions. On Tuesday, a federal judge blocked the state from enforcing the rule to give a group of workers time to argue that it is illegal because it lacks the opt-out. An August AP-NORC poll found that 58% of white evangelical Protestants, 72% of white mainline Protestants, 80% of Catholics and 73% of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated say they have been vaccinated. Seventy percent of nonwhite Protestants say they have been, including 70% of Black Protestants. Across the U.S., public officials, doctors and community leaders have been trying to help people circumvent COVID-19 mask and vaccine requirements. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, pastor Jackson Lahmeyer is offering a “religious exemption” form on his church’s website for download, along with links for suggested donations to the church.

An ominous four-word message issued by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign on the morning of Aug. 5 served as the shock Democrats needed to take seriously a recall election that could remove him from office: “This recall is close.” ewsom’s warning in a fundraising email came just days after a poll indicated the once-popular Democratic governor who was elected in a 2018 landslide was facing the unthinkable prospect of losing his job in a state that hadn’t elected a Republican in a statewide race in 15 years. The race is “close enough to start thinking about what it’d be like if we had a Republican governor in California. Sorry to put the thought

in your head, but it’s true,” Newsom’s campaign wrote. The alarmist message was quickly incorporated into Newsom’s remarks on the campaign trail – he was in serious trouble, he warned. The sequence of events combined to create a turning point in the race and helped energize California’s dominant Democratic voters, who until then appeared to be greeting the contest with a collective shrug. Newsom on Tuesday easily turned back the attempt to retire him less than three years into his first term. Incomplete returns showed him headed toward a landslide win with about 65% of the vote. A major lesson of Newsom’s decisive win is “you can wake up the base,” Newsom strategist Sean Clegg said this week.

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Thursday, September 16, 2021

Pope: No place for politics in Biden Communion flap

TIZIANA FABI • Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS Pope Francis said Wednesday that Catholic bishops must minister with “compassion and tenderness,” not condemnation, to politicians who support abortion rights and warned that clerics shouldn’t let politics enter into questions about receiving Communion. Francis was asked en route home from Slovakia about the debate in the U.S. church about whether President Joe Biden and other politicians should be denied Communion because of their stances on abortion. U.S. bishops have agreed to draft a “teaching document” that many of them hope will rebuke Catholic politicians, including Biden, for receiving Communion despite their support for abortion rights. Francis declined to give a “yes” or “no” answer, saying he didn’t know the U.S. case well enough. He repeated that abortion was “homicide,” and that Catholic priests cannot give the Eucharist to someone who is

not in communion with the church. He cited the case of a Jew, or someone who isn’t baptized or who has fallen away from the church. Most importantly, he said, was that priests and bishops must respond pastorally and not politically to any problem that comes before them. He said they must use “the style of God” to accompany the faithful with “closeness, compassion and tenderness.” “And what should pastors do? Be pastors, and not go condemning, condemning,” Francis said. Francis recalled cases when the church had held fast to a principle on political grounds and it ended badly, citing the Inquisition-era condemnation of Giordano Bruno for alleged heresy. He was burned at the stake in Rome’s Campo dei Fiori. “Whenever the church, in order to defend a principle, didn’t do it pastorally, it has taken political sides,” Francis said. “If a pastor leaves the pastorality of the church, he immediately becomes a politician.”

STU GOV Continued from page 1 success.” During the first meeting, several new senators spoke up with questions for the various speakers and presenters that spoke in front of the Student Government. “One thing I was thrown about today,” said Vice President Kara Svercl, “We had brand new senators who have never stepped into this room before asking question after question. And that can be difficult for returning senators.” Newly elected senators are coming to the table with fresh and new ideas to advocate for the student body. Abi Saha, the newly elected Off-campus senator is excited to represent Greek Life

and bring a fresh perspective to the senate. “I personally identify as bisexual,” said Saha about the perspective they aim to bring to the table, “so a voice from that that meshed with a voice from Greek Life as well.” One of the two students elected to the Allied Health and Nursing College senator position, Namita Basnet got involved with hopes to give back to the University. “I am a nursing student,” said Basnet, “and I really wanted to do something for this University.” There are still three vacancies on the Student Government that will be filled in as the semester continues.

News

MSU Reporter • 5

Leaders face new rule at UN meeting: vaccination ASSOCIATED PRESS World leaders will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to speak at the U.N. General Assembly’s big meeting next week, the assembly leader and New York City officials have said, prompting swift objections from at least one nation. With the diplomatic world’s premier event being held in person for the first time during the pandemic, city International Affairs commissioner Penny Abeywardena told the assembly in a letter last week that officials consider the hall a “convention center” and therefore subject to the city’s vaccination requirement. “We are proud to join in the ongoing efforts to keep all U.N.G.A. attendees and our fellow New Yorkers safe during the pandemic,” she and Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement Wednesday, adding that the city would offer free, walk-in vaccinations — Johnson & Johnson’s single shot — and testing outside the U.N. during the meeting. G.A. President Abdulla Shahid embraced the vaccination requirement in a letter Tuesday, calling it “an important step in our return to a fully-functional General Assembly.” But Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia blasted the vaccine demand as a “clearly discriminatory” infringement on nations’ rights at the U.N. “We believe that no mea-

EVAN SCHNEIDER • Associated Press U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, left, and Volkan Bozkir, right, president of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, applaud as Abdulla Shahid, center, receives the gavel as the new president of the 76th session of the UNGA at U.N. headquarters.

sures beyond reasonable precautions should be introduced that de-facto prevent member states to participate in a meeting in GA Hall,” he wrote to Shahid in a Wednesday letter seen by The Associated Press. Requesting an urgent Assembly meeting Thursday to discuss the matter, Nebenzia said the group needed to think about people who can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons and those who have developed antibodies from very recent cases of COVID-19. He also pointed to people who have gotten vaccines that don’t have World Health Organization approval — the city’s criterion for an acceptable inoculation, according to de Blasio spokesperson Mitch Schwartz.

The WHO is reviewing Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine but hasn’t yet approved it. The city’s letter represented a rare effort to broach conditions for goings-on at the U.N. headquarters, which is international territory. Under a 1947 agreement between the U.N. and the United States, the world body has considerable autonomy — police and American officials need permission to come in, and no federal, state or local law applies if it conflicts with U.N. rules. It’s not immediately clear how the vaccination requirement will be enforced. Schwartz said it would be up to the U.N. An inquiry was sent to the Assembly.

6 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, September 16, 2021

FALL 2021 EDITOR IN CHIEF:

MAXWELL MAYLEBEN maxwell.mayleben@mnsu.edu

McElroy: You should join an RSO

MADISON DIEMERT

madison.diemert@mnsu.edu

Opinion By DANIEL McELROY Sports Editor

There are plenty of fears students have when they come into their first year of college. Living on their own for the first time, having to buy their own groceries, even doing their own laundry is one that many people experience. But there’s one fear that almost everyone has but most are too afraid to admit: making friends. Making friends when you’re 18 years old is not the same as making friends when you were 5 or 6 as you could walk up to any person and ask to be their friend. When you get older, it’s a bit harder and even sometimes creepy to walk up to anybody and ask to be their friend. Having some common ground is a great place to start. Joining communities and RSOs around campus is how to find people with the same interests and be able to open up and make friends in a more reasonable setting. For me, that was video games, specifically League of Legends. It was very easy for me to just sit in my dorm or my apartment and just play games all day with no interest in making an effort to find a community of people with common interests. I still had a small circle that I hung out with, but I

NEWS DIRECTOR: Jenna Peterson jenna.peterson-3@mnsu.edu MEDIA/DESIGN DIRECTOR: Mansoor Ahmad mansoor.ahmad@mnsu.edu SPORTS EDITOR: Daniel McElroy daniel.mcelroy@mnsu.edu ADVERTISING SALES: Baylee Sorensen 507-389-5097 baylee.sorensen@mnsu.edu

MANSOOR AHMAD • The Reporter

had a driving passion for this video game that I’ve been playing for almost 8 years. It wasn’t until one day in my sophomore year that I got a message from a random number about a League of Legends club being formed on campus and to attend one of the meetings. Going to that first meeting changed my entire college life and so much more. From that meeting, I became one of the starting players on the club’s competitive roster, traveled to Mystic Lake

with teammates to play at one of the largest tournaments in the midwest, all on top of meeting the love of my life. The club eventually expanded into a Varsity program, now called Maverick Esports. Here, students can join a competitive team and play with their classmates for a number of games. Maverick Esports has been an amazing experience and deserves more recognition. The feeling of being able to sign a contract to play competitive collegiate video

games, getting professional hype photos taken of you, jerseys with your gamertag on the back are things that not a lot of students who share this interest get to experience. Finding this community was the best thing to happen to me in my postsecondary career, and I owe so much to it. Don’t be afraid to get out and find your community. If that community doesn’t exist yet, don’t be afraid to go out and create it.

“What communities are you a part of on campus?” Compiled by Maddie Beherens

AMINA HUDA, FRESHMAN “I am part of the Maverick Machine and concert choir.”

AUSTIN WILLETTE, FRESHMAN

QUINCY JONES, SOPHOMORE

“I am part of Phi Delta Theta.”

“I am part of Maverick football and the Preska dorm community.”

GRACE ANDERSON, SOPHOMORE

TEAGAN NELSON, SENIOR

“I am a part of my Apartment “I am part of the Dakota study community and the 507 work group.” community.”

BUSINESS MANAGER: Jane Tastad 507-389-1926 jane.tastad@mnsu.edu ADVERTISING DESIGN/ PRODUCTION MGR.: Dana Clark 507-389-2793 dana.clark@mnsu.edu

• If you have a complaint, suggestion or would like to point out an error made in the Reporter, contact Editor in Chief Maxwell Mayleben at maxwell.mayleben@mnsu.edu. The Reporter will correct any errors of fact or misspelled names in this space. Formal grievances against the Reporter are handled by the Newspaper Board. • The Minnesota State University Mankato Reporter is a studentrun newspaper published twice a week, coming out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Reporter generates 78 percent of its own income through advertising and receives approximately 22 percent from Student Activities fees. The Reporter is free to all students and faculty, but to start a subscription, please call us at 507-389-1776. 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.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

News

FDA strikes cautious tone ahead of vaccine booster meeting ASSOCIATED PRESS Influential government advisers will debate Friday if there’s enough proof that a booster dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective — the first step toward deciding which Americans need one and when. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday posted much of the evidence its advisory panel will consider. The agency struck a decidedly neutral tone on the rationale for boosters — an unusual and careful approach that’s all the more striking after President Joe Biden and his top health advisers trumpeted a booster campaign they hoped to begin next week. Pfizer’s argument: While protection against severe disease is holding strong in the U.S., immunity against milder infection wanes somewhere around six to eight months after the second dose. The company gave an extra dose to 306 people at that point and recorded levels of virus-fighting antibodies

MATT ROURKE • Associated Press A syringe is prepared with the Pfizer vaccine at the Reading Area Community College in Reading, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021.

threefold higher than after the earlier shots. More important, Pfizer said, those antibodies appear strong enough to handle the extra-contagious delta variant that is surging around the country. To bolster its case, Pfizer pointed the FDA to data from Israel, which began offering boosters over the summer. That study tracked about 1 million people 60 and older and found those who got the

extra shot were far less likely to become infected soon afterward. Pfizer said that translates to “roughly 95% effectiveness” when delta was spreading, comparable to the protection seen shortly after the vaccine’s rollout earlier in the year. The Israeli data, also published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, cannot say how long the boosted protection lasts.

MSU Reporter • 7 INVOLVE Continued from page 1 you are looking for a specific club or searching by interest, there is guaranteed to be a club right for you. Involvement fairs hosted in Centennial Student Union are another way to find RSO that match your interests. They take place a few times each semester for students wanting to talk in person with members. If a student cannot find a club they want to join, students are welcome to make their own. With a minimum of five members, a formal constitution, a secure advisor and the help of the Maverick Involvement team, the club can be added to the roster. RSOs allow students to develop life skills while connecting with others at the same time. Emily Staeffler, vice president of operations at Tri-Sigma, was timid to meet others on campus. After joining Tri-Sigma freshman year, she has now found a group she calls “sisters,” and attends social events which help her break her out of her shell. “When I went through formal recruitment, it really made me step out of my comfort zone and get to know other girls,” said Staeffler. “It gave me a really big support system.” Consistency is key when joining a new club. The more meetings you attend, stronger connections will be formed. Pre-med club Vice President Jessica Wimp tries to spread meeting information around the school on posters and various social media platforms to get students involved. “We know people struggle to get involved with things and that it’s not an easy route to get there,” said Wimp. “We meet every other week for about an hour and we have guest speakers come in and talk, ranging from physicians to people in their residency, which is helpful for people to see if that’s what they’re interested in.” Whether students are trying to meet others or simply have fun, joining an RSO can get students on the right track. “You have to put yourself out there and get connected and at the same time create these relationships that you will have not only through college, but the rest of your life,” said Trabant. “I think [joining a club] reflects the very best of MNSU.”

8 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, Septe

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10 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Mavericks hope to bounce back vs. Beavers By KOLE BUELOW Staff Writer Coming into this weekend the Minnesota State football team has now locked themselves into the No. 19 spot in division two football. After a big loss against Duluth this past week, the Mavericks not only find themselves far outside of the top three, but also barely cracking into the top 20. The Mavericks, however, get a historically good matchup this weekend against Bemidji State at Blakeslee Stadium to try and help them get back on track. The Mavs are 5-1 in the past six meetings against the Beavers, and they will look to make that record 6-1 this weekend. Heading into this game, the Mavericks have found some key pieces in their offensive attack early. Sophomore Kaleb Sleezer has carved out the starting running back role for himself after supporting a 6.6 yards per carry average in the team’s first two games. Junior Jalen Sample has done the same for himself inside the wide receiver room, while averaging 82 yards per game through the air. Both players have been outstanding for the Mavs offense this season and they will look to build upon their impressive statlines. As far as defense goes, Minnesota State has some great players making their

By DANIEL McELROY Sports Editor

MANSOOR AHMAD • The Reporter Sophomore Kaleb Sleezer (8) is averaging 6.6 yards per carry on the ground this season.

way into some very impressive stat lines throughout the first two games. Senior linebacker Eli Thomas currently leads the team in total tackles with 12, including one tackle for loss. On the outside of the ball lurks senior cornerback Ty’shonan Brooks. Brooks is tied for second on the team with eight tackles while also including one tackle for loss and a sack. On the opposite end of the ball stare the Bemidji State Beavers. The Beavers are 2-0 this season defeating Sioux Falls 24-16 and Wayne State

38-28. Bemidji uses a two headed running back approach, using Sage Booker and Makaio Harn almost equally in the backfield. Behind center stands sophomore quarterback Brandon Alt. Alt has been impressive in his first two games this season, throwing for a 8-1 touchdown to interception ratio. Alt was the NSIC player of the week last week, so the Mavericks will definitely need to keep a special eye on Bemidji’s air attack this Saturday.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Mavs have a lot to watch out for against this Bemidji team. Both of the Beaver’s starting linebackers of Gabe Ames and Cole Sorby have 12 tackles on the season, and redshirt freshman Ty Guden comes off the bench leading the team in sacks and tackles for loss. This should be a very exciting matchup between the two teams. Bemidji will look to stay undefeated at 3-0 while the Mavs are hoping to not slip under .500 for the first time since losing the season opener in 2011.

The Minnesota State Mavericks soccer team will begin their conference schedule this weekend with games at Wayne State and Augustana. The Mavs kick off their road trip with Wayne State up first. The Wildcats are struggling to get in the win column just three games this year, holding an 0-2-1 record. All-time against Wayne State, the Mavericks are riding an undefeated 15-0 record dating back to 1998. In the last contest between the two NSIC teams, the Mavericks took the 4-0 win on the road with Bri Ciaccio scoring the first two goals of the

game, followed by goals from Tia Martin and Shelby Lund. The Mavericks dominated the game in every aspect, including outshooting the Wildcats 29-5. Sunday, Minnesota State will take on Augustana in Sioux Falls, S.D.. Augustana is 1-2 in their three non-conference games this year, with a third 4-1 loss in an exhibition game against South Dakota State. The Mavericks are the second conference game in the Vikings four game homestand, with other opponents including Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota State Moorhead, and Northern State. All-time, the Mavericks are 28-2 against Augustana dat-

MANSOOR AHMAD • The Reporter

Mavericks travel to Wayne, Sioux Fall to open NSIC By DANIEL McELROY Sports Editor

Mavs take on UMary, Minot in home opener

Allie Williams (5) leads the Mavericks in goals with 2.

ing the series back to October of 2000, when the Mavericks won 7-1. MSU is riding an 18 game win streak against the Vikings

dating back to 2009. The most recent win comes from the 2019 NCAA Regional finals, when Jenny Vetter scored the NSIC on page 11 u

It will be a big weekend coming up for the Minnesota State volleyball squad as they prepare for the start of their conference play schedule. The Mavericks will stay at home in the Taylor Center for their first few games, beginning with University of Mary. Going into this weekend, the Mavericks are 5-2, and coming off a 3-1 weekend in the Parkside Hampton Inn Tournament, hosted by UWParkside. Parkside ended up being the only team that got the best of the Mavericks. In a series that dates back to 2006, Minnesota State is 17-0 against the Marauders. The last time the two teams faced each other, the Mavericks swept UMary 3-0. The Mavs haven’t dropped a set to the Marauders since 2016, and have only ever dropped four sets in the 15 year history of the squads. UMary has played in two tournaments to start out the year, coming out 2-6 in eight games. UMary won the first match of the season against Chadron State College 3-2, went on to lose the next six straight, then won the last game of the second tournament against Anderson University of South Carolina, 3-2. The following day, the Mavericks will stay in town to take on Minot State in their second conference play game of the season. The Mavericks have played 11 matches against the Beavers since 2011 and hold a 10-1 record, winning nine matches straight. The last time the teams met in 2019, the Mavericks swept Minot State and have not dropped a set to the Beavers since 2017. Mariah Edgington leads the Mavericks with kills for the season so far with 90 kills, adding up to 2.81 kills per set. Edgington also leads in points with 103.5 and 3.23 points per set.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Sports

Peterson guides Vikings Defense, to visit Cards next

MSU Reporter • 11

Jaguars coach Urban Meyer says ‘no chance’ landing at USC

SAM CRAFT • Associated Press

JEFF DEAN • Associated Press Minnesota Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson (7) warms up prior to an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati. Peterson describes himself as a born leader. That’s one of the reasons why the Minnesota Vikings wanted to sign the eight-time Pro Bowl cornerback this year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS As a free agent for the first time in his career this offseason, Patrick Peterson put the Minnesota Vikings high on his wish list with an eagerness to play for head coach Mike Zimmer’s defense. For the Vikings, Peterson was more of a need than a want. They sought not only to upgrade their starting cornerbacks but to bring in some experience that was badly missing last year. Even if Peterson doesn’t cover receivers like he once did as an eight-time Pro Bowler, the Vikings have already benefited from his wisdom and presence within their group. “I’m a born leader. Just that simple,” Peterson said during an interview session last week, pausing for effect. “Guys see how I operate. Guys see how I come to work every day. Guys see how I take care of my body, my preparation. That all comes with being a pro. Once guys see that, you’re considered a leader, so I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. I was just being me. Like my wife, my mom, my dad, they all tell me, I’m just a born leader, even if I’m not even trying.” The Arizona Cardinals, who acquired Peterson with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft, have long told him that, too. They’ll have an opportunity to welcome him back to State Farm Stadium when the Vikings visit on Sunday. “My first two years with him, he was like a big brother. He was one of the guys I was around his hip, asking him questions, seeing

NSIC Continued from page 10 game winning goal in a 1-0 victory. Through three games in the 2021 season, Allie Williams is the leading goal scorer with 2 goals, 4 shots, and 3 of those 4 targeting the net.

how he did things, because he’s been great pretty much his whole career,” Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray said. The former LSU standout was the oldest of five children growing up in South Florida, and that’s precisely when those leadership qualities were spawned. “Our parents had us at a very young age, so I kind of had to step into that role early, and I embraced it,” Peterson said. “I believe that’s why it’s so easy for me to not only come in here and fit in but also lead by example each and every day.” Mike Hughes and Holton Hill started 2020 as the primary cornerbacks for the Vikings, both of them 23 years old at the time with fewer than 25 games of professional experience entering 2020. Backup Kris Boyd was in his second season. Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler were rookies and ended up as the most frequent starting tandem, with a host of other youngsters rotating through to help fill holes created by injuries and incapability. Now, only Boyd and Dantzler remain on the roster, and Dantzler was a healthy scratch in the opener at Cincinnati last week. Peterson was joined by Bashaud Breeland and Mackensie Alexander for the majority of the snaps. “I love to try to give any piece of advice I can to help make my teammates a better player, not only a better player but a better person as well. Just something that’s in me,” said Peterson, who signed a one-year contract with Minnesota worth $8 million.

Vetter leads the Mavericks with 10 total shots, with 4 of them landing on target, and one finding the back of the net with the game winning goal against Northwest Missouri State. The Mavericks have seen two underclassmen in net now that former redshirt se-

nior Alexa Rabune has moved onto bigger and better things. Clare Longueville has seen two of the three games this year, taking the first win of the year with a 1-0 shutout win over Missouri Southern State. Loungueville also has four goals allowed from MSU’s loss to CMU.

Urban Meyer rarely, if ever, experienced anything like this at Ohio State or Florida. Ten penalties, six dropped passes, three turnovers, down 20 at halftime. Confusion on the sideline and in the huddle. The Jacksonville Jaguars essentially looked unprepared in Meyer’s NFL debut, a 37-21 loss at Houston on Sunday. It was such a shoddy performance against another team presumed to be one of the league’s worst that critics wondered whether Meyer would stick around long enough to fix the floundering franchise. And when Southern California fired coach Clay Helton a day later, speculation swirled about Meyer’s immediate future in Jacksonville. Meyer responded Wednesday by saying “there’s no chance” he takes the Trojans job. Believe him or not, he insists he’s in for the long haul. “I’m here and committed to try to build an organization,” Meyer added. It’s unlikely to be the last time Meyer’s name gets linked to a collegiate job opening. After all, the 57-year-old coach has found success at every stop, building winners at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. He won two national championships with the Gators (2006, 2008) and another with the Buckeyes (2014). He stepped down after the 2018 season and spent two years working as a college football analyst at Fox

Sports. Jaguars owner Shad Khan persuaded him to return to the sideline in an effort to deliver a consistent contender in Jacksonville. So far, little has gone right for Meyer. He botched the hiring of two coordinators (Chris Doyle, Brian Schneider); filled his staff with longtime NFL types instead of guys who know his wants and ways; invited Tim Tebow to training camp as a tight end; and had No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence split valuable firstteam repetitions in training camp with a quarterback no longer on the roster. He raised eyebrows last week when he mistakenly identified Joe Mixon as Houston’s running back and again this week when he couldn’t come up with the name of his backup swing tackle, Will Richardson. At best, Meyer looked like a stretched-thin coach wading into uncharted waters. At worst, he was in too deep. “I was warned many, many, many, many times it’s a journey; it’s not a sprint,” he said. “We’re healthy, attitudes are good, we have good players and we’re building something.” Meyer’s project looked like a money pit in the opener, between the defense getting gouged repeatedly and the offense struggling to line up properly. “The main thing (is) we can’t have the young guys feeling like they can get used to losing ’cause it’s not the environment we’re trying to create,” cornerback and team captain Shaquill Griffin said.

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12 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, September 16, 2021

FBI turned ‘blind eye’ to reports of gymnasts’ abuse ASSOCIATED PRESS Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles told Congress in forceful testimony Wednesday that federal law enforcement and gymnastics officials turned a “blind eye” to USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse of her and hundreds of other women. Biles told the Senate Judiciary Committee that “enough is enough” as she and three other U.S. gymnasts spoke in stark emotional terms about the lasting toll Nassar’s crimes have taken on their lives. In response, FBI Director Christopher Wray said he was “deeply and profoundly sorry” for delays in Nassar’s prosecution and the pain it caused. The four-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion — widely considered to be the greatest gymnast of all time — said that she “can imagine no place that I would be less comfortable right now than sitting here in front of you.” She declared herself a survivor of sexual abuse. “I blame Larry Nassar and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse,” Biles said through tears. In addition to failures of the FBI, she said USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee “knew that I was abused by their official team doctor long before I was ever

SAUL LOEB • Associated Press United States gymnasts from left, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols, arrive to testify during a Senate Judiciary hearing about FBI’s handling of the Larry Nassar investigation.

made aware of their knowledge.” Biles said a message needs to be sent: “If you allow a predator to harm children, the consequences will be swift and severe. Enough is enough.” The hearing is part of a congressional effort to hold the FBI accountable after multiple missteps in investigating the case, including the delays that allowed the now-imprisoned Nassar to abuse other young gymnasts. At least 40 girls and women said they were molested after

the FBI had been made aware of allegations against Nassar in 2015. An internal investigation by the Justice Department released in July said that the FBI made fundamental errors in the probe and did not treat the case with the “utmost seriousness” after USA Gymnastics first reported the allegations to the FBI’s field office in Indianapolis in 2015. The FBI has acknowledged its own conduct was inexcusable. Wray blasted his own agents who failed to appro-

priately respond to the complaints and made a promise to the victims that he was committed to “make damn sure everybody at the FBI remembers what happened here” and that it never happens again. A supervisory FBI agent who had failed to properly investigate the Nassar case, and later lied about it, has been fired by the agency, Wray said. McKayla Maroney, a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic gymnastics team in 2012, recounted to senators a night when, at age 15, she

found the doctor on top of her while she was naked — one of many times she was abused. She said she thought she was going to die that evening. But she said that when she recalled those memories in a call with FBI agents, crying, there was “dead silence.” Maroney said the FBI “minimized and disregarded” her and the other gymnasts as they delayed the probe. “I think for so long all of us questioned, just because someone else wasn’t fully validating us, that we doubted what happened to us,” Maroney said. “And I think that makes the healing process take longer.” Biles and Maroney were joined by Aly Raisman, who won gold medals alongside them on the 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams, and gymnast Maggie Nichols. Raisman told the senators that it “disgusts” her that they are still looking for answers six years after the original allegations against Nassar were reported. Raisman noted the traumatic effect the abuse has had on all of them. “Being here today is taking everything I have,” she said. “My main concern is I hope I have the energy to just walk out of here. I don’t think people realize how much it affects us.” Biles acknowledged in January 2018 that she was among the hundreds of athletes who were abused by Nassar.

REPORTER PICK ‘EM • WEEK #2 GIANTS @ WASHINGTON

PATRIOTS @ JETS

BRONCOS @ JAGUARS

BILLS @ DOLPHINS

49ERS @ EAGLES

RAMS @ COLTS

RAIDERS @ STEELERS

BENGALS @ BEARS

TEXANS @ BROWNS

SAINTS @ PANTHERS

VIKINGS @ CARDINALS

FALCONS @ BUCCANEERS

TITANS @ SEAHAWKS

COWBOYS @ CHARGERS

CHIEFS @ RAVENS

LIONS @ PACKERS

DANIEL MCELROY Sports Editor KOLE BUELOW Sports Writer SAM LEIBEG Sports Writer MAXWELL MAYLEBEN Editor in Chief JENNA PETERSON News Director MANSOOR AHMAD Media Director DANA CLARK Ad Design Mgr. BAYLEE SORENSEN Weekly Guest Pick

STANDINGS After Week #1

1ST PLACE Jenna Peterson

Overall (9-7) Last Week (9-7)

1ST PLACE (TIE) Mansoor Ahmad Overall (9-7) Last Week (9-7)

1ST PLACE (TIE) Dana Clark Overall (9-7) Last Week (9-7)

1ST PLACE (TIE) Guest Pick Overall (9-7) Last Week (9-7)

2ND PLACE (TIE) Daniel McElroy Overall (8-8) Last Week (8-8)

2ND PLACE (TIE) Kole Buelow Overall (8-8) Last Week (8-8)

3RD PLACE Sam Leibeg

Overall (7-9) Last Week (7-9)

LAST PLACE Maxwell Mayleben Overall (6-10) Last Week (6-10)

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Jones eying streak vs. WFT

Sports

MSU Reporter • 13

Nebraska-Oklahoma provided stage for ASSOCIATED PRESS

AL DRAGO • Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS Even if Daniel Jones knows why he has been so successful in his career against Washington, the New York Giants quarterback wants no part of sharing that insight. Each game is different, Jones insists, yet he’s 4-0 against Washington and 4-19 against the rest of the NFL through his first two-plus pro seasons. “He runs well with the ball — he’s a dynamic runner,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said. “So, that’s been it: He’s got a good arm, strong-arm quarterback who throws the ball.” Sometimes for a costly interception. Or he might be putting the ball on the ground for a fumble, something Jones did as much or more than any other player in the league the past two years. Now Jones is looking to keep his undefeated run going against Washington, which is turning to unproven but popular Taylor Heinicke to start after Ryan Fitzpatrick injured his right hip in Week 1. The matchup between Washington’s fearsome — or what should be fearsome — pass rush against New York’s

offensive line will go a long way toward determining who wins the NFC East matchup on Thursday night. Yet all eyes are on the quarterbacks with mistake-prone potential in Jones going up against a journeyman in Heinicke who almost outdueled Tom Brady in the playoffs last season. “I just remember him being a gunslinger,” said Giants cornerback James Bradberry, who played for the Panthers in Heinicke’s only other regular-season NFL start back in 2018 with Carolina. “(He is) willing to take chances, trusting his receivers and giving them opportunities to make plays.” The trust is there between Jones and second-year coach Joe Judge, who inherited the 2019 No. 6 overall draft pick when he got the job. Jones fumbled for the 30th time in New York’s Week 1 loss to Denver, but also threw for 267 yards and a touchdown. “Daniel prepares extremely well,” Judge said. “Daniel goes out there and practices hard every day. He goes out there and we have confidence in him because of the way he prepares on a weekly basis, doing everything it takes to be ready for the game.”

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Half a century ago, the Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry games offered a grand stage for the best Black college football players while the South dragged its feet on integration. With Nebraska’s Johnny Rodgers, Rich Glover and Willie Harper and Oklahoma’s Greg Pruitt, Joe Washington, Rod Shoate and brothers Lee Roy, Lucious and Dewey Selmon leading the way, the programs dominated with stars most schools in the South wouldn’t even recruit. After Texas became the last all-white team to win a national title in 1969, Nebraska and Oklahoma won two Associated Press national titles each between 1970 and 1975, with Black athletes playing critical roles. Each won their annual November showdown against each other on the way to those championships. Rodgers, Pruitt and Glover were among the biggest stars in the “Game of the Century” — No. 1 Nebraska’s win 3531 win over No. 2 Oklahoma in 1971. They placed 1-2-3 in the 1972 Heisman race (Rodgers, Pruitt, Glover) — the first time that happened for Black players. “I think that our play and our success on those football teams opened the door for a lot of Black kids that followed us,” Pruitt recalled amid preparations for Ne-

Lincoln Journal Star via Associated Press Nebraska’s Johnny Rodgers (20) hugs an assistant coach on the sideline after his punt return for a touchdown against Oklahoma in the first quarter of college football game in Norman, Okla.

braska’s game at Oklahoma this weekend, 50 years after their famous showdown. The honors and recognition streamed in for Black athletes at Nebraska and Oklahoma in those days. Glover won the Outland and Lombardi Trophies in 1972 and Lee Roy Selmon won both in 1975. Washington, an electrifying running back known for his silver shoes, finished third in the Heisman voting in 1974. It goes back to the coaches who decided to prioritize recruiting Black athletes -Chuck Fairbanks and Barry Switzer at Oklahoma and Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne at Nebraska. “Before it happened, if I was to pick the schools most likely to break the barriers,

Oklahoma and Nebraska probably would not have made the list,” said Richard Lapchick, head of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. “But coaches like Barry Switzer, Tom Osborne, Chuck Fairbanks and Bob Devaney were bold enough to see the future and courageous enough to bury the previous era of segregated teams. The results were evident in their records and the records of some of their great Black players.” Switzer grew up in the 1940s and ’50s near tiny Crossett, Arkansas, and said his father, Frank, was a bootlegger. Frank had Black bootleggers working for him, and his son often tagged along when it was time to collect.

14 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Theatre begins season with play “I Am a Camera” Minnesota State University, Mankato’s department of theatre and dance presents “I Am a Camera’’ a play that takes place in the 1930’s showcasing a handful of characters and their lives during Hitlers’ rise to power in Berlin Germany. With only three weeks of rehearsals and auditions taking place after classes started at MNSU, those involved in the production have been very busy the past few weeks. “I’ve done three shows with MNSU before this one and this one has been such a whirlwind since we only had a couple weeks to put it together,” Emerald J. Clark, who plays Sally Bowles shared. The setting takes place in a single apartment over a period of months. The show’s set was built “in the round” also known as a style of theatre where the audience completely surrounds the set, getting a 360 degree view of the show. Those who attend will be transferred back in time to the early 1930’s while analyzing the lives of some very interesting characters. “Christopher does a lot of observing, I think those silent moments are intriguing and if you’re watching the characters who aren’t talking you’ll find new things about the show,” Joshua Lester, who plays Christopher Isherwood said. No matter how many productions you’ve been in, it can be agreed that being a part of MNSU extra-circulars

Photo courtesy of Theatre Department

By JULIA BARTON • Staff Writer

is a great way to meet new people. “This is my first production at MNSU and I didn’t know any of the cast going into this,” Natalie Suarez, who plays Natalia Landauer stated. “I definitely learned a lot from this production by watching and also through my cast mates.” A fellow cast member agreed.

“This is my seventh production I’ve been a part of at MNSU and one of my favorite memories throughout my time here is just getting to know all of my classmates also in my major,” Hannah Sayler, who plays Mrs.Watson-Courneidge shared. Wednesday was the play’s opening night and many students came to sup-

port their friends in the production as well as see in-person shows again postcovid restrictions. “My co-worker Hannah is in the show and I thought the show was very interesting and the accents are so impressive,” Halley Weinberger, sophomore at MNSU said. CAMERA on page 15 u

By LILLIAN SCHMIDT • Staff Writer Faculty of the art department at Minnesota State University, Mankato have kicked off the Conkling Art Exhibit series with “Faculty Fall ‘21 Exhibition.” The exhibit includes a wide variety of mediums including ceramics, graphic designs, and sculptures. “This really shows a showcase of how committed each one of my colleagues are as an educator and as a researcher,” said Mika Laidlaw, a ceramics faculty member and one of the artists featured in the exhibit. The exhibit consists of works across an array of mediums by faculty members Laidlaw, Pocket Toscani, Gina Wenger, Josh Winkler, Bradley Coulter, Calee Cecconi, and Ellen Schofield. “I feel like our undergraduates because they have that breadth of experience — not just what they’re seeing out in the art world, but in their classrooms — that they get that advantage,” said Gina Wenger, art education faculty member and department chair. Wenger also gave insight on her installation titled “Mourning.”

“In my own home I make these little memorials for people that I’ve lost in my life or things I want to remember,” she said. “So I’ll take things that I have that remind me of them and I’ll put them together in small spaces. And so I decided last year to take a quilt I was working on and stitch my grandma’s portrait onto it.” All of the elements of the installation were objects she made with family. Wenger also added an audio recording to the installation of her reading stories she was fond of during childhood. Toscani, a faculty member who specializes in sculpture, took a different approach to the materials normally used in that medium. “All of them (sculptures) have found objects or found material in them that I reuse,” they said. Some of these reused materials include plastic serving trays and mattress parts. For Toscani, their art is about using space. Toscani has three sculptures in the exhibit, all with unique aesthetics. They commented, “I’m always trying to surprise myself, ya know? Like, what else can I do?”

DYLAN ENGEL • The Reporter

Conkling Art Gallery exhibit features faculty works

The Minnesota State University, Mankato Department of Art factulty display various mediums of art throughout the Conkling Art Gallery exhibited in Nelson Hall.

Laidlaw said she had specific inspirations with her work from plant seeds to COVID-19. Her preferred medium is ceramics, but she also found ways to incorporate nature into her work. Laidlaw sculpted vases and said, “They were based on bones, and the bones symbolize people that passed

that I miss.” In these vases she practiced ikibana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. She stated, “The plants are us. The ones that are alive.” The faculty art exhibit will be open until Sept. 28 with the closing exhibition taking place on the last day from 7-9 p.m.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Variety

MSU Reporter • 15

First, she was a survivor: #MeToo’s Burke tells her story ASSOCIATED PRESS “Maybe it won’t catch on.” That’s what Tarana Burke was thinking — indeed, hoping — when she first found out the phrase “MeToo” was suddenly circulating online in October 2017, in the wake of shocking revelations about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. It was a phrase she had come up with over years of working with survivors of sexual violence. And she worried that it would be co-opted or misused, turned into a mere hashtag for a brief moment of social media frenzy and ruining the hard work she had done. As it turned out, it did catch on. Actor Alyssa Milano had asked victims of sexual assault or harassment to share their stories or simply say #MeToo, and hundreds of thousands had done so on the very first day. But Burke’s fears did not materialize, and her movement has taken off in a way she’d never dreamed. “I wasn’t even dreaming this big,” she told The Asso-

ciated Press in an interview. “I thought I had big, lofty goals and I didn’t dream nearly big enough.” Now, as the #MeToo movement — the social reckoning that began in 2017 — approaches its fourth anniversary, Burke, 48, has come out with a highly personal, often raw memoir of her childhood in the Bronx in New York City, her journey into activism, and the beginnings of #MeToo. She also provides a vivid account of how she herself was raped when she was only seven years old — an event that shaped her future in profound ways. She spoke to AP ahead of the book’s release this week. (Interview has been edited for clarity and length.) AP: Why was it time for this memoir? BURKE: People will think this is a book about, you know, going to the Golden Globes and meeting a bunch of celebrities, and a bunch of powerful men whose lives were impacted by #MeToo. I want to tell a different story. My story is ordinary and also extraordinary: It’s so many

Flatiron Books via Associated Press These photos shows cover art for “Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too wMovement,” left, and a portrait of author Tarana Burke taken at her home in Baltimore on Oct. 13, 2020.

other little black girls’ stories, so many young women’s stories. We don’t pay attention to the nuances of what survival looks like or what sexual violence feels like and how it impacts our lives. So it just felt important. This is a story

Review: Drag queen dreams in ‘Talking About Jamie’ ASSOCIATED PRESS “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” a predictable and glossy “Billy Elliot”-like musical of British working-class aspiration that’s nevertheless a joy, is the kind of movie that might have once been made about the trials of coming out as a young gay man. But such hurdles are already well past Jamie New (newcomer Max Harwood), a confident, proudly out 16-year-old who lives in Sheffield, England. It’s not that he doesn’t have some scars from his childhood. Jamie has a supportive, adoring mother (Sarah Lancashire,) but his homophobic, remarried father (Ralph Ineson) is mostly absent. And at school, there is a boilerplate bully (Samuel Bottomley) who harasses him. But Jamie, and Harwood’s

CAMERA Continued from page 14 Another student shared their excitement to be back in-person as well. “I came tonight because I haven’t been to a production in years since covid and it’s really exciting to be back,” Faith Hagen, freshman at

that’s been growing inside me for more than 40 years. It was time to give it a home outside of my body. AP: What message do you hope to send other women and girls who, like you, experienced rape or sexual assault?

BURKE: That their experiences aren’t singular, and they aren’t alone. It feels really isolating, particularly if you’re dealing with sexual violence. I really want to convey the message that you are not alone.

The Department of Theatre & Dance is seeking a

Class Room Accompanist Pay is $20/hr.

AMAZON STUDIOS • Associated Press This image released by Amazon Studios shows a scene from “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.”

winning performance, belong to a different, more modern era. Jamie doesn’t just want to be himself. His dreams are larger. While his school class discusses career options, he daydreams a song-anddance number with “The Jamie Show” in lights, singing

“’Cause baby I’m a hit.” Specifically, he wants to be a drag queen. Jamie’s journey isn’t so much about self-realization as it is about self-empowerment. “Everybody’s Talking About Me,” which begins streaming Friday on Amazon Prime Video.

MNSU said. Theatre productions at MNSU are open to any and all students especially for those who are looking to try something new. Eric E Parrish, director of the production, shared his thoughts on why students should get involved in the theatre at MNSU.

“I think it’s important that students know that you don’t have to be a theatre major to be in a production, college is a time to explore and try new things,” Parrish added. “I Am a Camera” will be showing at the Andreas Theatre from Sept. 15-18 and tickets are $10 for the general public and $8 for students.

Seeking an accompanist for contemporary modern dance classes. All skilled musicians with improv skills are encouraged to apply. Email: nicholas.wayne@mnsu.edu

16 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, September 16, 2021

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