December 2, 2021

TODAY

Hockey and hoops

48˚

at home this week page

13

35˚

Mostly cloudy; maybe a little sunny at times...but probably not honestly.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021

BREAK A LEG

The do’s and don’t when preparing for winter break

By CLAIRE BRUNEAU Staff Writer

Parisha Rajbhandari, the only student in the newly-introduced dance MFA program, performed her routine Tuesday during a rehearsal for the fall dance recital that will take place Dec. 4 and 5.

Photo by MANSOOR AHMAD • The Reporter

full story on page 19 u

Hands on learning takes hold at MNSU How experiential learning allows students to gear up for the real world

By JULIA BARTON Staff Writer Experiential learning at Minnesota State University, Mankato allows students to learn first-hand how to interact with clients and students in order to prepare them for the real world.

MNSU offers a variety of programs students are able to choose from. Many undergraduate programs consist of traditional classroom settings and regular course structure.

But other programs go above and beyond to integrate real-world experiences into everyday learning.

Programs offering handson opportunities include

nursing, sport psychology and athletic training.

Sports psychology lets students lead one-on-one and group sessions that are offered free of charge to MNSU athletes in order to sharpen their skills while working with clients.

Baily Chell, who received his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota, is now in his second year in MNSU’s sports psychology master’s program.

“You learn a lot quicker when you’re hands-on learning. You can learn as much as you want in a classroom but if you are not implementing it within at least a month from when you learned it, it kind of slips your memory and you lose it,” Chell shared.

“When you’re learning something in the classroom and you can then use it the next day it makes it unreal and makes you feel like you

DYLAN ENGEL • The Reporter Baily Chell is a grad student in the sports psychology program, and is currently in his second year in the program.

can utilize that going forward.”

The nursing program allows students to get real-world experience by having those in the program observe nurses at Mankato-area clinics.

Clinicals are real-world

experiences where students follow nurses on the job to see what it’s actually like in a specific specialty.

Brooke Lott, who is a senior in the nursing program, had the opportunity to observe at a few clinics such as LEARNING on page 5 u

Winter break is coming up quickly for Minnesota State University, Mankato, and it means something different for everyone. Some students will spend their break back home, even though they’ll miss the friends they’ve made here, while others will be staying on campus and need to find a way to fill the time.

Before relaxing for the holiday season, students right now are focused on completing their final exams.

“My finals havn’t been too hard on me because I worked ahead. However, many of my friends are drowning in exams and papers,” freshman Reagan Zeamen stated. “I’m so excited to go home and be able to spend time with my family over the holidays, even though I’m going to miss people.”

Many students are stressed about knowing what to bring back home with them for the month.

To help from overpacking, it’s important to start thinking about what you can and can’t live without over the long break.

“Thinking back to when I was a student, my issue wasn’t what to bring home but what not to bring home.

I would typically overpack and would bring back a lot of belongings that wouldn’t be used for the entire break.

Be selective and save some space as you travel home,” said Jesse Heath, Preska Hall Director.

Students say they feel overwhelmed deciding what to haul back home.

“I am definitely stressed about packing, I have no idea what to bring. I want to be able to be cozy and comfortable but I don’t want to have to unpack everything all over again. I’m definitely going to have to make some tough choices,” WINTER on page 5 u

2 • MSU Reporter

News

Abrams launches 2nd campaign for GA governor

BRYNN ANDERSON • Associated Press In this Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, file photo, Stacey Abrams speaks to Biden supporters as they wait for former President Barack Obama to arrive and speak at a campaign rally for Biden at Turner Field in Atlanta.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat and leading voting rights activist, said Wednesday that she will launch another campaign to become the nation’s first Black woman governor.

Without serious competition in a Democratic primary, the announcement could set up a rematch between Abrams and incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

Their 2018 contest was one of the most narrowly decided races for governor that year and was dominated by allegations of voter suppression, which Kemp denied.

Yet Abrams’ strong showing convinced national Democrats that Georgia should no longer be written off as a GOP stronghold. Her performance and subsequent organization convinced Joe Biden to invest heavily in the state in 2020, and he became the first Democratic presidential candidate to capture it since 1992. The party later won a narrow Senate majority after victories in two special elec-

tions in the state.

The 2022 governor’s race will test whether those gains were a one-time phenomenon driven by discomfort with then-President Donald Trump or marked the beginning of a more consequential political shift in a rapidly growing and diversifying South. In a video announcing her candidacy, Abrams said “opportunity and success in Georgia shouldn’t be determined by background or access to power.”

Abrams said she would provide “leadership that knows how to do the job, leadership that doesn’t take credit without also taking responsibility, leadership that understands the true pain that folks are feeling and has real plans. That’s the job of governor, to fight for one Georgia, our Georgia.”

Kemp said in a statement that Abrams was a on a “never-ending campaign for power” in an attempt to become president, linking her to what he said was the “failed Biden agenda.”

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Councilman Dickens wins Atlanta mayor ASSOCIATED PRESS City Council member Andre Dickens won a runoff election Tuesday to become Atlanta’s next mayor, riding a surge of support that powered him past the council’s current president, Felicia Moore, after finishing second to her in November.

Dickens won a campaign dominated by concern over rising violent crime in the city, arguing he would be more effective than Moore, who had often been a sometimes-lonely critic of previous mayors in her 20 years on the City Council. Moore had been the leading candidate by a wide margin in the first round of voting on Nov. 2 among 14 candidates in a nonpartisan race.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms created a wide-open succession race when she announced in May that she wouldn’t seek a second term.

The 47-year-old Dickens, an Atlanta native and engineer by training, joined the council in 2013. He argued that his broad range of experience would allow him to address crime and other city issues including affordable housing and improving opportunity for poorer residents. Other issues in the race included bolstering struggling city services and keeping the wealthy Buckhead neighborhood from seceding.

“We voted for progress and a problem solver, for a bridge builder, for transformation,” Dickens told a crowd of hundreds during his victory speech Tuesday night. “And this work will start right now. We can’t wait any longer to address these issues.”

Dickens went from trailing the pack to take second on Nov. 2 and make the runoff, ending the comeback attempt of two-term former

BEN GRAY • Associated Press Atlanta mayoral runoff candidate Andre Dickens gives his victory speech Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, in Atlanta.

Mayor Kasim Reed, who finished third. That snowballing support continued in the runoff, with endorsements

by Bottoms, U.S. Rep. and Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Nikema Williams, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Sharon Gay, an attorney who finished fourth in Nov. 2 voting.

“I draw circles, I don’t draw lines,” Dickens said.

“And the circle tonight got real large.”

Like many cities across the country, Atlanta has been dealing with a spike in killings. As of Nov. 13, homicides rose 10% over the same period last year and 57% compared with 2019, Atlanta police data shows. Several of those killings captured widespread attention.

Dickens has pledged to increase the number of police officers, arrest gang leaders and implement community policing. He says he may keep current Police Chief Rodney Bryant, who came out of retirement in 2020 after a previous chief stepped down following a fatal police shooting of a Black man that led to unrest. Dickens also wants to increase affordable housing, improve infrastructure and

ensure current residents qualify for high-paying jobs. He acknowledged the city’s problems Tuesday night, but then pivoted to optimism about the city’s ability to change.

“Like they say, Atlanta influences everything,” Dickens said. “And it’s time that we use that influence to make some real change. Atlanta needs to show the world that we are leading, that we are leading on public safety, on criminal justice reform, that we are leading on affordable housing and eliminating the inequality that we have.”

Moore, 60, made a call for unity in her concession speech, saying there’s no difference between her supporters and Dickens’ because “we’re all camp Atlanta.”

“We have to be called to do the thing that we wanted everyone else to do, and that’s bring this city together,” Moore said, specifically calling on Buckhead residents to work with Dickens and spurn secession and for Dickens to make sure he gives access to all groups.

Alexander Dawes, a 25-year-old Black man, said he voted for Dickens on Tuesday at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church.

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Thursday, December 2, 2021

News

MSU Reporter • 3

US calls 1st case of omicron ASSOCIATED PRESS The U.S. recorded its first confirmed case of the omicron variant Wednesday — in a vaccinated traveler who returned to California after a trip to South Africa — as scientists around the world race to establish whether the new, mutant version of the coronavirus is more dangerous than previous ones.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious-disease expert, made the announcement at the White House.

“We knew it was just a matter of time before the first case of omicron would be detected in the United States,” he said.

The infected person was identified as a traveler who had returned from South Africa on Nov. 22, developed mild symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19 Monday. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco obtained a sample from the patient Tuesday evening and worked feverishly overnight to assemble the genetic sequence.

The person, who had had

the full two doses of the Moderna vaccine and wasn’t yet due for a booster shot, is improving, California officials said.

Fauci and other medical experts strongly emphasized that Americans should continue to get vaccinated and get their booster shots. The vaccine has been proven to reduce the risk of severe illness and death, and Fauci said it is reasonable to believe it will offer protection against the omicron variant.

The mild nature of the California case “is a testimony to the importance of the vaccinations,” said California Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.

All the individual’s close contacts have been reached and have tested negative, officials said. The patient, who agreed to remain in quarantine, was identified only as being between 18 and 49.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed confidence in the state’s efforts to control the virus and said he does not anticipate it will impose another stay-at-home order or other shutdown measures.

JOAN MATEU • Associated Press A couple stand outside the security control section inside a terminal of the Barcelona Airport, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.

At least 23 other countries have reported omicron infections since South African authorities first identified the variant a week ago — an announcement that led the U.S. and many other countries to

almost immediately bar airline travelers arriving from southern Africa. In South Africa, new cases of COVID-19 nearly doubled in a single day to almost 8,600, authorities reported Wednesday, and the

country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases said omicron has now overtaken the delta variant among genetic samples sequenced.

But the variant is still surrounded by many unknowns.

THE FRATERNITY AND SORORITY COMMUNITY CONGRATULATES THESE FALL 2021 GRADUATES ON THE ATTAINMENT OF THEIR DEGREES AND LOOKS FORWARD TO THEIR CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT AND INVOLVEMENT AS ACTIVE ALUMNI. Alpha Chi Omega Gensyn Bozquez Josie Guernsey Brianna Pietsch

Gamma Phi Beta Katie Baumann Ryann Lake Emma Rosen

Alpha Sigma Alpha Lauren Claseman Arnavee Maltare Megan Thao

Lambda Chi Alpha Kyle Mickelsen Sigma Nu Jesse Lease Ryan McCormick*

Phi Delta Theta Weston Bring Phi Kappa Psi Asa Beckner Cal Capra Sigma Chi Brad Phillips

* In Memory. Ryan McCormick, November 23, 1996 - May 3, 2021. @MaverickFSL

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4 • MSU Reporter

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Thursday, December 2, 2021

News

Biden, AIDS strategy needs to confront inequity

WINTER Continued from page 1 said Zeamen.

To help ease stress, Residential Life has sent emails to students with tips and tricks to follow, as well as a to-do list for students leaving their dorm room for the month, including taking out the trash, getting rid of any food that will expire, and locking the windows.

Heath pointed out that many students will have to find ways to stay busy over the month-long break and gave some suggestions. “You

ASSOCIATED PRESS President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled his new HIV/AIDS strategy to end the more than 40-year-old epidemic, calling for a renewed focus on vulnerable Americans — including gay and bisexual Black and Latino men, who his administration says are too often stigmatized even as they are disproportionately affected.

The strategy, which declares racism a “public health threat,” was released on the annual commemoration of World AIDS Day. It is meant to serve as a framework for how the administration shapes its policies, research, programs and planning over the next three years. But Biden acknowledged that the country still needs to work to destigmatize HIV/AIDS and noted that LGBT and racial minority groups have “endured the brunt” of the epidemic that’s killed more than 36 million worldwide, including 700,000 Americans.

“I want to make sure that everyone in the United States knows their HIV status, and everyone with HIV receives high-quality care and treatment that they deserve and that we end the harmful stigma around HIV and AIDS,” Biden said.

The strategy asserts that over generations “structural inequities have resulted in racial and ethnic health disparities that are severe, far-reach-

MSU Reporter • 5 may want to bring your video games,” said Heath. “Thinking about things people will use to occupy their minds over a month. Students may not want to read on their break, but if they don’t have a lot of things to keep them busy, it may not take long to be bored.”

Heath also commented that students should bring their computers with them as the University will still be sending out some emails over the break. Professors will also send out important information before classes start back up Jan. 10.

MANUEL BALCE CENETA • Associated Press The North Portico of the White House is adorned with a huge red ribbon to commemorate the annual World AIDS Day, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington.

ing, and unacceptable.”

Today’s HIV treatments not only can give people with the AIDS virus a near-normal life expectancy, they can make those patients less likely to infect other people.

There are also medications that can help protect healthy people who are at risk from their infected sexual partners, a strategy known as “pre-exposure prophylaxis” or PreP. New HIV infections in the U.S. fell about 8% from 2015 to 2019. But Black and Latino communities — particularly gay and bisexual men within those groups — continue to be disproportionately affected, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. African Americans make up about 13% of the U.S. population but account-

ed for more than 40% of new infections. The Latino population accounted for nearly 25% of new infections but makes up about 18.5% of the U.S. population.

Historically, gay and bisexual men have been the most disproportionately affected group. They account for about 66% of new HIV infections, but are only 2% of the population, according to the CDC. In 2019, 26% of new HIV infections were among Black gay and bisexual men, 23% among Latino gay and bisexual men, and 45% among gay and bisexual men under the age of 35.

Disparities also persist among women. Black women’s HIV infection rate is 11 times that of white women and four times that of Latina women.

LEARNING Continued from page 1 Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, Abbott Northwestern and Fairview Ridges.

“I’ve gotten to observe baby deliveries, experience what correctional (jail) nursing is like, home health nursing and different rotations in hospitals like oncology, mental health and medical surgical floors,” Lott said.

“The most beneficial thing about being able to go to clinicals and practice hands-on with real patients is the ability to combine what we have learned in the classroom with a real patient.”

Fortunately the nursing program has been able to continue letting students observe nurses on the job despite the hardships COVID has put on health care providers throughout the pandemic.

The athletic training program at MNSU allows stu-

dents to learn directly how to treat and interact with patients.

“I love that we get handson experience under our preceptors during our clinical experience. Learning skills in the classroom is great, but having the ability to apply them to a real patient just weeks later makes it more tangible and challenges us to critically think,” said Mitzi Guizar, a first-year student in the athletic training program at MNSU. “Developing my interpersonal skills as a healthcare provider is something I wasn’t able to develop in my undergrad as much as I would have liked to because of limitations with COVID, so I am very thankful I am getting the opportunity now,” she said.

MNSU’s education, IBE and dental hygiene program are also known to prioritize experiential learning.

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6 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, December 2, 2021

MI teen charged in Oxford shooting ASSOCIATED PRESS A 15-year-old boy was charged with murder and terrorism for a shooting that killed four fellow students and injured others at a Michigan high school, authorities said Wednesday, revealing that his parents were summoned just a few hours before the bloodshed.

No motive was offered by Oakland County authorities, a day after violence at Oxford High School, roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit. But prosecutor Karen McDonald said the shooting was premeditated, based in part on a “mountain of digital evidence” collected by police.

“This was not just an impulsive act,” McDonald said.

Oakland County Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Willis said during a court hearing for Ethan Crumbley that the boy recorded video the night before violence in which he discussed shooting and killing students.

The revelation was made

by Oakland County Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Willis during a court hearing for Ethan Crumbley.

Willis made the comments shortly before Crumbley was to be arraigned on charges of murder, attempted murder, terrorism causing death and gun crimes. He is charged as an adult. It wasn’t immediately known if he had an attorney who could comment.

Sheriff Mike Bouchard told reporters that Crumb-

ley’s parents were called to the school Tuesday “for behavior in the classroom that was concerning.” The teen remained in school, and the shooting occurred a few hours later.

Bouchard didn’t offer details about what had troubled school officials. He said investigators believe the gun was already in school.

“There is nothing that he could have faced that would warrant senseless, absolutely brutal violence on other kids,” the sheriff said.

The shooting should be a wake-up call for new gun laws in a country that has become “desensitized to school shootings,” McDonald told reporters.

“We have to do better,” McDonald said without offering specific changes. “How many times does this have to happen? How many times?”

She said the terrorism charge also fits.

“What about all the children who ran, screaming, hiding under desks? ... Those are victims, too, and so are their families and so is the community,” McDonald said.

Deputies rushed to the school around lunchtime Tuesday and arrested Crumbley in a hallway within minutes of the shooting. His father bought the 9 mm Sig Sauer gun last week, according to the sheriff.

McDonald said charges were being considered against the parents.

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PAUL SANCYA • Associated Press A well wisher kneels to pray at a memorial on the sign of Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.

“Owning a gun means securing it properly and locking it and keeping the ammunition separate,” she said.

The four students who were killed were identified as 16-year-old Tate Myre, 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and 17-year-old Justin Shilling.

After the attack, authorities learned of social media posts about threats of a shooting at the roughly 1,700-student school. The sheriff stressed how crucial it is for such

tips to be sent to authorities, while also cautioning against spreading social media rumors before a full investigation.

Isabel Flores, a 15-yearold ninth grader, told Detroit television station WJBK that she and other students heard gunshots and saw another student bleeding from the face.

They then ran from the area through the rear of the school, she said. A concerned parent, Robin Redding, said her son, 12th-grader Treshan Bryant, stayed home Tuesday after

hearing threats of a possible shooting.

“This couldn’t be just random,” she said.

Bryant said he had heard vague threats “for a long time now” about plans for a shooting.

At a vigil Tuesday night at LakePoint Community Church, Leeann Dersa choked back tears as she hugged friends and neighbors. Dersa has lived nearly all of her 73 years in Oxford. Her grandchildren attended the high school.

Thursday, December 2, 2021

News

MSU Reporter • 7

Jury takes shape for Potter trial in Daunte Wright’s death ASSOCIATED PRESS The jury for the trial of a suburban Minneapolis police officer charged in Daunte Wright’s shooting death began to take shape Wednesday, with nine of the necessary 14 panelists seated, including a woman who said she owns both a gun and a stun gun.

Kim Potter, 49, is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 shooting of Wright, a 20-yearold Black motorist, following a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center. Potter, who is white, has said she meant to use her Taser on Wright after he pulled away from officers, but that she drew her handgun by mistake.

The stun gun owner was asked whether she could set aside what she knows about her own device — one she said she has never used — and she said she could. She went on to

say that she strongly disagrees that police officers should not be second-guessed for their decisions.

“This is a servitude job, and when you get into this position, you need to understand that it’s a tough job and so you have to maintain that level of professionalism when you get into that position,” she said.

Also seated Wednesday was a woman who said she thought protests against police in the Minneapolis area have had a negative effect because of the property damage some have caused. She also said she somewhat disagrees with the idea of defunding the police, saying “You’re always going to need police officers.”

A man chosen for the jury said in his questionnaire that he had “somewhat negative” impressions of both Potter and Wright. Asked why about Wright, he said, “I don’t condone fleeing from a police officer.” About Potter, he said,

What are Colombia’s exFARC splinter groups?

ASSOCIATED PRESS The Biden administration revoked the terrorist designation of Colombia’s former FARC guerrilla army on Tuesday, five years after the rebel group signed a peace deal with the government. However, it imposed the same designation on two splinter groups that are still fighting in remote pockets of the South American country.

The FARC holdouts newly designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army – known by the Spanish acronym of FARC-EP --- and Segunda Marquetalia.

Here are more details on these newly designated terrorist groups: HOW DID THE SPLINTER GROUPS ARISE? After five decades of internal conflict that killed an estimated 26,000 people and forced more than 6 million to flee their homes, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia signed a peace deal in which 13,000 fighters gave up their weapons in exchange for numerous concessions from the government, including development programs for rural areas and the opportunity for former guerrilla leaders to participate in local politics and avoid time in prison.

But a group of about 1,000

fighters led by commander Néstor Gregorio Vera refused to lay down their weapons and continued to conduct attacks and kidnappings in southeastern Colombia. These fighters now use the acronym FARC-EP. In 2019, three years after the peace deal was signed, former FARC commander Iván Márquez announced he would be taking up arms again in a video shot at an undisclosed location, creating the Segunda Marquetalia group.

Márquez, whose real name is Luciano Marin, was the FARC’s lead negotiator during peace talks with the government. He accused the Colombian government of not keeping its promises and of failing to stop the murders of dozens of former FARC fighters.

When Márquez announced his return to arms, the former FARC commander and some of his close associates were under investigation for drug trafficking in Colombia and the United States.

HOW LARGE ARE THESE HOLDOUTS AND HOW DO THEY OPERATE? The FARC splinter groups are fragmented and lack a central command structure.

Security analysts in Colombia also say they are not ideologically oriented and are mainly focused on controlling drug trafficking routes, illegal mines and other illicit economies.

JIM MONE • Associated Press Katie Wright, the mother of Daunte Wright, center, waits in line to go through security with family members as they arrive, Dec. 1, 2021 at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.

“When training fellow officers your actions should be more thought out.”

Nine jurors have been seated, with opening statements scheduled for next Wednesday. Fourteen jurors will be chosen, including two alternates. Three of the first four

jurors seated are white, and the fourth is Asian, according to the court. The court did not immediately release demographic information for the five chosen Wednesday.

Attorneys and Judge Regina Chu have probed potential jurors this week for what they

knew about Wright’s death and about their views of protests against police brutality that were frequent occurrences in Minneapolis even before George Floyd’s death.

Each side has a limited number of peremptory strikes that can be used without requiring a reason. Prosecutor Matthew Frank on Wednesday used up his last two strikes, including one to dismiss a woman who described her fears about violence in Minneapolis, expressed trust in police and said officers shouldn’t be second-guessed.

The woman also said she has a very unfavorable view of Black Lives Matter, writing on her questionnaire that the group goes “too far overboard.” Frank also used a strike to dismiss a man who said he was a hunter, gun owner and Fox News viewer, and that he hasn’t seen any evidence that police treat white and Black people differently.

CONGRATS & GOOD LUCK TO ALL GRADUATES!

8 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, December 2, 2021

FALL 2021 EDITOR IN CHIEF:

MAXWELL MAYLEBEN maxwell.mayleben@mnsu.edu

The best education is from experience

MADISON DIEMERT

madison.diemert@mnsu.edu

Editorial Experiential learning is a vital part of any college student’s career, and should be an area of focus for the University to expand.

If you ask any graduate about where they learned the most while attending school, the odds are they will not say “in the classroom.”

Knowledge gained while sitting in a classroom is knowledge very quickly forgotten. The traditional classroom model of lecture, notes and test very easily lends itself to being information that is only remembered for the test.

If a student is simply learning materials to get a passing grade on a test, and then forgetting what they learned immediately after the test, then the University is failing at its mission to educate.

So if that traditional format lends itself to fading education, we need to use real world experience.

People learn best when they get their hands dirty and really understand what it is like to be in a professional setting.

Students often find themselves in these programs as a requirement from their academic department, such as required internships, clinicals or student teaching. These are amazing resources for students to get a start on the career field and understand what they are getting into after graduation.

Other departments have voluntary experiences, such

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

MADDIE BEHRENS • The Reporter

as the College of Business’s integrated business experience, or voluntary internship credits for other departments.

These are great options for students, if they understand how to get involved.

There is certainly an argument to be made for classroom learning for several fields, as many of them need direct knowledge to set them up for success. However, even these classrooms could greatly benefit from simulating the real world in order to show students what that

experience is like when not viewed through a textbook.

There is a difference between memorizing and understanding, and a tool that the University can use to bridge that gap is implementation.

Students who are able to learn something and then implement that knowledge are much more likely to retain it.

If the aim for students attending our University is to truly educate and enhance their abilities for a career in the real world, then we should prioritize showing them what it is

like to be in that real world.

There should be a standard for all departments across the University requiring students to use the knowledge they gain in a practical setting.

This could be anywhere between requiring the voluntary learning opportunities already offered, or the addition of new opportunities for departments that do not currently offer anything.

The focus of the University should be on education and retention of knowledge, not passing a test.

“Have you had hands-on experience in your major?”

Compiled by Dylan Engel

BEN GRABOWSKA, GRADUATE

JORDAN REDMAN, SOPHOMORE

“I teach English to people of other languages.”

“The labs in my biology and chemistry classes have been beneficial.”

SUSHIL MANANDHAR, GRADUATE

TSION SHERBEZA, SENIOR

“I’ve worked for two different “I’ve been doing research with companies under the same job my professor for two or so as a software developer.” years.”

HARSHIT AHIWALAY, JUNIOR “I did an internship for a diesel generator exhaust system company.”

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Thursday, December 2, 2021

News

MSU Reporter • 9

Effort reopens girls’ schools in Afghan province ASSOCIATED PRESS High school girls are sitting at home almost everywhere in Afghanistan, forbidden to attend class by the Taliban rulers. But there’s one major exception. For weeks, girls in the western province of Herat have been back in high school classrooms — the fruit of a unique, concerted effort by teachers and parents to persuade local Taliban administrators to allow them to reopen.

Taliban officials never formally approved the reopening after the lobbying campaign, but they also didn’t prevent it either when teachers and parents started classes on their own in early October.

“Parents, students and teachers joined hand in hand to do this,” said Mohammed Saber Meshaal, the head of the Herat teachers’ union who helped organize the campaign. “This is the only place where community activists and teachers took the risk of staying and talking to the Taliban.”

The success in Herat highlights a significant difference in the Taliban’s current rule over Afghanistan from their previous one in the late 1990s. Back then, the militants were uncompromising in their hard-line ideology, banning women from public life and work and barring all girls from education. They used force and brutal pun-

ishments to enforce the rules.

This time, they appear to recognize they cannot be as ruthless in an Afghanistan that has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. They have imposed some old rules but have been ambiguous about what is allowed and what is not. The ambiguity might aim to avoid alienating the public as the Taliban wrestle with a near-total economic collapse, a shutdown in international funding, an alarming rise in hunger and a dangerous insurgency by Islamic State group militants.

That has left small margins where Afghans can try to push back. When the Taliban seized power in August, most schools were closed because of COVID-19. Under heavy international pressure, the Taliban soon reopened schools for girls in grades 1-6, along with boys’ schools at all levels.But they have not allowed girls in grades 7-12 to return, saying they must first ensure classes are held in an “Islamic manner.” The Taliban also barred most women from government jobs, their largest place of employment. In Herat province, however, teachers quickly began to organize.

“When the Taliban came, we were very worried, because of everything before,” said Basira Basiratkhah, principal of the Tajrobawai Girls School in Herat, the provincial capital.

Teachers union officials met

PETROS GIANNAKOURIS • Associated Press Afghan girls listen their teacher at Tajrobawai Girls High School, in Herat, Afghanistan, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021.

with the Taliban governor and head of the education department. They didn’t raise issue of girls schools at first, focusing on building a relationship until “the Taliban came to see that we represent the community,” Meshaal said.

When teachers did ask for a reopening, Taliban officials balked, saying they could not allow it without an order from the government in Kabul. The teachers kept pressing.

About 40 female principals, including Basiratkhah, met with senior Taliban edu-

Jenna

cation officials in September to address their main concerns.

“We assured them that the classes are segregated, with only women teachers, and the girls wear proper hijab,” Basiratkhah said. “We don’t need to change anything. We are Muslims and we already observe everything Islam requires.”

By October, the teachers felt they had the Taliban’s tacit agreement not to stand in the way. Teachers began spreading the word on Face-

book pages and messaging app channels that girls’ high schools would reopen Oct. 3.

Parents created a telephone chain to pass along the news, and students told classmates.

Mastoura, who has two daughters attending Tajrobawai in the first and eighth grades, called other parents, urging them to bring their girls to school. Some worried the Taliban would harass the girls or that militants might attack. Mastoura and other women still escort their daughters to school daily.

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10 • MSU Reporter

News

Putin demands NATO guarantees not to expand eastward

GRIGORY SYSOEV, SPUTNIK • Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a ceremony to receive credentials from foreign ambassadors in Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.

ASSOCIATED PRESS President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow would seek Western guarantees precluding any further NATO expansion and deployment of its weapons near his country’s borders, a stern demand that comes amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian and Western officials have worried about a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine, saying it could signal Moscow’s intention of an attack. Russian diplomats countered those claims by expressing concern about Ukraine’s own military buildup near the area of the separatist conflict in the eastern part of the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, noting that Putin could quickly order an invasion of Ukraine, warned that Washington stands ready to inflict heavy sanctions on Russia if he does. Speaking at a Kremlin ceremony where he received credentials from foreign ambassadors, Putin emphasized that Russia will seek “reliable and long-term security guarantees.”

“In a dialogue with the United States and its allies, we will insist on working out specific agreements that would exclude any further NATO moves eastward and the deployment of weapons systems that threaten us in close vicinity to Russian territory,” Putin said.

He charged that “the threats are mounting on our western border,” with NATO placing its military infrastructure closer to Russia and offered the West to engage in substantive talks on the issue, adding that Moscow would need not just verbal assurances, but “legal guarantees.”

“We aren’t demanding

any special conditions for ourselves and realize that any agreements must take interests of Russia and all Euro-Atlantic countries into account,” Putin said. “A calm and stable situation must be ensured for all and is needed for all without exclusion.”

Putin’s statement came a day after he sternly warned NATO against deploying its troops and weapons to Ukraine, saying it represented a red line for Russia and would trigger a strong response. Tensions have been soaring in recent weeks about a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine, which worried Ukrainian and Western officials, who saw it as a possible sign of Moscow’s intention to invade its former Soviet neighbor. NATO foreign ministers warned Russia on Tuesday that any attempt to further destabilize Ukraine would be a costly mistake.

The Kremlin insists it has no such intention and has accused Ukraine and its Western backers of making the claims to cover up their own allegedly aggressive designs.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the concentration of Ukrainian troops looks “alarming,” adding that he was going to raise the issue during a ministerial meeting in Stockholm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Thursday. He again assailed Ukraine for failing to meet its obligations under a 2015 peace deal for the region that was brokered

by France and Germany and signed in Minsk, Belarus.

“Kyiv is becoming increasingly insolent in its aggressiveness towards the Minsk agreements, the Russian Federation, and in its attempts to provoke the West to support its military ambitions,” Lavrov said.

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Death of bullied Utah girl draws anger over suicides ASSOCIATED PRESS When her 10-year-old daughter tried spraying air freshener on herself before school one morning, Brittany Tichenor-Cox suspected something was wrong with the sweet little girl whose beaming smile had gone dormant after she started the fifth grade.

She coaxed out of Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor that a boy in her class told her she stank after their teacher instructed the class that they needed to shower. It was the latest in a series of bullying episodes that targeted Izzy, who was autistic and the only Black student in class. Other incidents included harassment about her skin color, eyebrows and a beauty mark on her forehead, her mother said.

Tichenor-Cox informed the teacher, the school and the district about the bullying.

She said nothing was done to improve the situation. Then on Nov. 6, at their home near Salt Lake City, Izzy died by suicide. Her shocking death triggered an outpouring of anger about youth suicides, racism in the classroom and the treatment of children with autism — issues that have been highlighted by the nation’s racial reckoning and a renewed emphasis on student mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Utah, the suicide also intensified questions about the Davis School District, which

RICK BOWMER • Associated Press Brittany Tichenor-Cox, holds a photo of her daughter, Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor, during an interview Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, in Draper, Utah.

was recently reprimanded by the Justice Department for failing to address widespread racial discrimination.

The district, where Black and Asian American students account for roughly 1% of the approximately 73,000 students, initially defended its handling of the bullying allegations but later launched an outside investigation that is ongoing.

“When I was crying out for help for somebody to do something, nobody even showed up for her,” TichenorCox said this week in an interview with The Associated Press. ”It just hurts to know that my baby was bullied all day throughout school — from the time I dropped her off to the time I picked her up.”

Being autistic made it difficult for Izzy to find words to

express what she was feeling, but her mother sensed her daughter was internalizing the messages from school. She asked her mother to get rid of the beauty mark and shave her unibrow. Her mother told her those features made her different and beautiful. She told her mother her teacher didn’t like her and wouldn’t say hi or help with schoolwork.

Izzy’s mother, 31, blames the teacher for allowing the bullying to happen. Prior to this year, she said, Izzy and two of her other children liked the school.

Tichenor-Cox has also called out deep-rooted racism in the predominantly white state of Utah, where she said the N-word that kids called her when she was a child in the 1990s is still hurled at her children three decades later.

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Thursday, December 2, 2021

News

MSU Reporter • 11

Justices signal they’ll OK new abortion limits, may toss Roe ASSOCIATED PRESS The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday signaled it would uphold Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortion and may go much further to overturn the nationwide right to abortion that has existed for nearly 50 years.

The fate of the court’s historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion throughout the United States and its 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which reaffirmed Roe, probably won’t be known until next June.

But after nearly two hours of arguments, all six conservative justices, including three appointed by former President Donald Trump, indicated they would uphold the Mississippi law.

At the very least, such a decision would undermine Roe and Casey, which allow states to regulate but not ban abortion up until the point of viability, at roughly 24 weeks.

And there was also substantial support among the conservative justices for getting rid of Roe and Casey altogether.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, asked a series of questions about whether the court would be better off withdrawing from the abortion debate and letting states decide.

“Why should the court be the arbiter?” Kavanaugh asked. “There’ll be different access in Mississippi and New York, Alabama and California,.”

Abortion would soon become illegal or severely restricted in roughly half the states if Roe and Casey are overturned, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. Legislatures in many Republican-led states are poised for action depending on the Supreme Court’s next decision.

The court’s three liberal justices said that reversing Roe and Casey would significantly damage the court’s legitimacy.

“Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?” Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked.

Justice Elena Kagan said

ANDREW HARNIK • Associated Press Anti-abortion protesters surround abortion rights advocates as both groups demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington, as the court hears arguments in a case from Mississippi, where a 2018 law would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, well before viability.

the abortion decisions are “part of the fabric of women’s place in this country.”

Among the conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts appeared most interested in a less sweeping ruling that

would uphold the Mississippi law, but not explicitly overrule Roe and Casey.

“That may be what they’re asking for, but the thing at issue before us today is 15 weeks,” Roberts said, allud-

ing to Mississippi’s call to overturn the broader cases.

Even upholding the 15week ban would mean rejecting the decades-old viability line.

12 • MSU Reporter

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Thursday, December 2, 2021

By KOLE BUELOW Staff Writer After a week off from action, the Minnesota State women’s hockey team returns to action this weekend in a home-andhome series against the St. Thomas Tommies. It has been a rough stretch of games for the Mavericks, who have dropped their past eight games to conference opponents.

The Mavs currently find themselves 1-9-0 overall in WCHA play, which is tied for last in the conference with Bemidji State. The Tommies come into the matchup with a similar conference record at 2-9-1, but instead are tied with St. Cloud at fifth.

Both teams have struggled mightily up to this point in the season, but should be great tests for each other this weekend.

Game one of the two game series is set to be played on Friday on the Mavericks home ice, while game two is on Tommies home ice on Saturday.

History between the two has only occurred once, dating back to Dec. of 1999. The Mavericks and Tommies met up in St. Paul for the matchup, accomplishing a complete blowout with the Mavs taking home a 14-0 win.

Almost everything has changed since then, now seeing both teams with Division I programs competing against each other in the WCHA. The Tommies come into the matchup against MSU with a lack of finding the back of the net, only scoring 18 times to their opponent’s 56. St. Thomas’ top point getter is freshman forward Abby Promersberger, who currently leads the team in points at six and goals with four.

In the net for the Tommies stands two goaltenders who nearly split time with each other, one starting seven games and the other, eight. St. Thomas’ go-to goaltender is

SNAP on page 17 u

No. 2 MSU to host Tech in CCHA battle

By DANIEL McELROY Sports Editor The Minnesota State men’s hockey team comes back home to Mankato after a short road trip to Lake Superior State, where they will take on the Michigan Tech Huskies.

The series this weekend marks two of only three home games in the month of December for the Mavericks, with a road series at Bemidji, and a home-and-home with Minnesota-Duluth.

Minnesota State and Michigan Tech have a long history with each other dating back to 1996, with the Mavericks leading the Huskies with a 4623-10 record.

Recently, the Mavs have taken control with an 8-1-1 record in the last 10 meetings.

In that span, the Mavericks have outscored MTU 25-13.

Michigan Tech finds themselves middle of the pack in the CCHA standings with an overall record of 8-5-0, and a CCHA record of 5-3-0, while MSU tops the standings with an overall record of 12-4-0, and a CCHA record of 8-2-0.

Over last weekend the Mavericks saw a lot of players out of the roster, giving a handful of guys their first taste of NCAA action. Head coach Mike Hastings said Wednesday that “everyone on our roster skated today,” indicating that the Mavericks should be seeing their team

MANSOOR AHMAD • The Reporter Junior forward Nathan Smith (8) leads the Mavericks in points this season at 22 behind nine goals and 13 assists. Smith is tied for first in goals with junior forward Ryan Sandelin at nine.

leaders in Julian Napravnik, Lucas Sowder, and Sam Morton back in the lineup this weekend.

Going into the weekend, Hastings is expecting one of their toughest outs of the year. “When the preseason poll came out, and as a coach you have to fill out who you think is going to be the league champion, and my vote was for Michigan Tech.” Hastings said.

“They’re one of the best defensive teams in the country, they’re one of the best penalty kills in the country. ...I think they’re not only one of the

better teams in the CCHA, but in the country.”

Michigan Tech is coming off a weekend sweep over Ferris State at home, while splitting their other three CCHA series with Bemidji State, Northern Michigan, and Lake Superior State.

The No. 2 ranked Minnesota State team is led by Nathan Smith with 22 points, which includes nine goals and 13 assists. Smith also leads the team in shots on goal with 49 for a .184 shooting percentage.

Ryan Sandelin recently tied Smith for the lead in goals for

the Mavericks at nine with his goal against the Lakers on Saturday.

Brendan Furry leads Minnesota State in assists with 15, averaging just under one assist per game.

Dryden McKay continues to be the go-to guy between the pipes for MSU, holding a 12-3-0 record, 1.42 goals against average, and a .920 save percentage.

Napravnik is expected back in the lineup this weekend after missing the series at the Lakers. Napravnik has six goals and eight assists in 12 games played this season.

Men’s hoops resumes NSIC play versus UIU, WSU

By DANIEL McELROY Sports Editor The Minnesota State men’s basketball squad closes out their three game homestand tonight when they host Upper Iowa, followed by traveling to Winona to get conference play underway.

With one conference game already in the books against Concordia-St. Paul, the Mavericks are 1-0 in conference, with a 6-0 overall record, leading the NSIC South division.

Despite Minnesota State leading the series against Upper Iowa, the Peacocks have taken the last four meetings, and five of the last six.

Upper Iowa comes into Mankato tonight as the only other undefeated team in the

division at 6-0, with only one win coming by a single digit margin.

Upper Iowa is right behind the Mavericks in points per game with 86.5, although they allow the sixth most points per game in the NSIC with 72.2 The Peacocks roster the fifth highest point scorer in the conference in Jareese Williams who averages 18.3 points per game. Williams scored his season high points earlier this season against Missouri Southern with a whopping 29 points.

Joe Smoldt of Upper Iowa sits 11th in the NSIC in points per game with 16.7 points per game.

The Peacocks will be put to the test tonight against the Mavericks who have the sixth best defense in the conference,

MANSOOR AHMAD • The Reporter

Mavs look to snap WCHA losing streak

MSU Reporter • 13

Kelby Kramer has 11 blocks through six games to lead the NSIC in blocks per game at 1.8. Kramer averages 6.5 points per game.

allowing just 67.8 points per game.

Winona State won’t be an easy task either, as they sit with an overall record of 4-2 despite losing their one and

only conference game this season to Upper Iowa.

Winona State averages 77.8 points per game, while allowing 69.5 points per game, both WINNING on page 14 u

14 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Women’s basketball looks to take down Upper Iowa

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Wizards beat Timberwolves; Karl-Anthony Towns hurt late ASSOCIATED PRESS

EMILY LANSMAN • The Reporter

After a clean sweep of the St. Mary’s Thanksgiving Classic this past weekend in San Antonio, Texas, the Mavericks now return back home to begin their strict NSIC schedule for the remainder of the year.

The Mavs have had an impressive start to their 2021-22 campaign, winning all five of their regular season games up to this point.

MSU has also collected one conference win against Concordia-St. Paul in the stretch, and will now begin a strictly NSIC schedule before competing in the final tournament at the end of the year. First up on the slate of games is Upper Iowa, a team that has struggled to find wins up to this point in the season.

The Peacocks currently hold a 1-4 record on the fresh season, which includes a tough conference loss to Winona State in which they only lost by four points. Upper Iowa has also struggled against non-conference opponents,

currently holding a 1-3 record against those teams.

The Peacocks now travel to Mankato to face off against a hot Mavericks team. The Mavs on the other hand have been on a tear to start the season, winning every game they have played despite an exhibition loss to Division I, Drake.

MSU has handedly taken down their opponents so far, with their slimmest margin of victory coming by nine points.

In that stretch, the Mavericks have taken down Bethany Lutheran in the battle for Mankato, as well as won the Thanksgiving Classic down in Texas.

The Mavs now get a historically favorable matchup against the Peacocks, who the team has never lost to. MSU’s 28-game win streak against Upper Iowa begins in 1979 where the Mavericks handedly defeated the Peacocks 79-55.

Matchups have not been particularly close over time, with MSU and Upper Iowa finalizing contests with an average score of 79-57.

ON FIRE on page 15 u

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Montrezl Harrell scored 27 points and Bradley Beal added 19 to lift the Washington Wizards to a 115-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns had to leave the game with 2:14 remaining after injuring himself on a dunk.

Towns scored only two of his 34 points in the final period — and that was when he got free along the baseline for a dunk.

After slamming the ball through, his momentum caused his body to fall horizontally and he appeared to land on his tailbone.

Minnesota lost for just the second time in nine games.

It was tied at 95 when Davis Bertans made a 3-pointer to start a 12-3 run by the Wizards. Daniel Gafford added a dunk during that stretch, and Harrell capped the run

WINNING Continued from page 13 middle of the pack in the NSIC. Alec Rosner leads the Warriors in points per game with 17.8, good for seventh in the NSIC. Rosner’s season high is 28 points against Pittsburgh

LUIS M. ALVAREZ • Associated Press

with a dunk and a free throw.

Neither team had led by more than eight before that threepoint play made it 107-98 with 4:16 to go.

It was 112-107 in the final minute before Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made a 3-pointer to close out the scoring.

Gafford had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who were back home after a four-game road trip.

Towns scored only three points in the first quarter, shooting 0 of 6 from the field.

Then he scored 16 in the second and 13 in the third. Anthony Edwards had 25 points for the Timberwolves.

F Jarred Vanderbilt returned after missing Monday night’s win over Indiana because of flu-like symptoms.

F Jaden McDaniels missed a second consecutive game for the same reason.

State in the first game of the season.

Quincy Anderson leads the Mavs in scoring, with a total of 99 points averaging 16.5 points per game at 12th in the NSIC. Devontae Thedford is right behind Anderson with an average of 14 points per game,

good enough for 24th in the conference.

On the defensive side, Kelby Kramer leads the conference in blocks per game with 1.8, having 11 blocks through six games. Ryland Holt is sixth in the conference in that category, averaging 1.3 blocks per game.

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Sports

MSU Reporter • 15

Smith returns from COVID ASSOCIATED PRESS Harrison Smith has made a noticeable impact in his return to the Minnesota secondary following a sudden, COVID19-forced absence.

With the depleted state of their defense, the Vikings could use several more similar performances from the fivetime Pro Bowl safety who received a $64 million contract extension before the season.

Smith had a sack and two hits on Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a 3431 victory on Nov. 21. And last week in the 34-26 loss at San Francisco, Smith notched an interception, two passes defensed and 11 tackles — all season highs. This came after the 32-year-old missed two games with COVID-19, for which he tested positive on the morning of the game at Baltimore on Nov. 7.

“It came out of nowhere. I never really felt much,” said Smith, who is one of several high-profile players on the team who remain unvaccinated. “It’s weird when you feel healthy and you don’t play, but I get it. That’s how the vi-

TONY AVELAR • Associated Press Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) returns an interception past San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) during the first half.

rus works.”

The Vikings have had their share of illness-related setbacks this year, with cornerback Patrick Peterson the latest standout to land on the

COVID-19 reserve list this week.

“It’s just how it is. Just try to wear the masks and do things how we’re asked to do them,” said Smith said.

Forced into quarantine in Baltimore, Smith flew back to Minnesota on a private plane dispatched by Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf.

ON FIRE Continued from page 14 The Peacocks are currently led by redshirt sophomore guard Jessica Musgrave, who averages 18.5 points per game in four games played.

Right beside her is the team leading scorer Lydia Haack, an Elk River, Minn. product who averages 16.2 points per game and 4.6 assists in five starts.

The Mavs on the other hand are led by sophomore guard Joey Batt, a local New Ulm, Minn. prospect who leads the team in total points and points per game.

Batt’s 20.4 points per game is good for second in the NSIC, with Upper Iowa’s Musgrave right behind her in third. Batt is also one of the most efficient scorers in Division II basketball, with a 54.7 feild goal percentage.

Second in points per game for the Mavericks is freshman guard Destinee Bursch.

MSU also holds the current NSIC leader in 3-point field goal percentage in sophomore guard Taylor Theusch, who leads the conference at 48.3% from deep.

16 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, December 2, 2021

MLB ticking down to lockout ASSOCIATED PRESS The clock ticked down Wednesday toward the expiration of Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement at 11:59 p.m.

EST and a likely management lockout ending the sport’s labor peace at 9,740 days over 26 1/2 years.

After successfully reaching four consecutive agreements without a stoppage, players and owners have appeared headed for a confrontation for more than two years.

“The lockout seemes like a very likely scenario,” pitcher Max Scherzer, a member of the union’s executive committee, said Wednesday after finalizing his contract with the New York Mets.

Management negotiators left the union’s hotel about nine hours before the deal was set to expire and both sides said talks would not resume in the evening. Players said MLB did not make any new central economic proposals this week.

The union demanded change following anger over a declining average salary, middle-class players forced out by teams concentrating

TED S. WARREN • Associated Press Seattle Mariners gather as the MLB logo is shown during a review of an attempted catch by right fielder Mitch Haniger of a ball hit by Tampa Bay Rays’ Ji-Man Choi.

payroll on the wealthy and veterans jettisoned in favor of lower-paid youth, especially among clubs tearing down their rosters to rebuild.

“As players we see major problems with it,” Scherzer said of the 2016 agreement.

“First and foremost, we see a competition problem and how teams are behaving because of certain rules that are within that, and adjustments have to be made because of that in order to bring out the competition.”

Management, intent on preserving salary restraints gained in recent decades, rejected the union’s requests for what teams regarded as significant alterations to the sport’s economic structure, including lowering service time needed

for free agency and salary arbitration.

Many clubs scrambled to add players ahead of a lockout and an expected signing freeze, committing to more than $1.9 billion in new contracts — including a one-day record of more than $1 billion Wednesday.

“It did feel like at least certain groups of free agents were moving more quickly the last few days,” Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington said.

Two of the eight members of the union’s executive subcommittee signed big deals: Texas infielder Marcus Semien ($175 million) and Scherzer ($130 million).

“This is actually kind of fun,” Scherzer said. “I’m a fan of the game, and to watch everybody sign right now, to actually see teams competing in this kind of timely fashion, it’s been refreshing because we’ve seen freezes for the past several offseasons.”

Much has changed since the 232-day strike that cut short the 1994 season, led to the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years and caused the 1995 season to start late.

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Sports

MSU Reporter • 17

CFP expansion talks inch forward

SNAP Continued from page 13 senior Alexa Dobchuk, who has started eight games while supporting an .892 save percentage.

Behind her sits an arguably better goaltender in freshman Saskia Maurer, who supports a respectable .918 save percentage. Maurer has also been on the receiving end of three of the four UST wins this season, while Dobchuk has one.

Both St. Thomas goaltenders have trouble keeping the puck out of the net, both having a goals allowed average over three. With Minnesota State having a much more prominent offensive attack, the Mavericks should look to capitalize with a multitude of scoring this weekend.

For the Mavs, senior forward Brittyn Fleming is the current team leader in points thanks to her also team leading 14 assists. Just below Fleming at second in points sits junior forward Kelsey King, who is the team leader in goals at eight.

Despite not having the team leading save percentage, junior goaltender Calla Frank still remains the Mavericks go-to goalie in nearly every matchup.

ASSOCIATED PRESS The latest meeting on expanding the College Football Playoff wrapped up without a resolution Wednesday as the people involved agreed to keep talking.

CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock said there remains a strong consensus among the management committee, comprised of the 10 major college football conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, to expand the fourteam playoff field.

But how and when? A proposed 12-team model remains at the heart of the discussions and there is still hope it can be implemented for the 2024 season.

Which conferences would be ensured access to the field is still up for debate.

“I thought there was a chance we’d get to the end today,” Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said.

“We didn’t and there were good and appropriate reasons why we didn’t. There are people in the room that are differently situated and

ROGER STEINMAN • Associated Press The College Football Playoff logo is shown on the field at AT&T Stadium before the Rose Bowl NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Alabama.

they therefore have different perspectives. And they were healthy discussions. I think we made good progress, but we aren’t done.”

The next scheduled meet-

ing is January around the College Football Playoff championship game in Indianapolis, but it is possible the commissioners could meet sooner.

Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said there are still some who would rather expand only to eight teams.

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Sports

Thursday, December 2, 2021

A look into week 13 of fantasy football in the NFL

By KOLE BUELOW Staff Writer With most trade deadlines already passed, there is not much going on while your team sits in the waning moments of the playoffs. At this point you should know if your team is or is not going to make it to the playoffs, or if you are sitting on the verge of making it.

If you have already clinched a spot in the coveted fantasy football playoffs, all you need to do right now is hope your team does not fall apart due to injury or miss games due to COVID-19. If you are on the verge of making it or are currently in but do not have a secured spot, these two things definitely need to be on your mind as well as what you can do to still improve your team.

Luckily if your team is on the verge of clinching a playoff spot, fantasy football is a matter of a lot of luck and a little bit of skill. Any team can make it into and win the playoffs, you just have to get your matchups right.

At this point in time, the trade deadline has most likely passed, and all you can do is bank on the waiver wire.

Capitalizing on the waiver wire in the waning weeks of the season needs to be your best friend.

Along with that, so is going to be starting the right players at the right time. It is going to be more crucial than ever

should be able to capitalize on new-found opportunity if Swift were to remain sidelined for the Lion’s upcoming game against the Vikings.

The third and last waiver wire pickup is New England Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne. The Patriots have been on a roll as of late, winning six games in a row.

Bourne has benefited mightily because of it, and in the past three games, Bourne has averaged over 14 points per game. Bourne has caught three touchdowns in the past three weeks to help average 14 points, and with the Patriots in a rhythm, his role should not change any time soon.

Another important thing you want to be on top of as we near the end of the season is putting in the correct players for your lineup. There are a multitude of websites that release weekly rankings by position to help your start or sit questions.

One of the most popular websites for fantasy start and sit advice is FantasyPros, which not only helps you with weekly rankings, but also explains waiver wire adds for the week, analyzes possible trades, and much more.

If you are struggling to find out who you want to start or sit for the week as the playoffs are closing in, make sure to use resources like FantasyPros to get expert advice to help you win your matchups.

JOHN MUSON • Associated Press Philadelphia Eagles’ Boston Scott reacts after his touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, in East Rutherford, N.J..

at this point in the season to have the correct starting lineup of players selected once games roll around.

At the top of the waiver wire priority list for this upcoming week of NFL games is Philadelphia Eagles running back Boston Scott. Scott is next in line on the Eagle’s depth chart behind Miles Sanders, and with Sanders recently aggravating an existing ankle injury, it is more than likely Scott will be getting the start this week against a terri-

ble New York Jets team.

The Eagles have been on a tear as of late despite losing to the Giants this past week, and have been able to score a lot of points in that stretch. If the team can keep it up, they will undoubtedly be running the ball in order to chew and control clock and time of possession in order to close out games.

Second on the waiver wire list is Lions running back Jamaal Williams, who is the backup to currently injured

D’Andre Swift. Swift suffered a sprained shoulder in the Lions’ most recent game against the Chicago Bears, and is dayto-day with the injury.

If the Lions want to be smart about Swift’s injury, they will undoubtedly sit him for the upcoming game and potentially more. This leaves the door open for Williams to soak up running back one touches in the meantime.

Williams did quite well earlier in the season when given more chances, and he

REPORTER REPORTER PICK PICK ‘EM ‘EM •• WEEK WEEK #13 #3 COWBOYS @ SAINTS

NY GIANTS @ DOLPHINS

COLTS @ TEXANS

VIKINGS @ LIONS

EAGLES @ NY JETS

CARDINALS @ BEARS

LA CHARGERS BUCCANEERS @ @ BENGALS FALCONS

JAGUARS @ LA RAMS

WASHINGTON @ RAIDERS

RAVENS @ STEELERS

49ERS @ SEAHAWKS

BRONCOS @ CHIEFS

PATRIOTS @ BILLS

14 GAMES WEEK #13

DANIEL MCELROY Sports Editor

BYE WEEK TEAMS:

KOLE BUELOW Sports Writer

CAROLINA CLEVELAND GREEN BAY TENNESSEE

MAXWELL MAYLEBEN Editor in Chief JENNA PETERSON News Director MANSOOR AHMAD Media Director DANA CLARK Ad Design Mgr. BAYLEE SORENSEN Ad Sales Rep. ROBB MURRAY Editorial Consultant

STANDINGS After Week #11

(No picks for week #12)

1ST PLACE Kole Buelow

Overall (103-62) Last Week (10-5)

2ND PLACE Dana Clark

Overall (102-63) Last Week (11-4)

3RD PLACE Daniel McElroy

Overall (98-67) Last Week (8-7)

4TH PLACE Maxwell Mayleben Overall (96-69) Last Week (10-5)

5TH PLACE Mansoor Ahmad

Overall (93-72) Last Week (10-5)

6TH PLACE (TIE) Baylee Sorensen Overall (90-75) Last Week (8-7)

6TH PLACE (TIE) Robb Murray Overall (90-75) Last Week (10-5)

LAST PLACE Jenna Peterson

Overall (83-82) Last Week (6-9)

Thursday, December 2, 2021

MSU Reporter • 19

Students prepare for the fall dance concert Fall dance concert showcases dances from MNSU’s talented students

By LILLY SCHMIDT • Staff Writer The Fall Dance Concert is back this year showcasing students talents at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Students are expected to perform and share their passions through dance.

Daniel Stark, a professor and director of dance at MNSU talked about the matinee this semester, “It’s a collection of dances, so there’s eight dances total. We used to do themes but it’s hard for our students to create dances, so to put a theme on a whole concert is too hard to do. So what we do is allow our students to follow their passion, to really follow their interests and create the works that they want. It gives them more creativity; more leedway and power over their own work.”

Stark and MNSU staff member Julie Kerr-Berry choreographed the majority of the dances.

The show also includes dances from two students and guest choreographer.

Stark shared some insight on the student choreographed dances.

“Aditi Bheda is a grad student, but not in theater and dance, but she’s danced with us quite a bit and taken a lot of classes and so she’s choreographed one herself. It’s called ‘Somewhere in the Hyacinth Shrubs’ and it’s a very interesting work about a personal journey of being tangled up. And then we have another work by Parisha Rajbhandari.”

Parisha Rajbhandari is a choreogra-

MANSOOR AHMAD • The Reporter The Fall Dance concert allows MNSU students to express themselves through dance as they celebrate the end of the fall semester. pher and dancer in the Fall Dance Concert this weekend and explains, “Dance is a very embodied experience and you can see some things and communicate some things very musically. Dance explains and transcends things in a very embodied way that other forms might not be able to do.”

Rajbhandari said that for her dance, “The movement generation is based on the source of water and how it moves, the water in our body and the sources of water around us. The journey of the whole piece is specifically based on

my lived experiences and the research I did, growing up in Nepal. The iniquity in water is different from what people experience here because of the geography and politics.” Many students, just like Rajbhandari, are sharing messages meaningful to them through the student showcase. Stark explained, “That’s an interesting concert because it is only student work. No faculty is even involved with selecting dances that go into that concert. All the students select it, as well as they run the whole concert’s production, that way

they really have a concert that they are in charge of. They’re learning how to put on a concert so that when they leave here they have that kind of skill set.”

For anyone interested in seeing the performances, Stark says, “It has very strong, entertaining, powerful dances.”

The Fall Dance concert is Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. followed by the Student Showcase on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Minnesota State University, Mankato in the Ted Paul Theatre.

Holiday carnival is back to bring joy Joseph headlines Serendipity

By SYDNEY BERGGREN Staff Writer

This Saturday Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Community Engagement Office is hosting their fifth annual Maverick Holiday Carnival in the Centennial Student Union ballroom.

The Carnival, put on specifically by the Community Engagement Office’s student group Mav Connection, has been going on since 2015, and is an opportunity for the campus to host community members and show off what

we do. “We host carnival booths mainly for children ages 5-14,” said Karen Anderson from the Community Engagement Office. “We encourage kids, parents, grandparents and anyone else interested to come and have a great time.”

The Maverick Holiday Carnival was unable to be put on last year due to COVID, but Mav Connection is determined to make the most with the current restrictions in place this year. “Our game plan is to try and take precautions and not get shut down,”

Anderson noted. “We really want to bring back the fun and togetherness we had preCOVID.” The main thing the event wants from its attendees? Ensuring you are wearing your mask.

“Right now we are struggling for booths,” said Anderson. With over 350 people interested in the event after promoting it on Facebook, and through Boys and Girls Club, the Lunchbox Food program, and the Foster Youth Program, Mav Connection wants to ensure that CARNIVAL on page 20 u

By EMMA JOHNSON Staff Writer

With finals coming up, one of the best ways to relieve stress is to sit down and listen to music. The Serendipity music series is set to have Mark Joseph as the first performer of this school year.

Joseph’s love for music started when he was young by singing in church or around the piano with his grandfather. Growing out of piano lessons and getting his first guitar at the age of eleven, he found his passion from

attending a B.B. King concert.

“I saw [King] about six months after getting my guitar and it changed my life forever,” said Joseph. “I was inspired by the blues and his performance spoke to me. It was the moment that I decided this is what I wanted to do with my life.”

Joseph’s newest album, Vegas Motel, was written in the peak months of COVID-19 lockdown last year during the holiday season. The album was important for Joseph to share as the songs are about CONCERT on page 21 u

20 • MSU Reporter

Variety

A Neapolitan rhapsody in ‘The Hand of God’

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Avalanche delays holiday tradition in Alaska’s largest city

Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News • Associated Press The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson star is Illuminated on the side of Mount Gordon Lyon just east of Anchorage, Alaska.

GIANNI FIORITO/NETFLIX • Associated Press This image released by Netflix shows Filippo Scotti, from left, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert and Toni Servillo in a scene from “The Hand of God.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS Paolo Sorrentino’s films can be overwrought, grotesque and uneven but they are rarely not alive.

His latest, “The Hand of God,” is a catalog of wonders — of miracles both banal and eternal. The glittering night vista of the Naples harbor.

The soft thump of a motorboat across the water. The naked body of a beautiful woman sunbathing.

Sorrentino’s Oscar-winning masterpiece, “The Great Beauty,” too, was crowded with awe and sensation as it rambled around Rome.

In “The Hand of God,” which Netflix opens in theaters Wednesday and begins streaming Dec. 15, the director has turned south to his hometown for an autobiographical film based on his 1980s childhood. Still, Sorrentino, a melancholy but ecstatic filmmaker with an eager, energetic camera, is in much the same mood here, finding divine splendor in the everyday and the profane.

“The Hand of God,” winner of the Silver Lion at the

CARNIVAL Continued from page 19 there is enough for the community to engage in at the event.

Groups already hosting booths include Teachers of Tomorrow, MSU Social Work Program, the Honors Student Body, Rec and Read, and ROTC, along with a few others. Anderson mentioned that if any other groups, teams, floors, etc. have interest in hosting a booth for the event,

Venice Film Festival and Italy’s Oscar submission, is a more personal detour for the 51-year-old Sorrentino. Its exaggerated cast of characters pull from his own family. Our protagonist, standing in for the director, is the teenage Fabietto Schisa (Filippo Scotti), a timid young man with a ball of curly hair and Walkman headphones draped around his neck. He’s mostly an observer to the family circus around him: his charismatic father Saverio (Toni Servillo, a Sorrentino regular), his prank-playing mother Maria (Teresa Saponangelo, terrific) and his aspiring actor brother Marchino (a tender Marlon Joubert).

There are other key figures, too, like Fabietto’s gorgeous aunt Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri), whose suspicious husband is abusive, and Diego Maradona, the soccer legend whose unlikely acquisition

by Napoli is rumored at the film’s start. When he does actually arrive, it’s as if straight from heaven. (It’s a feverish time brilliantly documented in Asif Kapadia’s “Diego Maradona.”) Both Patrizia and

Maradona are like phenomena in Fabietto’s life, which here seems like a cartoonish picaresque until a tragedy jolts him and “The Hand of God” into a different realm.

We’ve had of late quite a few portraits of filmmakers as young people — Joanna Hogg’s ravishing two-part “The Souvenir,” Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast.” For Sorrentino, whose surreal flourishes, particularly the “La Dolce Vita”-esque “The Great Beauty,” have drawn Fellini comparisons, this is his “Amarcord.” (Fellini even makes a cameo here in a casting session scene.) But autobiographical doesn’t always feel like the natural mode for Sorrentino. As a master of decay and decadence, he has largely favored older characters (the politician of the propulsive “Il Divo,” the aged pals of “Youth”), and his orientation has been to make extravagant, stylish films of the world rather than of himself. That may be why “The Hand of God” is most vividly drawn when it’s looking around — at Naples, at the Dickensian supporting characters.

they can sign up on InvolveU until Thursday, December 2 at noon.

“We typically have close to 30 booths, but this year we have less than 10. I think that since we didn’t have it last year, people forgot we were a thing, or are just busy due to the pandemic, which we understand. We have already had a couple groups say ‘Hey, can we step up?’ and would love anyone else that is interested,” Anderson said.

The Maverick Holiday

Carnival runs from 1:30-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 4 in the CSU ballroom. No registration is required, and free parking will be available.

All children must be accompanied by an adult.

For those interested, the Mav Connections student group meets on Thursdays at 4 p.m. in room 238 of the CSU. The group puts on service projects every week to contribute and give back to the community.

ASSOCIATED PRESS A holiday tradition in Alaska’s largest city for more than 60 years got off to a dim start this year.

A 300-foot (91-meter) wide, brightly illuminated star situated high above Anchorage in the Chugach Mountains is traditionally lit the day after Thanksgiving.

However, when military crews arrived on Friday to light the star, only about half of the 350 or so bulbs worked.

Airmen worked for three days in extreme conditions and cold temperatures before finding the cause of the problem Tuesday.

A small avalanche rained down rocks and snow on the star, which is situated at about the 4,000-foot (1,219-meter) level of Mount Gordon Lyon, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson spokesperson Erin Eaton told The Associated Press.

Broken bulbs had to be replaced and connections repaired, Eaton said.

“They made the necessary repairs, and now it’s operational,” she said. The star was expected to be lit on Tuesday evening.

Airmen from the 773rd

Civil Engineer Squadron Electrical Shop had to harness up as a safety precaution to conduct repairs in falling snow and steep terrain, anywhere from 25- to 45-degree angles, she said.

The star is located near a former U.S. Army missile installation in the Chugach range, on the city’s eastern edge.

To reach the star, crews have to drive a truck up a road, offload tracked vehicles at a side road and travel several more miles before they reach the star, Eaton said.

“Even during decent road conditions, it can be kind of hairy,” Eaton told the Anchorage Daily News.

Until the avalanche damage was discovered, the cause of the star’s outage was a mystery.

Crews last summer repaired damage from the previous winter and replaced all the lightbulbs, she said.

The star is lit every Sept.

11 to observe the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The star was functioning well just two months ago, Eaton said.

“That’s kind of their opportunity to test for any issues and there were no issues at that time,” she said.

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MSU Reporter • 21

Louis Vuitton show pays tribute to Virgil Abloh

MARTA LAVANDIER • Associated Press Flowers are left in memory of Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s first Black artistic director, at a church in Miami’s Design District in Miami.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Louis Vuitton’s first ever U.S. fashion show turned into a somber yet whimsical tribute to groundbreaking designer Virgil Abloh days after his death.

The Miami menswear event, an unofficial kickoff to the prestigious Art Basel fair, had been in the works for months.

Guests were ferried by yachts to the star-studded affair held on an island. Celebrity attendees, including Kim Kardashian West and her daughter North, Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, model Bella Hadid, Joe Jonas, Maluma and Pharrell, arrived in sleek LV monogrammed silver speedboats.

Kid Cudi and Erykah Badu performed at an after-party.

“Hey Virgil,” she yelled at the start of her set, later saying “we want to see you fly.”

Abloh, who died Sunday after a lengthy battle with cancer, was known for pushing boundaries as the head of the legendary French fashion house, thanks to his childlike curiosity and an eagerness to instill a sense of playfulness.

His groundbreaking fusions of streetwear and high couture made him one of the most celebrated tastemakers.

A focal point of the show was a giant, red LV monogrammed hot air balloon that puffed flames as Abloh’s voice was heard in the background.

The brand’s CEO Michael Burke said Abloh’s wife and family wanted the show to go on.

He had just spoken to the young designer on Saturday night, describing the inspiration for the show as a coming of age of sorts because “inspiring and empowering younger generations defined

who he was.”

“We had imagined it all and he was distraught not to be here in person,” Burke said.

Models walked the meandering runway, showcasing the collection that featured everything from neon colored amphibian, aqua-gear looks with colorful fish backpacks to letterman style school sweaters and snow bunny looks with furry boots.

There was a sleek matte black ensemble that resembled SWAT gear, military style suits in olive with belted coats and even brightly color Southern-belle style hoop skirts.

Prints included tie dye hues and the iconic checkered logo redone in new color patterns.

While the clothes were like Abloh — playful, colorful and vibrant — the mood was somber.

During and after the show, many in the audience wiped away tears, standing to hug each other or offer a pat of comfort.

The sparse clapping at the end was awkward.

Unlike most shows, no one got up to mingle or talk, but instead sat in heavy silence.

The designer’s traditional finale bow was not coming and never would again and as fireworks lit up the Miami skyline, the audience seemed painfully aware of his absence.

Instead, the show circled back to the bold hot air balloon as the designer’s voice said “life is short,” warning, “you can’t waste even a day subscribing to what someone thinks you can do versus knowing what you can do” — a sort of anthem that a generation of young fans rallied behind.

Courtesy photo Mark Joseph’s 2021 third full-length album, “Vegas Motel”, is a highly personal record rooted in the emotion of the year it was written (2020).

CONCERT Continued from page 19 people in his life, whether family or through friends, and their struggles in life.

“It developed from being able to tell individual stories about what [my friends and family] have been through,” said Joseph. “It’s telling stories about people I think are heroes that you might not hear about in everyday life.”

One of Joseph’s favorite songs he put on the album is called “The Life of a Pipe Welder.” The song is about a person who goes through intense hardships in their life and has to find a way to combat them through their positive energy and attitude.

As difficult as the song was to

produce, the dynamics turned out just the way Joseph intended.

“It’s sort of an opus that grows from a small sound all the way to a full rock arena song at the end. I’m proud that we were able to see it through and stay true to the vision,” shared Joseph. “To record a song that is very small and quiet that naturally just grows into a large sonic sound isn’t easy to do.”

Joseph experiments with a variety of musical genres ranging from jazz and blues to rock and country. Vegas Motel focuses more on the Americana country inspired by musicians Charlie Crockett and Merle Haggard.

“Merle Haggard was a huge influence to me and the

song “Vegas Motel” is sort of a tribute to my country roots in the form of an old Haggard tune,” shared Joseph.

Joseph’s advice to those who want to pursue music as a career is to ask themselves questions as to what they get out of music as a whole.

“Ask yourself why do I do this, what do I want to accomplish and what’s the joy I get out of it. From there you can determine the path you should take,” said Joseph. “Music is a great tool for connection, storytelling and bringing people together.

It’s not just stadiums and big sold-out shows.”

Mark Joseph will be playing on Monday, Dec. 6 in the CSU Hearth Lounge from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

22 • MSU Reporter

Variety

Thursday, December 2, 2021

TikTok dances: We’re over you, 2021 ASSOCIATED PRESS The pandemic, politics, pervasive anxiety over the climate and the economy. Did 2021 leave us any time to ponder anything else? As we limp our way into a new year, there are a few more things we’d like to leave behind, from pop culture’s obsession with all things apocalyptic to the well meaning but exhausting lay dancers on TikTok. A list of what we’re over as we look for renewal and hope in 2022: DYSTOPIA PALOOZA War, destruction, disaster: Popular entertainment has certainly reflected, expanded upon and imagined the very doom of it all. But must it continue at the same rapid clip?

The latest, “Squid Game,” was a huge score for Netflix.

Its creator can’t imagine a future without a second season of the deadly Korean series.

Fans rejoiced.

Dystopia is merely one genre, however, one storytelling technique. Would we not benefit from an equally heavy dose of stories that focus on solutions and, dare we say it, inspiration? We’re talking that middle ground between zombies and “The Great British Baking Show.” Just think about it.

TIKTOK DANCEATHON You seem like a nice person, but you’re a registered dietitian, not a dancer. And,

KIICHIRO SATO • Associated Press The TikTok app logo appears in Tokyo. TikTok was built on wacky dance trends (remember the Floss?), but the short-video platform has grown into much more as millions signed on during the pandemic.

quite sadly, you never will be.

Yes, we could scroll right on by and not gaze on your barely there moves. Yes, we realize you’re having a great time and simply trying to entertain.

But there are just so darn many of you. TikTok was built on wacky dance trends (remember the Floss?), but the short-video platform has grown into much, much more as millions signed on during the pandemic. So where does

that leave all that dancing?

Slightly and thankfully muted for the dance-craze weary The TikTok app logo appears in Tokyo on Sept. 28, 2020.

TikTok was built on wacky dance trends (remember the Floss?), but the short-video platform has grown into much, much more as millions signed on during the pandemic. So where does that leave all that dancing? Slightly and thankfully muted for the

dance-craze weary. (AP Photo/ Kiichiro Sato, File) THE SHE-CESSION There’s little doubt the pandemic touched all our lives in different ways and continues to wreak havoc around the globe. There’s also little doubt that women were disproportionately impacted as they struggled to make it all work from home. And, yes, men did things but women had higher job losses and in-

creased responsibilities. The economic fallout was dubbed the “she-cession.” The thing is, what’s the alternative, a “he-cession?” Nope. Some women find the gender-specific term demeaning and ask that the media and economists cut it out. And while we’re on the subject, can we rid ourselves of the term Great Resignation, aka the Great Quit, for all those folks who voluntarily left the workforce? Good luck to them.

SHAPEWEAR It made Kim Kardashian West a pile of money to go with her other piles of money.

Her Skims shapewear brand, which branched into loungewear during the pandemic, is valued at $1.6 billion, according to The New York Times.

It comes in a range of styles, colors and sizes.

Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon are among new investors in Spanx. But hasn’t life lived largely at home taught us to embrace our bulges, bumps and whatever else it is we’re trying to hide with shapewear? Can’t we all just march back into our old lives feeling good in our own skins? Let alone the idea there are some health risks to intensely compressing our organs for prolonged periods.

Let it fly, people! Don’t let the old constraints of the fashion elite take over after all those months in cozy duds and the de-escalation of underwire.

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MSU Reporter • 23

Jacqueline Avant, wife of music

New dinosaur species has unique slashing tail

legend, killed in shooting

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MARK VON HOLDEN/INVISION • Associated Press Jacqueline Avant was fatally shot early Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Jacqueline Avant, a Los Angeles philanthropist and the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant, was fatally shot at their home in Beverly Hills, California, early Wednesday, police said.

Police and paramedics arrived at the home after a 2:23 a.m. call to find Jacqueline Avant, 81, with a gunshot wound, Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook said at an afternoon news conference. She was taken to a hospital, but did not survive.

The suspect or suspects were gone when police arrived. No one has been arrested and the motive remains unclear, Stainbrook said. Nothing was stolen from the house, and no one else was injured.

“Someone went into the home, we don’t know the purpose behind it,” the chief said. “I don’t think it’s a random attack but I can’t speculate on that.”

Jacqueline Avant was a longtime local philanthropist who led organizations that helped low-income neighborhoods including Watts and South Los Angeles, and was on the board of directors of the International Student Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Avants’ daughter, Nicole Avant, is a film producer and former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas and is married to Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.

“The entire family wishes to thank everyone for their outpouring of love, support and condolences for Jacqueline Yvonne. Jacqueline was an amazing woman, wife, mother, philanthropist, and a 55 year resident of Beverly Hills, who has made an immeasurable positive con-

tribution and impact on the arts community,” the Avant and Sarandos families said in a statement. “She will be missed by her family, friends and all of the people she has helped throughout her amazing life.”

Former President Bill Clinton also paid her tribute.

“Jackie Avant was a wonderful woman, a great partner to Clarence and mother to Alex and Nicole, an active citizen & a dear friend to Hillary and me for 30 years,” Clinton said on Twitter. “She inspired admiration, respect & affection in everyone who knew her. We are heartbroken. She will be deeply missed.”

Grammy-winning executive Clarence Avant is known as the “Godfather of Black Music” and was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The 90-year-old was also a concert promoter and manager who mentored and helped the careers of artists including Bill Withers, Little Willie John, L.A. Reid, Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

He founded Sussex Records and Tabu Records in the 1960s and 1970s, and was chair of Motown Records in the 1990s.

The Avants were married in 1967. They also have a son, Alexander Du Bois Avant.

Nicole Avant produced a Netflix documentary about her father, 2019′s “The Black Godfather.”

In an interview with NBC News about the film, she talked about her mother’s role in the family.

“My mom is really the one who brought to my father and our family the love and passion and importance of the arts and culture and entertainment,” she said.

Fossils found in Chile are from a strange-looking dogsized dinosaur species that had a unique slashing tail weapon, scientists reported Wednesday.

Some dinosaurs had spiked tails they could use as stabbing weapons and others had tails with clubs. The new species, described in a study in the journal Nature, has something never seen before on any animal: seven pairs of “blades” laid out sideways like a slicing weapon used by ancient Aztec warriors, said lead author Alex Vargas.

“It’s a really unusual weapon,” said Vargas, a University of Chile paleontologist.

“Books on prehistoric animals for kids need to update and put this weird tail in there. ... It just looks crazy.”

The plant-eating critter had a combination of traits from different species that initially sent paleontologists down the wrong path. The back end, including its tail weapon, seemed similar to a stegosaurus, so the research-

LUIS PEREZ LOPEZ • Associated Press This illustration provided by Luis Perez Lopez shows a Stegouros. Fossils found in Chile are from the bizarre dog-sized dinosaur species that had a unique slashing tail weapon, scientists reported Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.

ers named it stegouros elengassen.

After Vargas and his team examined the pieces of skull and did five different DNA analyses, they concluded it was only distantly related to the stegosaurus. Instead, it was a rare southern hemisphere member of the tank-like ankylosaur family of dinosaurs. (Though the stegouros name stuck and can

be easily confused with the more well-known stegosaurus.) Vargas called it “the lost family branch of the ankylosaur.”

The fossil is from about 72 million to 75 million years ago and appears to be an adult based on the way bones are fused, Vargas said. It was found with its front end flat on its belly and the back end angled down to a lower level.

24 • MSU Reporter

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Thursday, December 2, 2021