M
&
THE MANEATER
looking to th e
future
NOV. 2, 2016 VOL. 83 | ISSUE 11 THEMANEATER.COM
2
The Maneater + MOVE MAGAZINE
IN YOUR FUTURE Dear readers, In less than a week, Missourians will vote for a host of new politicians. These leaders could potentially change the course of history, for Missouri and for the whole country. All of this has us thinking about the future. Who will win the elections? Will we all move to Canada? Recently, we decided to take things a little more seriously and ask some real questions about what the future is going to look like. So, in the spirit of looking forward and not looking back, we present The Maneater and MOVE Magazine’s Future Issue.
Topics we tackle in this issue include: Beyond being America’s dad, the Democratic nominee for vice president and an MU grad, who really is Tim Kaine? What will happen if you take your shirt off in a voting booth on election day? What does the future of organized religion look like — in Missouri and nationally — and how is technology shifting it? What will happen to the bees in the world, now that they’ve been placed on the endangered species list? What technological developments can tell us which words deployed by Clinton and Trump in debates correspond with specific
emotions, like happiness, fear or hope? We all know how to use a condom from sex ed lessons with various fruits and vegetables, but what is the future of contraceptives? What’s the role technology will play in long-distance relationships? No matter what happens in this election (or to all the bees in Missouri), we admit that the future is always unclear. We can never truly predict what’s going to happen — but we can try. Yours, now and forever in the future, Jared, George and Katie
up for debate
Reynolds Journalism Institute’s new chief technology officer, Dale Musser, created a new computer program to analyze emotions elicited by presidential candidates’ debate rhetoric (pg. 7)
losing my religion
With changes in technology and shifting societal norms, find out how major religious groups are discovering what is evolving and what is staying the same — and how they’re adjusting for the future (pg. 8)
How Mizzou football coach Barry Odom’s new team captain system is holding players accountable and filling a gap in leadership after losing key teammates to injury (pg. 14)
M
The MANEATER FALL STAFF Want to work with us? themaneater.com/workforus
( 4UVEFOU $FOUFS t $PMVNCJB .0 QIPOF t GBY
FEJUPST!UIFNBOFBUFS DPN XXX UIFNBOFBUFS DPN
facebook.com/themaneaterMU twitter.com/themaneater instagram.com/themaneater1955
Editor-in-Chief Jared Kaufman Managing Editors George Roberson, Katie Rosso
Symbolic Hate Wall torn down in annual event “Terrorist,� “too dark,� “dirty immigrant� and “go back to Africa� were some of the phrases written on the Hate Wall in the Student Center on Oct. 28. The annual Missouri Students Association and Four Front event invited passersby to write hateful words they’ve been called on the wall, made from cardboard boxes covered in white paper, before tearing it down. The organizations hope it will represent what they feel is an ongoing struggle for tolerance.
RHA sponsors African Film Series screening with director The Residence Halls Association Congress passed a funding request to sponsor one of the six films that will be a part of the African Film Series, put on by the African Interdisciplinary Studies Hub in February and March. The $2,575 allocation will go to screen the film, Forgotten Kingdom, and fly in director Andrew Mudge from Boston to speak with students. Forgotten Kingdom is the first film ever to be shot in the small African nation of Lesotho.
MU researchers attempt to minimize dining hall waste
oh captain, my captain
THE MANEATER
Headlines from this week on campus
Online Development Editor Reiker Seiffe
Copy Chief Nancy Coleman
News Editors Emily Gallion, Kyra Haas, Claire Mitzel, Allyson Vasilopulos
Sports Editor Peter Baugh
Graphics Manager Tori Aerni
The Maneater is the official student publication of the University of Missouri and operates independently of the university, student government, the School of Journalism and any other campus entity. All text, photos, graphics and other content are property of The Maneater and may not be reproduced without permission. The views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the University of Missouri or the MU Student Publications Board. The first copy is free and all additional are 25 cents. “He was on the Deepwater Horizon when it ruined the environment.�
MOVE Editors Victoria Cheyne, Bailey Sampson, Katherine White Photo Editor Jessi Dodge Opinion Editor Kasey Carlson
Two professors and a doctoral student researching food waste at dining halls found that plant-based foods have a lower environmental cost than animal-based foods. The researchers say solutions for reducing waste include providing smaller plates in dining halls and posting signs that encourage students to take only as much food as they plan to eat.
MADDIE DAVIS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
3FQPSUFST GPS 5IF .BOFBUFS BSF SFRVJSFE UP PGGFS WFSJGJDBUJPO PG BMM RVPUFT GPS FBDI TPVSDF *G ZPV OPUJDF BO JOBDDVSBDZ JO POF PG PVS TUPSJFT QMFBTF DPOUBDU VT WJB QIPOF PS FNBJM
Social Media Manager Jake Chiarelli
Assistant Online Editor Michael Smith Jr.
Newsletter Manager Regina Anderson
Copy Editors Sherell Barbee, Madi McVan, David Reynolds, Bailey Sampson, Anna Sirianni, Katherine Stevenson, Jeremiah Wooten
Deputy Production Manager Hope Johnson Deputy Copy Chief Theo DeRosa
Graphic Designers Cassie Allen, Victoria Cheyne, Matt McMullen Adviser Becky Diehl
3
The Future Issue
David Roloff, left, who was photo editor of The Maneater, took Kaine with him to the top of Jesse Hall. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID ROLOFF
RAISING KAINE
OFFICIAL U.S. SENATE PHOTO
How MU shaped vice-presidential nominee and graduate Tim Kaine written by Kyle LaHucik edited by Katie Rosso, Jared Kaufman and Kyra Haas
I
N THE SUMMER OF 1977, Tim Kaine and Marc Levinson were Summer Welcome leaders in the same orientation group. Their lead staffer, Guy Conway, asked them, “Where do you envision yourself in five, 10, 30 years?” “And Tim said, absolutely matter of factly, that he’s going to be president of the United States,” Levinson said. “Or, at the very least, governor of one of the 50 United States of America. And, sure enough, 30 years later, he became governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” The other leaders in their ice-breaker group thought he was joking. Levinson, however, isn’t surprised that Kaine has been so successful, because Kaine is a “very matter-of-fact guy and a go-getter.” “He was completely serious,” Levinson said. “He had a path set for himself early in life, and he devoted himself to public service and has stuck with it.”
MU was an important first step along Kaine’s path. Along with being a Summer Welcome leader, Kaine was a senator in the Missouri Students Association, a teaching assistant for an economics course and a member of two secret societies “He definitely set the standard for a lot of things,” said David Roloff, who was a student coordinator during Kaine’s time as a Summer Welcome leader. “I think a lot of times, people started to follow his lead. So I think it was fantastic having him be one of the core group of orientation leaders who set the whole tone for the summer.” Kaine graduated from MU in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He went on to earn a law degree from Harvard in 1983. In 2006, Kaine was elected governor of Virginia. In 2013, he became a U.S. senator. And in the summer of 2016, 39 years after he was a Summer Welcome leader, he was selected to be the vice-presidential candidate for the Democratic Party.
continued on page 4
4
The Maneater + MOVE MAGAZINE
T
Tim Kaine smiles for a photo. “White overalls was a campus fashion trend of the late ’70s,” David Roloff said. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID ROLOFF
Marc Levinson, right, who was a 1977 Summer Welcome leader with Kaine, poses for a picture with Kaine in 2010. PHOTO COURTESY OF MARC LEVINSON
Kaine was one of 32 Summer Welcome leaders in 1977. As an orientation leader, he became friends with David Roloff and Marc Levinson. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID ROLOFF
HE MU KAINE KNEW was shaped by the tail end of student activism movements surrounding the Vietnam War and the counterculture of the 1960s. “In the mid-1970s, people were still wearing their hair pretty long, and there was still a fair amount of students’ activism being expressed around the exercise of student authority through things like the Missouri Students Association,” said Jim Pfander, who was a TA with Kaine for the economics course. In the spring of 1970, “college students spilled out of their dorms and classes and onto the Quadrangle in the wake of the Cambodian air bombing that Nixon had conducted,” said Pfander, who was a student at Hickman High School in Columbia at the time. The shooting of students by the National Guard at Kent State University in 1970 furthered the protest movements on college campuses, including MU, but the level of activism had decreased by the time Pfander and Kaine arrived. “One way to kind of identify the end of student activism of that character is to look at the spring of 1974, which was the ‘spring of streaking,’ which became quite popular,” Pfander said. “That was right before I started school at Missouri in the fall of 1974. That suggests a certain relaxation of the student seriousness that had characterized life on the Missouri campus up till that point.” It was in this relaxed atmosphere that Kaine started meeting his friends at MU. Booches, or “Club LaBooche,” as Kaine called it, was Kaine’s restaurant of choice in Columbia, Roloff said during a September walk from his office in the Reynolds Alumni Center. Roloff is the director of marketing and strategic communication for the Mizzou Alumni Association. At least once a week, Kaine and his friends would spontaneously run into each other on campus and hang out. “That was back in the late 1970s before there was Facebook, Snapchat and everything else,” Roloff said. “You didn’t know where everybody was, so you became friendly with the people you came into contact on campus with. Changing classes, you’d bump into somebody and spend a couple hours at [The] Heidelberg together.” Roloff recalls MU’s campus looking a little different than it does today. But, “Jesse Hall is pretty much the same as it was in the ’70s.” At one point, Roloff and Kaine climbed to the top of Jesse Hall. Roloff, photo editor of The Maneater at the time, was doing a photo story on the dome. They walked to the north end of the top floor of Jesse, where they entered through a room that led to a spiral staircase and ladder up to the small balcony above Jesse. Roloff faced his camera toward him and Kaine, and they took a selfie atop the dome. “So we photographed the whole thing and then it ran as a photo story in The Maneater,” Roloff said. “Even though Tim wasn’t in the photos [that ran in print], it was a fun experience to share with him.” Before graduating from MU, Kaine put his
initials in the dome as a tapped member of QEBH. In 2006, Roloff added his initials to the same dome. “I don’t know where his [are], but we are up there together again,” Roloff said.
O
N AN AUGUST AFTERNOON in Asheville, North Carolina, 93-yearold John Kuhlman attended his first political rally. Kuhlman, a former economics professor at MU, went with his wife to the rally with one goal in mind: to reunite with one out of the 40,000 students he had taught over several decades. The student who had stood out to Kuhlman during his time at MU? Tim Kaine. Kulman stood out to Kaine, too. Both Kaine and Pfander started their paths at MU as journalism majors. After taking Kuhlman’s introductory economics course, they both changed their minds. “Many people who sat in on his Econ 51 class found themselves drawn, as Tim and I both did, to more study in econ,” Pfander said. “So Tim and I both drifted in that direction.” Kaine and Kuhlman had not met since Kaine graduated from MU in 1979. Kaine had gone on to become a lawyer in Richmond, Virginia, and Kuhlman had moved across the country, first to New Mexico and then to North Carolina. On that August afternoon at the rally, they met again. Kuhlman and his wife were two of the many who waited in line at the rally to take a photo with the vice-presidential candidate. “I found myself face-to-face with Sen. Tim Kaine, and I said ‘Tim, do you know me?’” Kuhlman said in an email. “He said, ‘Yes, you are John Kuhlman.’ After 40 years, he knew me. So I had my picture taken with a future vice president of the United States.” “At age 93, life doesn’t get much better than that,” Kuhlman said. In a recent email to Roloff, Kaine wrote about the impact his studies at MU had on him. “My time at Mizzou was very important in forming the public servant I am today,” Kaine wrote. Kaine’s time at MU was short — he graduated summa cum laude in three years. “Tim really buckled down PHOTO COURTESY OF on his studies,” ROCKHURST HIGH SCHOOL said Levinson, who met Kaine during their time as 1977 Summer Welcome leaders. “He wasn’t a party guy and he really concentrated strongly on hitting the books.” Kaine introduced Pfander to a number of
5
The Future Issue
Former MU professor John Kuhlman reunited with Kaine at a campaign rally in Asheville, North Carolina, on Aug. 16. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN KUHLMAN
authors: Dorothy Day, Robert Coles, Walker Percy, Franz Kafka and Vladimir Volkov, to name a few. “He always had a big stack of books by his bedside, and he was always plowing through them and happy to recommend books,” Pfander said. “I think about a lot of the things that he really woke me up to in my own reading life.”
“
for the first time or got to know you as a really good friend. He was just one of those people who was truly interested in you. So I think a lot of the students who had him as an orientation leader got an extremely good first impression of Mizzou.” A few months after their Summer Welcome experience, Roloff formed a
he’s the kind of guy that you miss when you don’t have enough access to him because he was an important person in my life in terms of shaping my own choices and encouraging me, by his example, to be a better, more engaged, more thoughtful, more ethical person because he did live his life at a very high level and maintained very high standards. And, that has, inevitably, a tendency to shake people around him, i think. - KAINE’S LONGTIME FRIEND JIM PFANDER
Even though Kaine was well-read and very smart, his friends said once you got to know him, his humility showed. “You could tell he was extremely smart, but in the kind of way that wasn’t sort of in your face,” Roloff said. “[He was] sort of a humble kind of person. I just remember an instant liking of him.” Not only did his peers see him as a genuine person, but so did his professors. “He was a good student — not just in terms of his grades but also in terms of his contributions to the university community,” Kuhlman said. “I saw Tim as a good student but also as a very good human being.” This humility served Kaine well in his involvements in campus organizations, such as Summer Welcome. “He was just a really engaging person,” Roloff said. “He really, truly did care about people, whether if he just met you
”
new club on campus with Kaine’s help. Roloff named it SIMA, the French word for ‘friends’ spelled backwards. “We sold friend-o-grams for 25 cents,” Roloff said. “In the union, you could come fill out a telegraph-looking piece of paper, write your friend a statement about how much you value them and appreciate their friendship. And then we would hand-deliver those on campus.” Kaine and Roloff also spent a good deal of time in Read Hall because of their roles in student government. Kaine served as a senator for the Missouri Students Association Rules Committee, and Roloff was chairperson of the Special Events Committee. Roloff, Kaine and other students also spent time in the courtyard between Read and Gentry halls. “We all took breaks and wanted to just get outside for fresh air,” Roloff said. “We would sit on these benches, which
look like they haven’t been changed since the ’70s.” Because of his focus on academics and various roles in campus organizations, Kaine was “tapped,” or inducted, into two secret societies, Omicron Delta Kappa and QEBH. When Kaine was not busy with academics, reading books or staying involved on campus, he was playing sports. “A few of the things that strike me about Tim is that he’s a good athlete and he likes to play,” Pfander said. “I don’t remember running any foot races with him, but he was always in pretty good shape.” Above all, Kaine was known for being respectful and altruistic. “He’s the kind of guy that you miss when you don’t have enough access to him because he was an important person in my life in terms of shaping my own choices and encouraging me, by his example, to be a better, more engaged, more thoughtful, more ethical person because he did live his life at a very high level and maintained very high standards,” Pfander said. “And that has, inevitably, a tendency to shake the people around him, I think.”
S
INCE FRESHMAN YEAR at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, Kaine has stayed in touch with his high school friends. Kent Immenschuh met Kaine during their freshman year at Rockhurst. Immenschuh studied at Kansas State, but he and Kate still kept their friendship alive. “Back then, as long ago as that was, it was long-distance telephones and actual letters,” Immenschuh said. “We would write each other, and we did stay in touch.” During the summers of their college years, Immenschuh and Kaine would hang out as they did in high school. After college, Immenschuh remained
in the Kansas City area, while Kaine, after graduating from Har vard, moved to Virginia and the Washington, D.C. region. But they continued to communicate with each other. A notable moment for Immenschuh was his daughter’s wedding, which was held in D.C. Immenschuh invited Kaine and his wife, Anne. Years earlier, Kaine was the best man at Immenschuh’s wedding. “It was very fun to see two-thirds of the people there had no idea who Tim was,” Immenschuh said. “They just knew him as a friend of Kent’s. And there was a third of the group that were all from the Washington D.C., area and they were looking around like, ‘Why is Tim Kaine here? Do you know why Tim Kaine is here? Who knows Tim Kaine?’” But Kaine was used to that, Immenschuh said. “So they were all young Washington, D.C. professionals, and they were all pretty starstruck that Tim Kaine was in the room,” Immenschuh said. “He is the kind of guy that mixes well with all of that. With the stardom, with people not knowing who he is. It didn’t matter to him.” Immenschuh reunited with Kaine and his wife on Oct. 14 for their Rockhurst Class of ‘76 reunion. “I had [a] lot more time with Anne than with Tim,” Immenschuh said in
continued on page 6
6 an email. “There was quite a celebrity crush. About 100 of the 200 grads of the class of ’76 made the reunion.” The following week, Immenschuh joined Kaine on the campaign trail. “I flew into Miami and met the campaign there,” Immenschuh said. “We did rallies and appearances in Miami and Palm Beach, then flew to Richmond, Virginia. The next day, we went to Hartford, Connecticut, and then to New York City.” Their friendship has spanned decades and multiple states, but it still comes down to the little things. “We have remained close friends throughout our lives,” Immenschuh said. “It’s just always great to speak to him. We still send each other playlists and talk about sports and other things. We have become really friendly with each other’s families.” Pfander’s kids also “think the world” of Kaine. Pfander, his wife and their children once spent a weekend with Kaine and his wife at the Virginia Governor’s Mansion in Richmond. “We had just a lovely time,” Pfander said. “My children remember this with great fondness, and they’re huge Tim Kaine fans.” Kaine stopped at the Pfander home in Evanston, Illinois, a few years later. “[Kaine] was up on the North Shore doing his politicking, and he stopped by our house and
The Maneater + MOVE MAGAZINE sat at the kitchen table and just had my kids rolling, you know, telling stories and that sort of thing,” Pfander said. “They’ve been huge Kaine partisans ever since, and they’re watching the election with great affection, as am I.” Pfander and Kaine don’t often see each other, but they still communicate by email from time to time. They usually see each other when Kaine visits Chicago, and most recently, Kaine made a campaign stop there in mid-September. “I was able to sneak off to this event just last week and spend some time with Tim in a fairly crowded setting at a place here in Chicago where he had dropped in for just a very quick visit to say hi to supporters and that sort of thing,” Pfander said. “So that was great fun, and we got a quick opportunity to catch up and find out what the kids are up to and that sort of thing.” Decades after being Summer Welcome leaders together, Levinson and Kaine finally caught up again, too. “When he became governor of Virginia, David Roloff let me know that this was indeed the same Tim Kaine that we had gone through Summer Welcome [with] together,” Levinson said. “And I had sent him a note of congratulations, and he responded. And we have been in touch ever since.” After reconnecting, Kaine invited Levinson and his wife to visit him at the governor’s mansion. Since then, Levinson has also met
Tim Kaine helped David Roloff found SIMA, an organization rooted in friendship. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID ROLOFF with Kaine during a few trips to the U.S. Capitol. “He has always been extremely gracious,” Levinson said. “[He’s] one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet in your life. And should he and Secretary Clinton be elected, he will make an amazingly good vice president of the United States of America.”
7
The Future Issue
Computer program analyzes presidential candidates’ debate rhetoric Program creator Dale Musser: “At the point I was looking at this data, I realized at the vice-presidential debate there were 399 statements. That seems like a lot for an hour and a half.” JACKSON KINKEAD Staff Writer Dale Musser’s new office in Naka Hall is still sparse. Like his office, the future of his new computer program, Debate Analyzer, is just as open to change. The program examines the transcript of the debates and measures the amount of emotions that the words connote. For example, in Trump’s “bad hombres” statement, the program indicated mostly “conscientiousness,” “confident” and “emotional range.” This new program is not entirely Musser’s own creation, though. He uses IBM Watson’s Tone Analyzer tool, which runs text through an algorithm that determines the emotions those words represent. Musser has been a computer science professor at MU since 1994. He has been a School of Journalism faculty member since 2008, and he was named Reynolds Journalism Institute’s first chief technology adviser on Oct. 13. He originally wanted to figure out a good way to demonstrate to his journalism students how to use the IBM Watson service. “The night I was creating the demo was the night of the first debate,” Musser said. “So I finished writing the code to analyze a block of text, and I’m like, ‘What should I analyze?’ I heard Trump say something really stupid, and then I thought, ‘Debate text — that’ll be interesting.’” He took a few quotes from live reports online of that night’s debate and put it into the program. He became interested in how the program would interpret the entire debate, not just the few comments. “In the particular piece, it was labeled as very angry and sad,” Musser said. “And I’m like: ‘Is the whole thing angry and sad, or are there good times and bad times? How does this flow?’” The next morning, when the full transcripts were put online, he started running entire debates through the program. He indicated to RJI Executive Director Randy Picht that this program might be interesting for further research. “We are really excited to be working with the computer science department on the topic of artificial intelligence,” Picht said. “New technology is making [data] more accessible, easier to analyze, easier to visualize so you can explain it to readers and viewers.” Musser’s specific alterations to the program allowed the transcript to be shown next to the analyzed tones; it also showed general facts about the entire
transcript. “The first thing that struck me was the numbers relative to how often people spoke and interruptions,” Musser said. “At the point I was looking at this data, I realized at the vicepresidential debate there were 399 statements. That seems like a lot for an hour and a half." Since all presidential debate transcriptions have been written in the same format since 1960, it was easy for Musser to see differences in debates from a broad time range. “I wondered what this was like historically,” Musser said. “Is this a fundamental change? I hadn’t really paid that much attention. I was a kid in the ’60s, but I wouldn’t have actually thought about it that much … So I grabbed Kennedy-Nixon. I jumped forward to Reagan-Mondale, and then McCain-Obama.” When he looked at the data from all the debates, he started to notice major differences. For the three Clinton-Trump presidential debates, there was an average of 195 candidate statements. For the the fourth Kennedy-Nixon debate, there was a total of 21 statements. Even for the third McCain-Obama debate, there were 114 statements, which is 41 statements less than ClintonTrump’s lowest. Even breaks for crowd applause and laughter have massively increased over the years. In Kennedy-Nixon, there were no breaks for applause or laughter, and the candidates never spoke over each other, which the transcripts call “crosstalk.” “How many times did Reagan talk over Mondale?” Musser said. “How many times did the audience laugh at him?” In the Reagan-Mondale debate, there was only one break for applause, one break for laughter and no crosstalk. “In the case of ReaganMondale, there were only 53 statements made,” Musser said. “If you look at the text … they are long blocks of continuous, coherent thought. And you put that up beside today and you're like, ‘These are not the same.’ They are not even close to each other in terms of experience.” Musser believes these differences have created a huge shift in debate atmosphere. “This was civil discourse, and this is uncivil discourse, as I see it,” Musser said. Musser said mathematics and computational science can help to dissect the changes in political discourse over time. Comparisons between the atmosphere around elections in the past and present are either too opinionated or less clearly remembered over time.
Dale Musser sits in the Microsoft Application Development Lab in the basement of the Reynolds Journalism Institute. MADDIE DAVIS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER “A person in that moment in time is not going to be able to separate themselves from that time, but math can,” Musser said. “Then it's not about how you and I feel. Now it’s like, ‘Let’s talk about what this means.’ We couldn't do that before. We can have the great debate about what this means, but it usually ended up descending into the hell of personal opinion.” But Musser said this program is still new, and he does not know exactly how he will conduct more long-term and in-depth research with it. To assess the program’s accuracy, he grabbed famous speeches such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to compare them to common perceptions of those speeches. For Lincoln’s speech, the program indicated a lot of fear. Musser said the fear made sense because the country was in the middle of the Civil War. He said he was slightly surprised at first by the results from “I Have a Dream” because the program indicated a lot of anger. “There’s a lot of statements in there we consider uplifting, but in actuality the core of the speech is: We are angry, we demand change,” Musser said. Musser said even though the program may be accurate, he does not completely trust it because it analyzes the text without any context. The program also cannot detect sarcasm. He believes the program can show discrepancies between the emotion people think they are hearing and the actual connotation of the words. “See if the tones have you
re-evaluating the text, because that’s what happened to me,” Musser said. Picht also said this tool, in addition to causing people to re-evaluate what is said at debates, could get people to think about their own ideas and reactions during the debates. “It is a very new area, but having the capability to try to get these new perspectives and see what we can learn is really promising,” Picht said. “We are excited to be embarking on that journey.” Musser wondered if technology like this would shape discourse, with candidates trying to fit statements into emotional tones rather than voicing certain
positions. “What if one these candidates did nothing but inspire you?” Musser said. “What if all their statements were crafted to be Kennedy ‘We’re going to the moon’ statements?” He also said that before fully researching the program, he noticed there are some conclusions he was noticing just from looking at the basic data. “Here’s what I can say: We are not living in an era of happiness, of joy,” Musser said. “Very little joy showing up in any of this stuff. Interesting question: Has joy ever entered into politics?” Edited by Claire Mitzel cmitzel@themaneater.com
8
The Maneater + MOVE MAGAZINE
let’s talk about
RELIGION
Changing society forces religious groups to adapt
Rabbi Yossi Feintuch: “The prayers are going to remain; the question is only whether you are going to read the prayers from a big screen or from a smaller screen.” MADI MCVAN Reporter In the digital age, the ways in which religious organizations interact with their followers are changing dramatically. While some denominations change their beliefs to line up with modern society, others stand firm in their traditional worldviews. Here are some ways different religions (and the nonreligious) are changing today. Christianity When a devastating tornado hit Joplin in 2011, members of various churches around the country rushed to donate. Instead of giving to their own church or a larger organization that would distribute the funds, as they would have in the past, they went to Joplin church websites and donated directly to those affected. Local churches used to have a sort of monopoly on the deployment of people and resources in their communities. But in the digital age, this function has become less and less relevant. As a result, the role of churches is shifting. What used to be a powerful, wide-reaching authority has become an organization that brings together people of similar beliefs and strengthens their faith, said Kendall Waller, lead pastor of Missouri United Methodist Church. This shift in the role of the church is causing fractures within denominations, Waller said. He predicts that as a whole, Christian churches will become “more distributed and less centralized.” “Within denominations — you can see it across the U.S. — we disagree on issues like human sexuality, we disagree on some finer points of theology and others,” Waller said. “I think rather than binding it all together in one denomination, it’ll probably become a looser organization of peer-to-peer churches that have common objectives.” This “grassroots” structure, in which churches vary widely depending on the community they serve, has historically been present in the Baptist denomination, said Carol McEntyre, senior pastor at First Baptist Church. In a sense, the Baptist Church, its lack of central authority, represents what more traditional denominations may soon look like. However, without a central authority, progress may be limited to certain churches, while others cling to traditional values. For example, McEntyre is the first woman senior pastor at First
Baptist and is part of the 9 percent of Baptist pastors who are female. Many Baptist churches refuse to allow women into leadership roles due to their interpretation of the Bible regarding the roles of men and women. “In terms of the church in the future, it just seems to me that it’s going to be really incongruent for millennials and the generations afterwards to say, ‘What do you mean a woman can’t serve in leadership?’” McEntyre said. “It just makes no sense to people who out in the world think, ‘I can be or do anything I want to.’” While some churches, like First Baptist and United Methodist, responded to social progression by promoting a message of inclusion, the Catholic Church seems like it will continue its traditional stance into the future, said the Rev. Chris Cordes, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. “I think one of the realities of religion or churches in interacting with society as a whole, and especially with the Catholic Church and some of the more traditional churches, is we tend to move slowly,” Cordes said. “Obviously, as time goes by, and in the last century, last decade, last year, technology and communication and everything goes so fast, so the challenge is keeping up. The church, by nature, is slower to adapt to things.” Islam When Gold Star father Khizr Khan offered to lend Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump his pocket-sized copy of the Constitution during his speech at the Democratic National Convention, it started a back-and-forth that placed MuslimAmericans at the center of the narrative. His gesture brought common misconceptions about Islam in America to light. The Muslim Speakers Bureau of Columbia, a group based out of the Islamic Center of Central Missouri, advocates for the same issues as Khan by providing information on Muslim Americans to classes, businesses and law enforcement. Rafa Nizam, coordinator of MSBC, feels that the best way to battle stereotypes and ignorance is through education. “I think once all these extremist groups subside, however we manage to do that, whether it’s through military involvement, or we rebuild these countries and dethrone these forces, until then, people are going to be really on edge with the concept of Islam,” Nizam said. Nizam said acceptance of Muslim Americans seems to be growing slowly, despite isolated incidents of violence and discrimination against Muslims.
9
The Future Issue
“Hopefully that trend [of acceptance] continues, that people can see the nuances of the human experience and also that Muslims have their gradient as well,” Nizam said. “I think gradually you’ll see more Muslims going into the political realm, journalism, media, stuff like that.” As the younger generations of Muslims move into leadership positions within mosques and other Muslim organizations, Nizam predicts that Islam will continue to adapt to American and global society through changes such as an increase in female leaders and technology use. “The arc of history works towards progression,” Nizam said. “I don’t think Muslims are going to be viewed as the bad guys forever. But to get to that point is going to be the work of MSBC, of advocacy groups, of social media campaigns and all of these different organizations.” Judaism Ecclesiastes 1:9 says: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Rabbi Yossi Feintuch of Congregation Beth Shalom believes this to be true. Feintuch said the issues Jews face today are just different manifestations of the issues they have faced throughout history. “Judaism is the only religion that emerged alive from antiquity,” Feintuch said. “It is certainly older than Christianity, and certainly older than Islam. It has survived through adjustments, and the religion that is observed today is not necessarily the religion of Biblical days.” Despite minor changes in rituals, Feintuch said the core beliefs of Judaism have remained constant throughout history, and he doesn’t think young people today pose any more of a threat than they did centuries ago. “With all the changes that we see in the younger generation — every generation has a younger generation,” Feintuch said. “In that sense, challenges and issues that were manifested in the 1950s are manifested today and will be manifested 50 years since.” As technology has changed and become a larger part of many religious services, this shift has had little effect on Jewish services due to the practice of not using electricity on the Sabbath. Despite this, Feintuch predicts that in the far future, elements like prayer books may be replaced with personal tablets. “For the most part, the core fundamentals are not going to change,” Feintuch said. “The calendar is not going to change. The rituals are not going to change. The prayers are going to remain; the question is only whether you are going to read the prayers from a big screen or from a smaller screen.” Atheism While some religious institutions remain largely the same over centuries of social change, other groups, including nonreligious organizations, have seen major growth in the age of the internet. According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of adults who do not believe in God increased from 5 percent in 2007 to 9 percent in 2014. Columbia Atheists co-organizer Carla Burris attributes some of this change to the expansion of the internet, which she says has made religious isolation nearly impossible for younger generations. Although this increased visibility of different worldviews has helped create more acceptance for atheists, Burris also believes it has made younger atheists more ambitious than their older counterparts when it comes to their political goals. “Older atheists on the whole remember times where religion was
so much the default for everything,” Burris said. “They’re either much more used to keeping quiet, or they’re pissed they had to stay quiet, and they’re the most firebrand about it. Their goals may be more modest. Younger atheists — at least the ones I know — tend to have more assumptions that things should be more fair, and they should just become fair.” Burris predicts that as atheism among American adults continues to increase in popularity, there may be pushback against the entire belief system of atheists because of the actions of a few. She says because there is no consistent set of beliefs in atheism, there is no clear way to differentiate “bad atheists” from the rest of the group. “As atheists become more visible, [non-atheists] will see atheists doing bad, evil, stupid stuff, and there may be backlash,” Burris said. “People will see us and say, ‘Look at all the evil atheists.’” Despite this expected criticism, Burris expects to see general attitudes toward atheists to shift toward acceptance, primarily within the U.S., with Missouri following behind the nation. Ultimately, Burris looks forward to a time where there is no expectation of religion and atheism is not looked down upon. Edited by Katie Rosso krosso@themaneater.com
“OBVIOUSLY, AS TIME GOES BY, AND IN THE LAST CENTURY, LAST DECADE, LAST YEAR, TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION AND EVERYTHING GOES SO FAST, SO THE CHALLENGE IS KEEPING UP. THE CHURCH, BY NATURE, IS SLOWER TO ADAPT TO THINGS.” — THE REV. CHRIS CORDES
PHOTOS BY ALESSANDRO COMAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
10
The Maneater + MOVE MAGAZINE
Blast off: MU grad creates ‘Galactic Cap’ condom The new adhesive product aims to protect its users from HIV/AIDS. BEN JARZOMBEK AND KATIE ROSSO of the MOVE Magazine Staff The condom as we know it has been around since the 1850s, and evidence of primitive condom use dates back to before the 15th century. Since the rolled latex condom debuted in the 1920s, condoms have not undergone major innovation. MU graduate Charlie Powell is out to change that with a new condom: The Galactic Cap. The Galactic Cap uses adhesive to stick to just the tip of the penis, exposing much of the more sensitive areas, and its reservoir tip is “thicker and stronger than a traditional condom,” according to the IndieGoGo campaign video. By leaving much of the penis exposed, the Galactic Cap “gives you the same sexual pleasure as skin-to-skin contact.” Since the product’s conception, Powell has made many design changes. The newest design has an “anchor” that runs down the shaft a bit, keeping the coronal ridge exposed while still staying tight on the penis. Powell attended MU in the late ‘60s, right at the beginning of the Vietnam War. After graduating with a BA in English, he “got a free ticket to Vietnam” and enlisted in the Army. Following his time in the service, Powell spent the next several years on an international adventure of sorts: a year working at a ski resort in the Bavarian Alps, six months of European backpacking and two years working on an oil rig in Spain and Africa. During his off-time on the oil rig, he flew to London and attended film school, eventually settling in Los Angeles to start his career working on corporate film. Powell’s film career consisted of mainly corporate clients, but it was through a colleague’s tragedy that Powell made a career change and moved to condoms. “A buddy of mine who edited for me
for about three years, he came down with HIV, and at the time it was a death sentence,” Powell said. Powell set out to fundamentally change the condom. The desire was not only out of necessity, but also preference. “I didn’t like [condoms],” Powell explained, “so it gave me the idea that there must be something better.” Powell noticed the same thing studies have been saying for years: The problem with condoms are that people just don’t use them. A 2010 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior found that one in four acts of vaginal intercourse in the U.S. are done with a condom, and people who say condoms are not pleasurable don’t use them. Powell said this invention could change the world. “This is going to do so many good things for the world,” Powell said. “It’s going to reduce unwanted teenage pregnancy. It’s going to reduce overcrowding or overpopulation which, for many countries around the world, is a huge problem: China, India, Brazil, South America, Africa. And it’s going to reduce STDs and HIV.” After sitting on the idea for about 15 years, Powell began developmental research on what would become the Galactic Cap. In 2013, Bill Gates funded a competition where inventors were supposed to find the most inventive new condom. Powell didn’t win the funding, but he made up the difference through an IndieGogo campaign that he launched in June of 2014. In that campaign, Powell raised $100,000 for the Galactic Cap’s design and production. “The Gates Foundation came out with this $100,000 challenge grant to anybody who could develop the next generation condom,” Powell said. “Well, they awarded $1.1 million to 11 companies and organizations, but guess what: They all covered the whole penis.” Powell believes that other inventors basically just “rearranged the deck chairs
on the Titanic.” “I don’t care how thin you make the material, it’s just not skin-toskin,” Powell said. “That’s where all the sensation is. My Galactic Cap will dominate these people.” The “skin-to-skin contact” is one of the concerns of the Galactic Cap, though. By blocking semen, the Galactic Cap prevents one method of HIV transmission. HIV is transmitted through semen or blood. But many other STIs — HPV, herpes and syphilis, among others — are spread through skin-to-
thing is coming loose or not, so there’s no surprise there.” Powell has brought California State University, Long Beach into the fold on the Galactic Cap. Their engineering department assists in testing the product as well as research and development in their biotech lab. “Picture the head of the penis. It kind of looks like a fireman’s hat: long on one side and short on the other,” Powell said. “In tests of the first design, it would come off the short side of the head of the penis because there wasn’t enough surface area there to take the adhesive
“I LIKE TO CALL IT A CONDOM FOR COUPLES, BECAUSE IF YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE WITH AND YOU’RE PRETTY CONFIDENT THEY DON’T HAVE AN STD, HEY, THE GALACTIC CAP IS THE CHOICE FOR YOU.” — FOUNDER CHARLIE POWELL skin contact. Powell sees that a lack of condom usage worldwide is largely to blame for the issues in STI spreading. He cites worldwide condom use at five percent and condom use in developing countries “topping off at 20 percent.” “I like to call it a condom for couples, because if you know who you’re with and you’re pretty confident they don’t have an STD, hey, the Galactic Cap is the choice for you,” Powell said. “If you go into a bar and you’re picking up somebody — male or female — that you don’t know, then maybe you better wear a traditional condom until you have a relationship.” Users of the product are advised not to use lubricant due to the adhesive, similar to a Band-Aid. “I would say saliva or vaginal fluid is good, but if you start using lubes with it, now you’re going to weaken to adhesive, so it’s not advised,” Powell said. “When you’re doing it, you can see whether the
and keep it on, so with vigorous sex, it started coming off.” With the new design, Powell says that the condom “works dynamite.” In the future, they may change the name of the product to be something sexier. “I would say that the ‘Galactic Cap’ is not the most scintillating name,” Powell said. “Maybe the ‘Galactic Prophylactic,’ or something that was better, more hip, more ‘Millennial-esque.’ But I figured that it was ‘pleasure that was out of this world,’ and it covered the head of the penis.” At this point, Powell is looking towards millennials to help make his vision a reality. “I’m older now, and I would like to do something to change the world, and I would like to get college kids behind me,” Powell said. Edited by Nancy Coleman ncoleman@themaneater.com
11
Seven things to know before voting in CoMo Read up on election basics before heading to the polls on Nov. 8.
CMU welcomes applications for its Jan. 2017 nursing cohort! But hurry, seats are limited and applications close soon. Outstanding faculty New state-of-the-art facilites www.centralmethodist.edu
Bubble your ballot in all the way, but don’t take a selfie with it. JESSI DODGE | PHOTO EDITOR
CLAIRE COLBY Reporter Whether you’re “with her” or hoping to “make America great again,” Election Day is rapidly approaching. Many MU students will vote for the first time Nov. 8. Before you head to the polls, here are some things to know about voting in Columbia. 1. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Life can be busy, but there is a 13-hour window to do your civic duty. Voters will be allowedto cast a ballot as long as they are in line by 7 p.m., even if they don’t actually enter the polling place until after 7 p.m. 2. Ballot selfies are illegal. In Missouri, it is illegal to show your ballot to anyone, according to The Associated Press. This includes snapping selfies with your ballot. If you absolutely must showcase your political involvement, snag an “I Voted” sticker and take a picture after leaving the polls. 3. Leave your “Nasty Woman” shirt and Trump hat at home. The Supreme Court upheld a ban on electioneering in polling places in 1992. This includes wearing campaign gear. In previous years, Boone County election officials politely asked voters to turn their shirts inside out. However, after a disgruntled and braless voter disrobed in the middle of a polling place several years ago, election judges decided to change their policy. Now, Boone County voters in campaign shirts will be given a large button-up shirt to cover up any potential slogans (but your best bet is still passing on the political clothing). 4. Election judges are not allowed to explain any items on the ballot. This year, the Boone County ballot has 24 items, including several proposed constitutional amendments. Judges and other election officials are not allowed to offer any information about these items. Before you head to the polls, Google “my ballot.” You will then be able to type in your address and see all the national, state and local issues you will be voting on. Take a second to read about the issues so you aren’t caught by surprise. 5. Cell phone use will not be allowed in polling places. Nope, you can’t phone a friend either. Once in a polling place, the decision is entirely yours and yours alone. 6. You can take as long as you want. According to Missouri law, you can take as long as you need to vote. In addition, you are allowed to change your mind as many times as you want. Simply trade in your marked-up ballot for a clean one and start over. 7. You can score a free ride to the polls. There are several polling places on campus alone. Those living off campus may be assigned to different precincts. COMO Connect offers free bus rides to polling places on Nov. 8 from 6:25 a.m. to 8 p.m. Visit its website for a schedule and route information.
Contact Cathy Baxter at cbaxter@centralmethodist.edu
Est. 1854 - Located in Fayette, Mo
12
The Maneater + MOVE MAGAZINE
Not too shab-bee: New beehives on MU campus aim to combat global bee crisis Bees play a part in the production of more than 85 percent of crops. CARLY BERTHIAUME Reporter Numerous studies on agriculture conducted over the past few decades conclude with one fact: Bees are important. Experts estimate that anywhere between one-third and 90 percent of the world’s food supply is dependent on bees, but they can all agree that the damage to the agricultural industry if bees were to go extinct would be devastating. Beekeepers throughout the country are reporting declining bee colonies, and advocacy groups are pushing for people to take more of an interest in the crisis. On Oct. 3, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put seven species of bees on the endangered list. Many MU students, staff and organizations have noted the disturbing trend and are making efforts to support local bee populations. Sustain Mizzou partnered with Mizzou Botanic Garden to establish and maintain two beehives on campus, located in the butterfly garden near Eckles Hall and the Agricultural En-
classes open to students; the most recent was on Oct. 26 in the Student Center. Junior Megan Tyminski, who spearheaded the beekeeping project, said that the next class will be sometime in the spring semester and will be taught by graduate student and agricultural education major Sarah Cramer. Tyminski began campaigning for campus beehives when she arrived at MU as a freshman. After getting approval from university officials, procuring funding and going through risk management, she ordered supplies for the beehives last year. Tyminski collaborated with volunteers to put the beehives together before installing the bees. Last spring, she was finally able to order a nucleus colony, which includes bees and a queen. Tyminski originally started beekeeping in high school after her Youth in Government group decided to focus on bees as their bill topic. “It was my senior year, and I had done all the grunt work for a while, and it was time for a fun bill because we had
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND THE USE OF PESTICIDES, WHICH CAN COMPROMISE BEES’ IMMUNE SYSTEMS AND LEAVE THEM MORE VULNERABLE TO VIRUSES, HAVE RESULTED IN THE NEAR EXTINCTION OF ALMOST 40 PERCENT OF INVERTEBRATE POLLINATOR SPECIES. gineering building. Students are encouraged to get involved by joining Sustain Mizzou or by attending hive checkups, which are held every two weeks or so. The next checkup will take place Nov. 6. There are also occasional beekeeping
learned a lot,” Tyminski said. “So I was like, ‘Hey, guys, let’s do it about bees.’” I started doing a lot of research about bees to work on the bill, and it just kind of developed into a new passion that is still evolving.” According to a 2007 study published
Bees. COURTESY OF POLLYDOT ON PIXABAY in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a biological research journal, pollinators are essential for 13 crops. This means pollinators — including bees — play a part in the production of more than 85 percent of crops. Bees are also dependent upon crops for their sustenance. Smaller, individual farms produce a variety of crops that are rich in pollen and nectar; larger farms tend to produce a smaller variety of crops even though they yield a larger quantity of food. As these small farms go out of business, bees are left with a depleted source of food. Environmental conditions such as droughts and abnormally long, cold winters have also negatively impacted bee populations. Along with the use of pesticides, which can compromise bees’ immune systems and leave them more
vulnerable to viruses, these factors have resulted in the near extinction of almost 40 percent of invertebrate pollinator species, according to a U.N.-sponsored report released in February. Tyminski is looking to tackle these problems both during and after her time at Mizzou. She is majoring in science and agricultural journalism with an emphasis in strategic communications and a minor in sustainable agriculture. She is also a communications intern for the Mizzou Botanic Garden, an organization which has been extremely supportive of her efforts to establish hives at MU. “I really hope to do public relations for some organization that cares about sustainability. As long as I care about what I’m doing, I’ll do it well,” Tyminski said. Edited by Katie Rosso and Katherine Stevenson
13
The Future Issue
Millennial romance knows no boundaries, thanks to technology
This generation’s long-distance relationships are alive and thriving through meaningful communication. VICTORIA CHEYNE MOVE Angles Editor It’s no myth that technology has taken over our lives. Nowadays, you can’t go anywhere without seeing people staring at their phones, earbuds in, swiping away, wrapped up in their own little worlds. Children are practically born with iPads in their hands. Millennials are chastised for their obsessive bond with gadgets, but contrarily, their intimate relationships appear to be growing stronger because of it. Long-distance relationships have a reputation for being frustrating, difficult to manage and ultimately the deathbed of a love life. And sure, it probably sucks sometimes. But research reveals longdistance relationships tend to be as healthy and successful, if not more so, than a relationship of close proximity. According to a “ScienceDaily” story published July 18, 2013, a test conducted by researchers at both Cornell University and in Hong Kong revealed that “longdistance couples felt more intimate to each other, and this greater intimacy is driven by two tendencies: long-distance couples disclosed themselves more, and they idealized their partners’ behaviors.” Anna Lindell, a doctoral candidate in developmental psychology at MU, says research shows that the more kinds of technology you use to communicate with someone, the higher quality that relationship will be. “ With so m a ny communication options available to millennials, it really is starting to become clear that mobile devices in particular are becoming a necessary tool for keeping our close relationships intact and healthy,” Lindell said in an email. But technology changes so rapidly these days, Lindell said, and is used for various purposes, so it is hard to pinpoint exactly how technology affects intimate relationships. It comes down to the frequency of communication and what is exchanged. “There has been research in the past three or four years showing that when people use mobile phones to communicate with others, this leads to higher levels of relationship satisfaction. It leads people to disclose more of their private thoughts and feelings to those people, and it helps keep relationships ‘current’ even if both parties live many miles apart,” Lindell said. “And these findings appear to be valid
across many different kinds of relationships.” Even with its overwhelmingly positive implications, technology at the core of a longdistance relationship can still create feelings of skepticism, mistrust and isolation. Freshman Krista Biggar and her boyfriend, who goes to Texas Tech University, have transitioned to a long-distance relationship since parting ways for college. Technology keeps their relationsihp alive despite the geographical disadvantage, but it still manages to raise a fair deal of quandaries between them.” “He has no idea what’s going on over here since we’re in college, and I have no idea what’s going on over there, so it’s really easy to get jealous about certain things,” Biggar said. “But I think the main thing that causes problems is the tone of voice when we’re texting.” Biggar said she and her boyfriend text and FaceTime daily, and despite the tonal misunderstandings and temporary problems, she believes their technological communication strengthens their relationship. Not all research highlights newfound benefits of millennial technology usage; like anything, it has certain downfalls. Last November, Public Source published an article that examined technology’s anatomical effect on developing brains, finding that excessive usage changes the geography of the brain and modifies its development, thus altering many functions down to communication and regulation of emotions. “I don’t have direct exper ience with the neurological implications of technology use, but based on what we know about the developing brain, it does seem likely that technology use (just like any other aspect of our environment that we are in contact with) influences brain development in young adults, since the human brain is not fully mature until around age 25,” Lindell said. These are all important questions that researchers are actively pursuing right now so more of this vast territory can be better understood in the coming years. “I think this area of research is too new for us to really have a good understanding of exactly how much technology exposure is detrimental for brain development,” Lindell said. “I would argue that it may not only be certain types of technology exposure that could
have negative effects, but also the lack of exposure to other important aspects of life that may contribute to problems. For example, if a young adult is spending too much time engaged with their mobile device, then a lack of physical activity could lead to problems.” Another point of contention is an absence from reality millennials know all too well because of their ubiquitous presence on social media and other digital platforms. Lindell said technology has become pervasive as the primary communication mechanism for so many relationships these days. “When thinking about mobile devices, there is certainly a concern that millennials are so embedded in what is going on on their phones, that they miss out on ‘real life’ going on around them,” she said. No generation before this one has dealt with the issues or benefits of technology in their single life or romantic one (hence the novel millennial dating and relationship trends). In simpler times, relationships were maintained through landline telephones and handwritten sentiments, lacking efficiency and constant
A diversity of apps, communication sites and technology supports millenial romance. JESSI DODGE | PHOTO EDITOR
connection. In the future, Lindell believes face-to-face interaction will play an increasingly unnecessary role in close relationships, and the very nature of our relationships will evolve in tandem with technological advancements and innovation. “I don’t think we are going to see fewer close relationships form between people, because as a species humans are
inherently social creatures,” Lindell said. “Families who are spread out across the country will be able to remain close with one another, when this would have been impossible in the past, and we will be able to interact with others in other countries with more ease than ever before.” Edited by Katie Rosso krosso@themaneater.com
14
SPORTS
THE BEST SOURCE FOR Mizzou SPORTS
Sophomore quarterback Drew Lock, 3, and senior defensive lineman Rickey Hatley, 95, served as two of this week’s three team captains. Rather than season-long captains, coach Barry Odom has switched to having weekly team captains. ALEXZANDRIA CHURCHILL | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
FOOTBALL
New captain system more important than ever With Michael Scherer out for the rest of the season due to injury, Missouri needs to rely on young leaders even more. NICK KELLY Staff Writer What began as a regular Friday team meeting in early September soon turned into a surprise for Ronnell Perkins and his teammates. Ahead of the home opener against Eastern Michigan, coach Barry Odom announced in the meeting that quarterback Drew Lock and defensive tackle Rickey Hatley, two of the most well-known players on the team, would fill two of that game’s three captain spots. The other captain was Perkins, a redshirt freshman safety who had yet to earn his first start.
The gesture was not only a testament to Perkins’ leadership but also showed the Tigers that starting status and seniority aren’t necessarily determinants of one’s ability to lead. “That was due to [Perkins’] work ethic on the practice field, his attitude in the locker room, his attitude in the weight room and his abilities on special teams,” offensive lineman Kevin Pendleton said. To encourage leadership from all players, Odom created a weekly captain system. The recent loss of redshirt senior Michael Scherer for the season with a torn ACL and MCL hurts the
LEAD | PAGE 15
C A P TA I N T R A C K E R
west
virginia
DREW LOCK, MICHAEL SCHERER, RICKEY HATLEY, SEAN CULKIN
eastern michigan
georgia DELAWARE
STATE
LOCK, HATLEY, RONNELL PERKINS LOCK, SCHERER, HATLEY, ISH WITTER, KENDALL BLANTON, AARION PENTON
LOCK, HATLEY, CHARLES HARRIS, WITTER, COREY FATONY
LSU FLORIDA
LOCK, SCHERER, HATLEY, ALEC ABELN, BRANDON LEE LOCK, SCHERER, HARRIS, WITTER, TERRY BECKNER JR.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE
KENTUCKY
LOCK, SCHERER, HARRIS, PAUL ADAMS, BECKNER JR. HARRIS, ADAMS, DAMAREA CROCKETT, DONAVIN NEWSOM
TENNIS
Brianna Lashway brings intensity to Mizzou tennis team Junior Clare Raley: “There’s never a time when you’re questioning how hard she’s working.”
HANNAH SCHRAM Reporter When it comes down to her success on the tennis court, junior Brianna Lashway tries to focus on only one or two components when entering a match. “I’m mean in my head when I’m out there on the court,” Lashway said. “I focus on being really aggressive and like
I’m going to take it from the girl. That kind of attitude.” Lashway’s grit and intense mentality are not the only factors teammates find motivating. Senior Cassidy Spearman commented on Lashway’s high-fives as a strong and important motivator while in competition. “I love her high-fives,” she said. “Her high-fives are really intense and intentional and it gets me pumped.”
With her evolving maturity and experience, Lashway is on track to lift Missouri tennis to a solid season come spring. Lashway and the rest of the Missouri tennis team will conclude their fall season at the Big Green Invitational in Hanover, New Hampshire, starting Friday, Nov. 4. Starting off the season with a 6-1 record in singles play, Lashway has
already established a significant role on the team. Lashway’s first two seasons with Missouri were a little rockier than expected, but her experience has proven to be essential to her current performance. The Bradenton, Florida, native
GRIT | PAGE 15
15
THE MANEATER | SPORTS | NOV. 2, 2016 THE FIFTH LAP
Spoiled Mizzou sports fans have stopped supporting their football team The HoCo No Show is just one on the list of poor attendance at football games. KURTIS DUNLAP
Kurtis Dunlap is a fifth-year senior at MU. He is an English major. He writes about student life as an opinion columnist for The Maneater. We have been spoiled as Mizzou sports fans over the last five years. Mizzou teams have exceeded everyone’s expectations since moving to the SEC. Our football team has competed in two Southeastern Conference championship games, winning the Eastern Division both years. Our softball team has been a constant in the top 25 rankings, along with the volleyball team. Heck, we even have a two-time wrestling national champion and Olympic bronze medalist in J’den Cox. The student body has to continue to support our sports teams even when they aren’t very good. To have the privilege to celebrate their victories, you have to support them through their defeats. We can’t forget all of the great things our
school’s athletics have accomplished, and we have to continue to support the football team, even if they aren’t doing well right now. I was a freshman the first year MU became a member of the SEC. I can remember all of the excitement that was swirling around campus as football season approached. Everyone was so excited to be part of the best college football conference in the country. Finally, we were out of the shadow of Texas and Oklahoma. The first game I ever went to was our very first SEC game against Georgia. We lost, just like we would a lot that year. A lot of talk went on during that season, that we didn’t belong and were overmatched. The students stuck behind the team, and we were rewarded. Mizzou certainty didn’t look overmatched the next two years. As long as I have been a student at MU, the student fan base has been pretty positive. We have usually rallied behind struggling teams and, for the most part, continued to support them. Right now, the football team needs our support more than ever. Losing at LSU and Florida is one thing, but losing to Middle Tennessee on Homecoming and Kentucky at home
in back-to-back weeks means we need all hands on deck; it would be the perfect time to jump ship and forget about this season. I always think back to the first year we were in the SEC and all the obstacles we faced. It would have been easy to say that moving conferences was a bad idea, but we didn’t. We believed that we belonged. We went on to win the East the next two years and had a chance to go to the national championship game in 2013. I saw and lived through the excitement on campus at that time. And now, I know how it feels not to be very good. I’ve seen the student section the past three home games, and it is pathetic. Seven home games. That’s all we get. That’s seven Saturdays where we get to eat good food, drink cold beer and wear our tiger ears. Most people go home for Thanksgiving, so that takes the Arkansas game out and reduces the number of games to a measly six. I can give everyone a pass for the Delaware State game; it was really hot, and there was no way we were losing that game. There were no excuses for the game against Middle Tennessee. The weather was perfect, the game time wasn’t so early that you were still hungover from the night before,
LEAD
GRIT
Continued from page 14 began her collegiate career with a 29-33 overall record her freshman year. Lashway did show promise, though, posting a noteworthy 18-6 record within the fall portion of that season. In her sophomore season, Lashway racked up more experience in both singles and doubles, compiling an overall record of 38-40. Lashway and former doubles partner, Bea Machado Santos, also took home the No. 1 doubles title at the 2015 Mizzou Invite, and the duo went on to be ranked No. 73 in the Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Doubles Rankings. Although Lashway has two solid seasons in the books, she says she hopes to improve this year. “My past two seasons weren’t what I expected or hoped, so I’m really looking forward to this one,” Lashway said. At the Mizzou Invite, Lashway lead the team with a perfect record in singles play and a 2-3 mark in doubles action with Spearman, her current partner. She also went undefeated when a singles match was decided by a tiebreaker. Lashway continued on her early success at the ITA Central Regionals where she advanced to the round of 16 in singles play, collecting three more wins and her first singles loss of the season. Lashway’s singles record now stands at an impressive 6-1 total for the fall. On the court, Lashway has a tendency to be aggressive with her shots, especially with her serve. “[Brianna] has a big serve and she needs to trust in it more because it’s huge,” Spearman said. “It sets me up really good at the net, so it’s really fun for me because I really like to hit volleys.” On and off the courts, Lashway is known to be caring and close with her teammates, which the Tigers suggest makes their team stronger.
and it was Homecoming. For a school that claims to have started the tradition of Homecoming, you’d think we would have a respectable number of students attend the game. Then there was the Kentucky game. I don’t know if I’ve ever been more embarrassed to go to Mizzou. Where was everyone? I can almost guarantee you weren’t doing homework. What were you doing that was so important? Because I would love to be included in whatever everyone was doing. The student section for the Kentucky game is why people continue to question our move to the SEC. We have to start showing some pride for our school. If we don’t, who will? Just because our team isn’t very good doesn’t mean we should stop supporting them. The student athletes have their jobs to perform on the field, just like the student body has the job of being in the stands to support and cheer them on. We cannot just pick and choose which years to support them. We are in this together, for better or for worse. And right now, it is worse — which is when they need our support more than ever.
Lashway serves during practice. EMIL LIPPE | SEN. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER With her experience and determined attitude, Lashway serves as a strong team leader. “[Brianna] is a doer rather than a talker,” junior Clare Raley said. “There’s never a time when you’re questioning how hard she’s working, and that makes her really respectable.” After Colt Gaston started his head coaching career at Missouri, Lashway
has been seeing improvement in her performance. The Tigers plan on making the NCAA’s top 30 this year, but Lashway also has goals she is personally striving for. “I want to get ranked in both singles and doubles,” Lashway said. “I think that’s where I’m going to start right now for the season.” Edited by Anna Sirianni asirianni@themaneater.com
team — which has the 19th-fewest seniors in the nation. Missouri will need Odom’s captain system to Continued from page 14 supply more young leaders if the Tigers want to finish the season strong. Odom, 39, knows well that age does not define a leader. After Odom started at Missouri in the second half of his freshman season at linebacker, Jon Hoke, a former Missouri coach, made Odom talk during every practice. That experience not only made Odom a leader but also changed his approach on leadership skills, he said. “You can learn and you can do things, but you have to be put in position to go do it,” Odom said. Odom changed the captain system, which had been more standard under former coach Gary Pinkel. For the past 15 seasons, players voted on captains who then kept their slots for the entire season. With captainship no guarantee each week under Odom, it holds players more accountable, tight end Sean Culkin said. “I don’t think people really overthink it too much, but the guy who plays well off the field, works hard, shows progress … he should be rewarded as being a captain that week,” Culkin said. “It is cool to see guys who work so hard get rewarded for their efforts.” A byproduct of that accountability is the increased competition among players. It also creates consistency, which Pendleton said he enjoys. “It is not only doing the right things one day or the next day,” Pendleton said. “It is every single day.” Finding consistency became even more difficult when Scherer — one of the team’s most consistent players — went down. Scherer started for three seasons and registered 266 total tackles and 17 tackles for loss in his time at Missouri. He also typically communicated calls to the rest of the defense. “Usually, he was that calming person we could all rely on,” freshman linebacker Cale Garrett said. That’s where Odom’s captain system comes into play. Sixteen players have earned captainship recognition thus far, including Perkins, who went from a special teams contributor to a starting strong safety, showing leaders come in many forms. “It is important you have guys who prepare the right way, and they may not be the ‘name’ guys,” Odom said. “But the way that they approach each week — the way they prepare, practice — those are things we point out on a daily basis that are showing great leadership.” Edited by Peter Baugh pbaugh@themaneater.com