Vol84issue22

M THE MANEATER The student voice of MU since 1955

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Vol. 84, Issue 22

March 7, 2018

Forward Jordan Barnett defends a shot during the Showdown for Relief against the Kansas Jayhawks on Oct. 22, 2017. PHOTO BY ADAM COLE | SPORTS SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

I

GATEWAY GETAWAY

by Bennett Durando, Assistant Sports Editor

t’ll be a Gateway greeting for the Missouri Tigers come Thursday.

The men’s basketball team, formidable beyond all expectations after it lost a certain 6-foot-10-inch freshman two minutes into

PHOTO BY KAYLA LOVELACE | PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT

this season, has seemingly caught its stride at the right time. It will groove into St. Louis this weekend a winner of 20 games, 10 in the Southeastern Conference, having locked up the No. 5 seed in the 14-team SEC Tournament at the Scottrade Center.

PHOTO BY COURTNEY VILLMER | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

PHOTO BY BENNETT DURANDO | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Flipping the Narrative

Committee’s Choice

No J’den Cox, No Problem

Missouri’s gymnastics team has struggled to find consistency in competition all year, but it’s trying to turn an upset over No. 5 Florida last Friday into an indicator of brighter days to come. Read more on page 22.

All season, Missouri women’s basketball has had one target in mind: hosting in the NCAA Tournament. An early exit from the SEC Tournament may have put those hopes in jeopardy. Read more on page 19.

Missouri wrestling has a perfect record, its seventh straight MAC championship, seven individual conference title winners and nine NCAA qualifiers. There’s just one thing missing: an NCAA championship trophy. Read more on page 4.

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THE MANEATER | SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION | MARCH 7, 2018

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Breaking down the Bracketology: What Charlie Creme’s projections could spell for Mizzou come tournament time After a regular-seasonending loss and a brief appearance in the SEC Tournament, the Tigers have likely played themselves out of hosting in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

ADAM COLE

Staff Writer

At this past weekend’s SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, Missouri women’s basketball put its chances of hosting games in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this year on the fringe after losing to No. 18 Georgia, 55-41.

The No. 16 Tigers, who finished the regular season 24-7 and 11-5 in conference play, are currently projected as a No. 5 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament in the latest version of Charlie Creme’s Bracketology after losing in the SEC Tournament in the second round.

The projection puts the team in the Lexington, Kentucky, region, starting its tournament journey in Palo Alto, California, against projected No. 12 seed Gonzaga.

While no longer a top-15 team and currently projected just outside of a top-16 seeding in the NCAA Tournament, it’s worth asking: Where will this team end up come selection Monday? And if they land a top-16 seed, what case was made?

Landing a No. 4 Seed The possibility of Mizzou landing a seed that allows it to host is uncertain. After capping the regular season with a loss to No. 17 Texas A&M and ending SEC Tournament

play with their second loss to Georgia this season, the Tigers’ momentum isn’t as hot as it was earlier this season.

However, the case for Missouri as a top-16 seed isn’t illogical. The Tigers finished the regular season with better winning percentages than three of the four currently projected No. 4 seeds. Stanford, Texas A&M and the North Carolina State Wolfpack all finished with worse records than the Tigers, and UGA and the Wolfpack currently sit lower in the AP Poll than Missouri.

Granted, this is all hypothetical.

And while hypotheticals can be fun to deal with, they’re just that. Factors like quality wins, RPI, opponent winning percentage and opponents’ opponent winning percentage — yes, opponents’ opponent winning percentage — will all be factors come March 12. So for now, it’s much simpler to look at the smaller picture.

Palo Alto Creme’s current projection has the Tigers sitting as the No. 5 seed in Northern California, pitted against a projected No. 12 seed Gonzaga in the first round of play.

The Bulldogs finished the regular season at 26-5 with just one conference loss. While the numbers are nice, the Zags didn’t have much in the way of tough opponents during the season.

Their best opponent, No. 23 Belmont, beat them 71-63 in November. As far as other potential opponents in that projection, No. 4 Stanford or No. 13 UC Davis are projected opponents for the second round.

College Station If seeded at No. 5 in College

Junior forward Sophie Cunningham goes up for a layup against Mississippi State. PHOTO BY COURTNEY VILLMER | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Station, Creme would have Mizzou taking on Belmont, which is currently slotted in the No. 12 seed.

The Bruins are at 57 in RPI after a 31-3 regular-season finish. Belmont’s three regular-season losses came at the hands of Oklahoma, Stanford and Wright State.

Guard Jordan Roundtree looks to pass during a game against Mississippi State on Feb. 1, 2018. PHOTO BY COURTNEY VILLMER | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Tigers are projected to face No. 13 South Dakota or No. 4 Texas A&M if they make it to the second round.

Texas A&M beat the Tigers 82-63 in their one meeting this season.

Raleigh In Raleigh, Creme’s projection would pit Mizzou against Mercer, a team that’s ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll. Mercer finished the regular season with only two losses, both to opponents Mizzou has lost to this season: Georgia and Western Kentucky.

From there, the Tigers would play either Drexel or the hosting team, North Carolina State. The Wolfpack are ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll and are 17th in RPI. Athens The final No. 5 seed projection would land Mizzou a first-round game against Princeton, a team that finished the regular season at 22-5, losing to its only ranked opponent, Villanova.

A win in the first round in Athens would set up a matchup with American or another rematch with Georgia, a team that’s beaten Mizzou twice this season.

With nothing certain at this point, it’s hard to tell what will come of Mizzou’s potential seeding in the NCAA Tournament, but the plethora of situations shows that this year’s tournament could be a tough road for the Tigers.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

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THE MANEATER | SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION | MARCH 7, 2018 WRESTLING

Missouri wrestling continues dominance with seven conference titles, individual conference titles The seven individual titles broke the team’s 2016-17 record of six.

HANNAH HOFFMEISTER

Staff Writer

After last weekend, one thing is clear: Seven is Missouri wrestling’s magic number.

The team won its seventh straight conference championship Monday with seven individual titles in the 2018 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships. Six of those tournament championships have been in the MAC, where the Tigers have competed since leaving the Big 12 after the 2011-12 season.

“When I got to Missouri 20 years ago, we had never won a conference championship, but now it’s an expected thing,” head coach Brian Smith said in a phone interview after the championships. “That’s real pleasing.”

After a season without a loss, the team dominated competition on both days of the tournament. Of the seven athletes going to the championships, 11 of their combined 14 matches on Saturday were bonus point victories, including two technical falls from redshirt senior Willie Miklus. Smith commended the team’s aggressiveness, specifically in the championship round.

The team toppled its own record of six individual MAC champions with seven this year. Redshirt junior Daniel Lewis and Miklus both won their championships by techfalls in the first period, and redshirt sophomore Jaydin Eierman won his with a 24-9 tech-fall.

The only Missouri wrestler to finish with a perfect overall record this season, Lewis won his third career MAC Championship at 174 pounds after moving up a weight class this year. Lewis wrestled three times this weekend, securing nothing but bonus-point victories: a fall, a tech-fall and another fall on Sunday. He joked after his match about competing with Eierman for the most falls. Going into the MACs, Eierman had 12 falls, and Lewis led the team with 14.

149-pound redshirt junior Grant Leeth won his first MAC Championship in his first season in the conference.

Freshman Dack Punke, right, wrestles senior Barlow McGhee in a practice at the Student Center on Oct. 19, 2017.

PHOTO BY ADAM COLE | SPORTS SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Leeth wrestled at Duke before being sidelined by injuries for two seasons, reminiscent by a neck brace that has its own Twitter page.

“I guess somebody just took a liking to it and thought it’d be funny to make a neck brace account,” Leeth said Feb. 27. He said that he knows the owner of the account but wants to keep it private.

In his first season in the MAC, Leeth went 6-0 and finished with a 16-0 record in duals and a 19-2 record overall. He said before the MAC Tournament that he can’t stop thinking about the NCAA Championships, which start March 15 in Cleveland.

In addition to Leeth, six more Tigers won their weight classes: Miklus, Lewis, Eierman, redshirt junior John Erneste, redshirt senior Joey Lavallee and redshirt sophomore Connor Flynn.

“It’s competitive, and they let the other teams know that now we’re the new standard,” Smith said.

It seemed almost that Missouri’s biggest

competition was its own record book this weekend.

As a whole, the team beat its own record for team points in the conference tournament with 177 after setting a record in the 2017 MAC tournament with 154.5.

“That was the thing I saw in this tournament: We were scoring a lot of points,” Smith said. “That’s what does well at the national tournament — guys not just trying to win, but guys going after it.”

The seven champions never lost a match in MAC duals this season, so nationals will provide a true test of competition.

“We’re hopeful that we can get some national champions,” Smith said. “We have opportunities for that, putting a lot of guys on the podium. And then of course, as a team, our goal is to win a team trophy.”

This is only Smith’s second undefeated season in his 20 seasons with Mizzou — but it is also the second time in the past three seasons that the Missouri wrestling team has gone undefeated.

“I would love nothing more than to be the first national championship team for [Mizzou], and I definitely think we have that capability

as

long

as

everybody

performs,” Leeth said.

Edited by Bennett Durando

bdurando@themaneater.com

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THE MANEATER | SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION | MARCH 7, 2018

WRESTLING

‘Next guy up’ mentality fuels Missouri wrestling past Cox era to perfect season The Tigers qualified nine wrestlers to compete at this month’s NCAA championships in Cleveland.

BENNETT DURANDO

Assistant Sports Editor

This was going to be the year without J’den Cox. There was no avoiding it, no running from it. A few months removed from the Olympic medalist’s last rodeo at Missouri, head coach Brian Smith could only help his Missouri wrestling team shake that narrative by preaching the same trait as usual.

He knew he was preaching to the choir.

“Like coach says: consistency,” senior Joey Lavallee said.

“Coach Smith preaches to us being consistent at stuff … doing the same thing over and over again. We just know we’ve gotta be consistent.”

It seems to have worked.

In a season that was supposed to be defined by struggle in Cox’s absence, Missouri has responded far more consistently with its reputation for success than thought to be possible. The result?

19-0, and now, a seventh straight Mid-American Conference championship.

That zero in the losses column especially jumps off the page. It’s something the Tigers achieved only once during the Cox era.

“What was going to be the identity of this team?”

Smith recalled himself and the wrestlers thinking at the beginning of the season regarding Cox’s absence.

“There was an identity thing.”

So how did this happen?

“You see the next guys up,” Smith said as the trace of a smile emerged. “I think with this program, they look up at those walls and see what’s happened over the years, and they want to be the next guy.

That’s the way they train. I think that’s what’s happening now with the culture of our program.”

This season’s team has been an entire roster of next guys up. Take Jaydin Eierman, a promising redshirt sophomore who has risen to the occasion at a spot early in the lineup. He went 16-0 in duals at the 141-pound

weight class and is one of Missouri’s seven individual MAC champions. Not bad for the “New J’den.”

“Jaydin is an anomaly,” redshirt junior Grant Leeth said. “There’s no one in the country who can give you that feel except him. He’s a freaking beast. That dude pins people out of nowhere.

I could turn my back and his match is over and I’m up.”

After Eierman, Leeth is indeed the next guy up, and he’s been another one of Smith’s next guys up all season. At 149 pounds, he’s also dual-unbeaten, a 16-0 MAC champ. A few months ago, he didn’t think that was even a possibility.

“I probably shouldn't admit that,” he joked, but he has good reason to be surprised.

This season was three years in the making, the junior’s first as an able competitor after being redshirted then injured twice.

“At a tournament last summer, I got my butt kicked,” Leeth said. “And I was like, oh man, this is going to be a long season.”

Instead, he has far exceeded expectations against one of the toughest individual schedules in the country. Next guy up?

That would be Lavallee, a 157-pound redshirt senior whose dominance last year was eclipsed by Cox’s latest national championship.

Lavallee was the national runner-up at his own weight class, a heartbreak he’s more than ready to bury in his final season.

“My younger self, I’d get very angry,” he said.

“Someone pokes my eye, I’d want to go rip their head off.

Now, I just laugh it off. Just brush it off, keep wrestling, keep doing what I do best.”

Part of that mentality, he said, is just about lightheartedness and even joking around with teammates right before a match.

“We all have our own rituals,” Lavallee said. “[Mine is] listening to gospel music right before my matches. It helps me keep loose.”

It’s worked more miracles for him this year, as he heads into the NCAA championships a MAC title winner already, with a 17-0 dual record.

Between Eierman, Leeth and Lavallee, those three consecutive weight classes — 141, 149 and 157 — have produced a combined 49-0

The scene at Mizzou Softball Stadium as Missouri wrestling battled Illinois in its season opener on Nov. 4, 2017.

PHOTO BY BENNETT DURANDO | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

record for Missouri this season.

“That’s a pretty mean 3-4-5 guy punch,” Leeth said.

And it’s not even the team’s only source of dominance.

Redshirt junior Daniel Lewis had to endure being bumped up a weight class from 165 to 174 ahead of the season and is now one of four wrestlers in the Missouri lineup to have finished the regular season undefeated. He’s now a backto-back MAC champion as well.

“I know it’s going to set my national tournament up nicely,” Lewis said. “It’s going to put me in probably a higher seed than I’ve seen before, which is important for getting the right matchups to make it all the way through.”

And how about Willie Miklus? Another redshirt senior leader, he faced the tallest task of anyone for Missouri: filling Cox’s weight class.

“He was holding my weight,” Miklus said. “I’m not taking over his weight.”

Those next men up have kept Missouri unbeaten and brought the team a record seven individual conference titles. But that’s never been the light at the end of the tunnel for any of them.

“I've been watching the national tournament since I was like 8 or 9 years old,” Leeth said. “Sat out the past three years watching it. Now that I know I’m finally going to get that chance, I just cannot stop thinking about it. I have dreams about it.”

After 125-pounder Barlow McGhee and 184pound Canten Marriott, both considered to be on the bubble, were narrowly granted at-large bids to

the NCAA championships on Monday, the Tigers are sending wrestlers at nine of the 10 weight classes to Cleveland. For the No. 3 team in the country, aspirations of a first-ever team national championship have never seemed more real.

“I’ve got thousands of notes,” Smith said. “We’re going to have these guys ready for each round of each tournament. You gotta go through five rounds; that’s just battling. If you focus just on what your guys can do, then you can have a lot of success.”

That national tournament, set for March 15-17 in Cleveland, is all that’s on most of the Tigers’ minds.

“It’s like Christmas; it’s a

great time of year,” Miklus said.

Lewis said, “We shine at the end because we smell blood.”

But no one embodies that hunger to finally reach the promised land of collegiate wrestling than the man who’s been at the top for 20 years, a man who doesn’t even keep his seven MAC title rings out to see, electing to keep them in a bag under his sink instead.

“After [Smith] won a few of those, the focus shifted,” Lewis said. “He wants the bigger thing, the better thing.

When we get a national ring, I don’t think it’ll end up underneath his sink.”

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

THE MANEATER | SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION | MARCH 7, 2018

5

DIVING

Missouri diving will take center stage at high-stakes NCAA qualifier The Mizzou men’s and women’s diving teams have only one chance to qualify for the NCAA championships later this month.

ALEX GELABERT

Staff Writer

With the Missouri swimmers completing their final meet of the season last weekend, it is time for the Missouri divers to take over the spotlight at this week’s NCAA Zone D Championships.

In meets throughout the regular season at Mizzou Aquatic Center, it was commonplace to find the majority of spectators’ attention focused on the swimming pools, with an occasional glance at the adjacent diving well.

Diving events such as the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions occur throughout meets, most times coming to an anti-climactic finish as the swimming events forge ahead.

In Minneapolis, though, attention will be on the springboards and diving platforms at the NCAA diving qualifier.

This is the meet that determines which divers from Division I schools across the country will join the swimmers at the NCAA

An MU diver tucks his knees in during a competition. PHOTO COURTESY OF MIZZOU ATHLETICS Championships in Columbus, Ohio, for the women, or Minneapolis for the men.

Despite the big stage, Missouri head diving coach James Sweeney measures success for his divers in their output of effort.

“We’re not a team that gets hyperfocused on outcomes,” Sweeney said.

“We put all of our focus into the beauty of nice performances, one dive at a time until there are no more dives left. Then we’ll go see where we stacked up against everyone else.”

This philosophy has instilled a calmness in the Mizzou divers under pressure—something that’s important, considering the stakes will be higher than they have been at any point this season.

Sweeney described the immense pressure his divers will face this week and have faced in competition already this season.

“The sport of diving is all about development,” Sweeney said. “It’s about the most unnatural thing for a human being to go 33 feet up in the air, run down a platform, throw their body off the end, do three and a half flips and try to go straight in.”

Senior Madeline McKernan hopes to use her experience and years of development to her advantage and treat this final meet the same way she would treat any other competition on the schedule.

“Honestly the biggest thing about this meet is just doing it the same way we’ve done everything throughout the year, because you don’t want to change or make a bigger deal out of it,” McKernan said. “If you treat it like another meet, it’ll be like every other meet.”

McKernan seems to be peaking at the right time, most recently placing third overall in the platform competition at the Southeastern

dive | Page 6

TRACK AND FIELD

NCAA indoor championships to feature Tigers in distance running, long jump Schweizer has plenty of experience at NCAA championship events, while Ward will make his first appearance at indoor nationals.

OWEN KRUCOFF

Staff Writer

Karissa Schweizer and Ja’Mari Ward have established themselves as Missouri’s best ever in their respective events this indoor track and field season. From March 9-10 in College Station, Texas, they will have the chance to prove themselves on the national stage at the NCAA championships.

For Schweizer, 2018 has been yet another chapter in her highly decorated track and field and crosscountry career. The senior broke program records in all three distance running events: the mile, 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters.

Despite running the second-fastest mile in the country in the regular season and running a split that would have broken the NCAA record in the distance as part of the distance medley relay at the Southeastern Conference championships, Schweizer will not compete in the race at nationals. This is in order to save her energy and focus on the 3,000 meter and 5,000 meter runs.

“After [breaking the school record

Karissa Schweizer, right, strides past an opposing runner at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, on Nov. 18, 2017. PHOTO BY ANDY KIMBALL | STAFF WRITER in the mile,] I’ve been pretty content with not running the mile at NCAAs, just knowing it would be a lot on my body to run the mile [in addition to my other races],” Schweizer said.

Schweizer holds the top times in the country this year in both races, including the NCAA record

in the 3,000, making her a favorite to add to her haul of three national championships across track and field and cross country.

Schweizer tasted disappointment in the 3,000 at last year’s NCAA championships, finishing second to University of Colorado then-

sophomore Dani Jones by 0.13 seconds, the second-slimmest national championship margin in the event’s history.

“I think from last year to this

NCAA | Page 6

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THE MANEATER | SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION | MARCH 7, 2018

DIVE

Continued from page 5

Conference Championships.

The Texas native also hopes to lean on the support of the Mizzou women swimmers who have the week off from competition while she is vying for an NCAA bid.

NCAA

Continued from page 5

year I’m a totally different runner,” Schweizer said. “[At last year’s NCAA championship], I took the lead in the 3,000, and I wasn’t comfortable with that, and I think at this point I’ve been taking the lead in a lot of my races.”

Jones did not qualify to defend her title in the race this year after finishing 19th in the country in the race in the regular season. Only runners with top-16 times or scores in each individual event receive NCAA championship berths.

Schweizer rebounded in a big way from last season’s disappointment, improving her time by about 28 seconds to break the collegiate record on Feb. 3 before winning the SEC championship, her second straight,

“When I’m gone at Zones, I’ll probably get texts from multiple of [the women swimmers] cheering me on or telling me good job,” McKernan said. “[The women divers] are really close with the swimmers, which makes NCAAs so much more fun because we are one team.”

Junior diver Kyle Goodwin will lead the charge for the Mizzou men in Minneapolis this weekend.

Goodwin sees value in being rested

going into the most important diving meet of the year.

“The only major difference is that I’m getting a little bit more rest in right now,” Goodwin said. “I’m backing off of weights and putting more emphasis on executing when the time comes, rather than putting a lot of repetition in.”

Goodwin has statistically been the most consistent male diver for Mizzou, being the only man to

win a competition for the Tigers this season. Goodwin’s most recent result was a sixth place finish in the 1-meter competition at the SEC Championships.

Goodwin, McKernan and the Mizzou diving squads will compete March 5-7 in Minneapolis for a chance at qualifying for the NCAA Championships later this month.

Edited by Bennett Durando bdurando@themaneater.com

on Feb. 24. Schweizer’s recordbreaking time of 8:41.60 on Feb. 3 is more than 14 seconds better than the next-fastest time in the country this season, held by University of New Hampshire senior Elinor Purrier.

While Schweizer has been peerless in the 3,000 this season, she faces a stiff challenge in the defense of her 2017 5,000-meter title from University of New Mexico sophomore Ednah Kurgat. Schweizer edged Kurgat by less than two seconds to win the 5,000 in 15:17.31 at a meet in Boston in early December, and their two times have stood as the best in the country all season by more than 17 seconds.

Schweizer and Kurgat’s times were the fifth and sixth fastest, respectively, in NCAA history, but Missouri distance and mid-distance running assistant coach Marc Burns told the Columbia Daily Tribune last month that it may take a recordbreaking performance for Schweizer

to defeat Kurgat for a second time.

The current NCAA record of 15:12.22 was set in 2015 by Providence College’s Emily Sisson.

Schweizer will attempt to become the fifth woman to win national championships in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters in the same year.

Ward exploded onto the collegiate track and field scene as a freshman in 2017, winning the SEC and PanAmerican Junior titles in the outdoor long jump after redshirting the indoor season. He faltered in his first ever indoor long jump appearance in January 2018, though, fouling all three of his attempts at the Columbia Challenge in New York City. “[The Columbia Challenge result] was me trying to figure everything out myself instead of listening to what my coach was saying,” Ward said. “Since then, I just do what he says, and let him change up things that I’m trying to do on my own.”

Ward recovered to jump 7.71

meters at the Tyson Invitational on Feb.10 before breaking the school record with a 7.97-meter jump at the Missouri Collegiate Challenge on Feb. 16. After a fifth-place finish at the SEC championships in which he avoided fouling on any of his attempts for the first time this season, Ward finished the regular season tied for fifth nationally in the event.

Ohio State University senior Zack Bazile is the national leader by a 10th of a meter, having jumped 8.13 meters on Feb. 9. Ward is only the second Tiger to qualify for the event since 1978.

The long jump is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on March 9, with Schweizer’s 5,000-meter race following at 8:25.

The women’s 3,000 is set for March 10 at 6:25 p.m.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

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THE MANEATER MARCH 7, 2018 • THEMANEATER.COM

Mizzou ‘39 honorees wait during the award’s reveal ceremony. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MIZZOU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION VIA FLICKR

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Mizzou ‘39 recipients revealed, Mizzou 18 introduced The students were chosen out of more than 150 applicants for displaying academic achievement and leadership qualities.

STEPHI SMITH

University News Editor

The Mizzou Alumni Association honored 39 graduating seniors as recipients of the Mizzou ‘39 Award on Feb. 27. The award is given each year to a group of students who display “academic achievement, leadership and service to Mizzou and the community,” according to

the association’s website.

The recipients are chosen after applying and entering two separate rounds of interviews. Julia Davis, program assistant at the Reynolds Alumni Center, said that there were over 150 applicants.

Throughout the application process there were as many as

15 judges who were chosen as campus representatives who have “a lot of wisdom as far as talent and diversity and service to the university,” Davis said.

“The judges made it a point to tell me how awesome it was to hear

‘39 | Page 10

MSA ELECTIONS

MSA BRIEFING

BEC temporarily suspends MSA campaigning due to controversial tweets

The Briefing: Jacobs and Thomas drop out of MSA presidential race

Candidates Caius Gillen, Claire Jacobs and Blaine Thomas have each tweeted derogatory terms in the past.

SKYLER ROSSI

Student Politics Editor Controversial tweets surfaced Monday night from the Twitter accounts of sexist and homophobic terms used in past tweets

by Caius Gillen, vice presidential candidate of the “More to Roar” campaign, Claire Jacobs, former presidential candidate of the “It’s About Time” campaign, and Blaine Thomas, former

presidential candidate of the “Fight Forward” campaign.

Due to content in the tweets by candidates from each MSA presidential platform, BEC chairman Joseph Sell suspended campaigning Tuesday, March 6.

MSA senate released a statement Tuesday night disapproving of the contents of the surfaced tweets.

“MSA is deeply troubled by the tweets made by members of the 2018 slates for MSA President and Vice President,” according to the statement.

The statement urges students to raise concerns with BEC and attend the A screenshot of a 2012 tweet, allegedly showing a high school-age Blaine

BEC | Page 10

Thomas, former MSA presidential candidate, flipping off the camera in front of Confederate flag-related Lynyrd Skynyrd merchandise. PHOTO COURTESY OF BRETT STOVER VIA TWITTER

The vice presidential candidates from each slate can still run for the presidency.

SKYLER ROSSI AND MORGAN SMITH

News Editors

After controversial tweets from MSA candidates surfaced on Twitter on March 5, Claire Jacobs of the “It’s About Time” campaign and Blaine Thomas of the “Fight Forward” campaign have dropped out of the race for MSA president.

BEC chairman Joseph Sell said that although the presidential candidates have dropped from these slates, the slates can still run

MSA | Page 10

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T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | M A R C H 7, 2018

TRUE/FALSE

True/False Film Fests’ March March: a photo gallery

THE MANEATER The Student Voice of MU since 1955

Vol. 84, Issue 22 G210 Student Center • Columbia, MO 65211 573.882.5500 (phone) • 573.882.5550 (fax) editors@themaneater.com www.themaneater.com

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“I will suck on the toes.”

Reporters for The Maneater are required to offer verification of all quotes for each source. If you notice an inaccuracy in one of our stories, please contact us via phone or email.

Editor-in-Chief Victoria Cheyne Production Coordinator Cassie Allen Copy Chiefs Sam Nelson David Reynolds Anna Sirianni Online Development Editor Michael Smith Jr. News Editors Skyler Rossi Morgan Smith Stephi Smith Sports Editor Joe Noser

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Top: Honors College academic adviser Kristina Bradley smiles during March March on March 2, 2018. Bradley volunteered as a Q Queen during the weekend, organizing queues of people. PHOTO BY JACOB MOSCOVITCH | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Bottom: Bands walk throughout downtown Columbia, livening up the spirit of the march and giving marchers tunes to dance to.

PHOTO BY EMMALEE REED | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Right: A spectator watches March March on March 2, 2018. The procession started at the Boone County Courthouse and ended at the corner of Ninth and Elm streets. PHOTO

BY JACOB MOSCOVITCH | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Above: A marchgoer shows off her bright, eclectic style. Participants in the March March are encouraged to wear vibrant colors and quirky fashions.

PHOTO BY EMMALEE REED | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

NEWS

MSA Elections: Keep up with MSA election coverage at themaneater.com and @themaneater on Twitter.

9

THREAT TRAINING

MU offers training, protocol for active shooter situation The university provides two options for Citizens’ Response to Active Threats training, one of which is up to two hours and the other up to four.

STEPHI SMITH

University News Editor Following the fatal shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, MU has taken steps to inform students of proper methods to take in the event of an active shooter.

The Office of the Chancellor sent out an email Feb. 20 reminding students and staff of proper protocol and resources to prepare for an active shooter situation.

“This most recent incident reminds all of us to be vigilant and prepared for the unthinkable,” according to the email.

The email provided a link for an “active shooter response tip sheet” made by the Department of Homeland Security. The tip sheet is a broad version of ALICE training, in which students are advised to first run and hide before, if necessary, attempting to fight the attacker.

MUPD Maj. Brian Weimer said the university adopts the same protocol as the DHS. The email also linked to a video made in 2016 called “Surviving an Active Shooter.”

Weimer said it is neither MUPD’s nor the university’s responsibility to tell students exactly what to do. However, he said there are ways to prepare and use individual experience and instinct

to respond. He also said it is university policy to tell students to stay out of harm’s way and to keep or get away from a possibly dangerous situation.

MUPD uses MU Alert, a messaging system aimed to keep students informed in cases of emergencies and potential threats to safety. Alerts are sent through text and email, as well as posted on the MU Alert Twitter account and website.

Weimer advises students to remain updated through MU Alert when necessary to know the status of the university and be more able to make an informed decision in an emergency.

For example, Weimer said, if a student is in their dorm room and sees there are reports of an armed person nearby, they might make the decision to stay inside.

Junior Colin Macgregor said he thinks the MU Alert system is flawed. In October, students were alerted through the system that there was a potential armed person on campus and were advised to stay away from campus.

Macgregor said there were not enough messages sent out to students and there was a lot of communication through social media. The MU Alert Twitter account sent out 11 tweets that day, starting off with informing students about reports of an “active threat near Hitt St/Locust St.” He said social media can be a useful tool for keeping people updated, but he would have rather seen more information sent out through texts so that more students could be informed of the situation.

“Texts are a broader form of

PHOTO BY CASSIE ALLEN | PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

TRAIN | Page 11

BUDGET PROPOSAL

STUDENT LOANS

Student groups advocate for higher education despite budget proposal

GPC offers opportunity to share student loan stories with state senators

Amidst an uncertain future for higher education funding and recent faculty eliminations, ASUM and MU Socialists host events in hopes of finding more state funding for Missouri’s public universities.

By having students share their stories, GPC hopes to spread awareness about student loans.

REGAN MERTZ

Reporter

These proposed cuts come with a fear of additional faculty and staff cuts after the UM System cut 474

The Graduate Professional Council ran a booth in the MU Student Center on March 1 that allowed students to call Missouri senators regarding student loans.

Student loans are not subsidized, which means they accrue interest while the student is in school. Mike Hendricks, GPC director of state affairs, said graduate student loans also have higher interest rates than undergraduate student loans.

“The government is making most of its

ASUM | Page 11

LOAN | Page 11

NATASHA VYHOVSKY

Reporter

Millions in proposed cuts to higher education have Missouri’s students and community members worried about layoffs, program closures and tuition hikes. With just over two months left in the general session, groups like the Associated Students of the University of Missouri and Stop the

The Associated Students of the University of Missouri Board of Directors, which hosted a panel March 1, 2018, to discuss Gov. Eric Greitens’ proposed budget cuts to higher education. PHOTO COURTESY OF ASUM

Cuts Coalition are holding events in hopes of informing and rallying the public and subsequently their legislators to advocate for funding.

Effects on the university

10

‘39

continued from page 7 from every single interviewee they encountered,” Davis said. “But I would imagine that’s probably true of other classes, as well.”

Davis said that being chosen as a Mizzou ‘39 recipient is considered an honor and a way for seniors to be recognized before they graduate.

Another major component of the award is the students all choose a mentor, some faculty or staff member that

T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | M A R C H 7, 2018 has helped and shaped them during their years in college.

Davis said the mentors are chosen as a way for the recipients to appreciate their professors’ help.

“We could recognize so many students for doing amazing things because we have mentors who work behind the scenes on a daily basis and advise these students and stay late for these students,” Davis said.

“And this kind of gives them a way to say, ‘Thank you.

Now I’m ready to move on to the next chapter of my life.”

Psychology and sociology major Lindsay Smith was chosen as one of the Mizzou

‘39 recipients. Smith chose Dr. Laura Scherer as her mentor and has worked in her psychology lab for two years.

Smith said she was shocked because she had not expected to be considered one of the most distinguished students in her class.

“I didn’t think that it was real,” Smith said.

She said that being part of Mizzou ‘39 will allow her to better connect and network in years to come.

She also said that it’s more than just something to add to a resume.

“I didn’t just throw all this stuff on my resume because

it was fun for me; I did it because I wanted to impact people on campus, hopefully in a positive way, and I think that the committees recognized that,” she said.

In addition to the 39 undergraduate students, the Mizzou Alumni Association also chose to honor 18 graduate and professional students as part of a new program called Mizzou 18.

Davis said these applicants went through a similar process and were chosen for exemplifying “worldclass research, collaborating with faculty and staff and demonstrating leadership to undergraduate students.”

“[The Mizzou Alumni Association is] excited to see how continuing to have Mizzou 18, along with Mizzou ‘39, can play out in the future,” Davis said. “We like the idea of them being very tied to one another, but we also like them being recognized separately because they both deserve such recognition. It will be interesting to see where that goes in the future.”

The Mizzou 18 recipients were revealed the day before the Mizzou ‘39.

Edited by Morgan Smith mosmith@themaneater.com

BEC

attention of his previous tweets.

“I deeply apologize for continued from page 7 my offensive comments,” open forum at full senate he wrote in the statement.

“These do not reflect my Wednesday evening.

Gillen tweeted sexist views or the views of More comments in 2016, calling to Roar. I hope to re-gain women “thots” and claiming your trust and prove I’m they are “trying to get put on.”

He tweeted a controversial committed to creating an comment regarding race in inclusive environment on 2016 as well. campus.”

“About to watch a black On Tuesday morning, man swim for the first Gillen released a full apology time,” Gillen tweeted in He further January 2016. “College is statement. truly the best place for new explained that his tweets do experiences.” not reflect the attitudes of Jacobs tweeted racial slurs “More to Roar.” and racist comments more “My statements about than once in 2012 and 2013. “whenever I go to the rta i women from two years ago put my money in yet no ticket were inexcusable,” Gillen comes out, causing me to hop wrote in the statement. “...My the fence and get yelled at statements about a black male by incompetent black men,” swimming from two years Jacobs tweeted in November ago are also inexcusable.”

2014.

The apology statement Thomas tweeted derogatory, homophobic also included a quote from comments in 2012 and 2013, Jonathan “Jay” Abraham, the repeatedly tweeting the student his tweet referred words “fag” and “gay” at a to. His comment stated that tagged user. He also tweeted several racist comments in Gillen had offered to teach him how to swim.

2013.

“Japanese pitchers “I include this statement shouldn’t be allowed they are not to make excuses for on that’s weird ass oriental my remarks, as there is herbal shit,” Thomas tweeted.

Thomas also retweeted a no suitable excuse for photo of what appears to perpetuating negative racial be him sitting in front of stereotypes, but to provide Confederate flag-themed greater context to the tweet,” Lynyrd Skynyrd merchandise. the statement said.

Jacobs and Thomas did These tweets were found not respond to comment requests. Jacobs has deleted by Brett Stover, KCOU news her personal Twitter account, and sports online content and Thomas has made his editor, and KCOU news personal account private. reporter Cassie Florido on Gillen released an initial apology statement on his Monday night.

Edited by Stephi Smith personal Twitter account immediately following the ssmith@themaneater.com

MSA continued from page 7

with the vice presidential candidates stepping up as the presidential candidate of the platform.

This means that if they choose to stay in the campaign, Thomas Cater will lead the “It’s About Time” campaign in place of Jacobs, and Chad Johnson will lead the “Fight Forward” campaign in place of Blaine Thomas.

The two would run as

Top: A screenshot of a 2014 tweet in which former MSA presidential candidate Claire Jacobs references “incompetent black men.”

Bottom: A screenshot of a 2016 tweet in which MSA vice presidential candidate Caius Gillen calls women who turn off read receipts on texts THOTs. THOT stands for “That Hoe Over There.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRETT STOVER VIA TWITTER

single-ticket candidates, leaving Julia Wopata and Caius Gillen of the “More to Roar” campaign as the sole complete slate.

Sell said that should either of the single ticket campaigns get elected, they would appoint a vice president to be approved by the MSA

Operations Committee and then the senate. “[MSA Operations Committee] handles any bylaw changes, things of that nature, and they would confirm different positions within the organization,” Sell said.

Thomas and Jacobs

tweeted on their respective campaign Twitter accounts that a full statement will be

released

sometime

Wednesday, March 7.

Edited by Sam Nelson snelson@themaneater.com

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T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | MARCH 7, 2018

TRAIN

Continued from page 9 communication,” Macgregor said.

“They’re instantaneous and most, if not all, students have some kind of device that can receive a notification from a text immediately.”

ASUM Continued from page 9

positions last year in response to the state’s budget cuts and withholdings.

MU notified a number of nontenure faculty members Feb. 28 that they would not get contract renewals in an effort to account for Gov. Greitens’ proposed higher education budget cuts of approximately $98 million for the 2019 fiscal year, as well as uncertainty regarding enrollment.

The deans of each department have been told to plan for certain levels of cuts in response; some suggested faculty contract non-renewals, said Christian Basi, director of the MU News Bureau. The departments suggested eliminations based on demand for classes and the amount of sections that they currently have, and the number of faculty affected is different for each department. Basi said the total numbers and positions are not yet available.

Basi said decreasing class sizes since many non-tenure faculty were hired have led to a decline in revenue, but also a decline in demand.

“We still have the workload for the demand that’s here,” Basi said. “Who is being affected is basically teachers that we have that are basically in excess of what we currently need.”

Basi does not know if there are any classes that will stop being offered altogether, as that decision would take place at each department. Based on these eliminations, Basi said no programs or majors are currently slated to be cut.

Basi said it is possible that if the budget picture looks better once it is finalized or if enrollment is sufficient, some faculty members could get new contracts issued.

ASUM meeting To discuss the current budget picture and the process, the

LOAN Continued from page 9

student loan profits off of graduate and professional students,” Hendricks said. “Graduate and professional students have higher interest rates on their loans and are not subsidized.

Graduate students are only 13 percent of the borrowing population while the government receives 77 percent of its student loan profits from graduate and professional students. GPC and [the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students] have been working on several initiatives to equalize the undergraduate loans with graduate and professional student loans.”

Rachel Owen, GPC director of national affairs, said there were two things GPC was trying to accomplish by having students call Missouri senators: spread awareness and empower students.

Weimer also said he advises students to take advantage of MUPD’s Citizens’ Response to Active Threats training. The course is based on the ALICE program and takes a “comprehensive approach to dealing with active shooter/violent intruder incidents that may occur in the workplace, school, or public settings,” according to MU’s website.

The training class is offered in two

formats: as classroom-only that lasts up to two hours or with a “handson practical block” that is up to four hours. Students can sign up for the class through the university’s website.

Staff, faculty and graduate students of the MU English department were offered a training program through MUPD on Feb. 20.

“Students will learn how to react and

Associated Students of the University of Missouri held an informational meeting and panel Thursday night in Memorial Union. The conversation centered around ways to advocate for more funding at the state level, like pushing higher taxes and advocating for more affordability at the system level, like with open-access textbooks and tuition rates.

Lindsey Baker, outreach and policy specialist with the Missouri Budget Project, explained all the sources of state funding, the history of Missouri’s budget and the process for passing a budget. Grace Atkins, outreach and open education specialist for MU Libraries, also presented about textbook affordability. After presentations, the meeting turned over to a Q&A format, with Baker, Atkins and ASUM Executive Director Steven Chaffin as panelists.

In Missouri, Baker said the budget ends up looking pretty similar to what the governor proposes, with about 90 percent of sections remaining the same. However, she said that does not mean that there isn’t time to have input on that process.

“There’s a few things in the budget that do change from the governor’s proposal, and it looks like this year higher education might be one of those things, because many of the legislators do not want to continue the cuts to higher education that have happened over the past several years,” Baker said.

Baker said while it’s not realistic for someone who is concerned about the budget to know every piece of legislation and to understand tax policy and all the loopholes, he or she can talk about the impact on the university and share a personal story.

“That’s really powerful for legislators,” Baker said. “If you have a specific story about how college affordability has changed, about someone you know who’s had to leave school — I don’t know what

the story is, but if you can share that, either with a legislator or with an advocacy group … I think that’s one thing students can do that would be really powerful.”

Senate Bill 912, which is in the session right now, would cap tuition at ten percent above the rate of inflation in order to prevent schools from hiking tuition too much. Andrew Goewert, vice president of education for ASUM, said ASUM supports a raise in MU tuition in order to provide equal or adequate services for students.

“Mostly because with possible budget cuts coming, we still want to be able to provide equal services at the university,” Goewert said.

Last year, MU increased tuition by 2.1 percent. Basi said no decision involving tuition hikes for next year has been made yet.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into that, and right now that picture isn’t clear enough yet for us to submit a request,“ Basi said.

Goewert, who interned and received reduced housing rates in Washington, D.C., through the Civil Leaders Internship Program in the MU Office of Service-Learning, said that with the way the higher education budget cuts currently look, he’s concerned about the prospect of the university’s ability to fund similar opportunities.

“I’m afraid of that being cut as an alumni of that program,” Goewert said. “As a student, having these opportunities possibly go away is really scary to me. That, and also cutting possible faculty is a huge concern for me as a student.”

Stop the Cuts Coalition rally The Stop the Cuts Coalition, which consists of campus and community groups, plans to host a rally March 10 at the governor’s mansion in an effort to fight against the budget cuts. The coalition, including MU Socialists, met Monday to plan for the rally and other actions it can take to build its fight against the cuts before the end of the

legislative session.

“Basically the goal of this action is to make it very clear to both the governor and Republican legislators in Jeff City that Missouri’s public college and university students do not want these cuts; we don’t think that these cuts are necessary and we don’t want any tuition hikes which might result from these cuts,” MU Socialists President Joseph Moore said.

Unlike ASUM, Moore said the coalition does not support tuition hikes and will be advocating against them at its rally.

“Any tuition increases would disproportionately impact workingclass students and students of color, so we don’t support it,” Moore said.

Despite these concerns, Basi said MU remains hopeful that working closely with legislators this session, as well as communicating with residents, will help them find additional money and support for the budget for higher education, though no commitments have been made yet. He said both Chancellor Alexander Cartwright and UM System President Mun Choi have been in regular communication with legislators over the last year, especially since the start of this session.

“We have received nothing but support from the legislators related to the budget,” Basi said. “We’ve been working very closely to make sure they can be proud of their state university, and also realize the impact that it has on the state of Missouri.”

Edited by Skyler Rossi srossi@themaneater.com

“We are trying to make sure that students are aware of the changes senators and representatives are proposing to make with student loans and the repayment programs in Washington,” Owen said. “So awareness is our number one goal.”

By motivating students to make phone calls, Owen said senators and representatives in Washington will hear personal stories from students about their loans.

“If the students are not telling their stories, then there are not a lot of other people who are,” Owen said.

“We are trying to empower students to be able to make their voices heard.”

This push for student empowerment and awareness stems from the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. HEA is legislation in Washington that sets policies for student loans, student loan repayment plans and campus safety, Owen said.

In order for the government to

make decisions on HEA, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions requested stories and statements about policy reformations. The GPC and the Office of Graduate Studies worked together to develop a statement that will be passed on to the committee.

The statement calls for the establishment of “procedures that support master’s, doctoral and professional students in making informed financial aid decisions to reduce their borrowing and debt.”

The unequal student loan interest rate, in addition to the longer time spent in school beyond undergraduate education, makes life after graduation harder for graduate students.

“When graduate and professional students graduate, due to the debt from their loans, it makes it harder for them to buy a house, a car or pursue other big financial decisions because they are in so much debt,” Hendricks said.

Kristofferson Culmer, director of

external affairs for NAGPS, said the cap on student loan interest rates for graduate students is 9.5 percent, while the cap for undergraduates is 8.25 percent.

Culmer compared the home loan interest rate, which is between 3-4 percent right now, to the interest rates for graduate students, which he said is currently at 5.5 percent.

“We would just like to see education loans at the same interest rate,” Culmer said. “The government can still make their money back in this way at a much lower rate.”

Owen and some members of GPC will be traveling to Washington this week to talk to Missouri senators and representatives about the statement.

Further plans for the GPC include enacting a larger campaign on campus to raise awareness among students in regard to what is happening with the HEA and undergraduate and graduate loans.

Edited by Skyler Rossi srossi@themaneater.com

respond to violent intruders by taking an active role in their own survival,” according to the website.

Edited by Morgan Smith mosmith@themaneater.com

SPORTS

Online this week: Women’s golf loses in invitational, softball opens SEC play against Tennessee and more at themaneater.com

12

BASEBALL

Andy Toelken throws a pitch during a game against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on March 4, 2018. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

Strong start from Toelken leads baseball to 5-0 win The win was the Tigers’ fifth in a row and wrapped up a series sweep of the Retrievers.

JOE NOSER

Sports Editor

Missouri baseball has found a winning formula early this season, and it’s sticking to it.

The Tigers used situational hitting and bend-don’t-break pitching Sunday afternoon, coasting to a 5-0 victory and series sweep of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers at Taylor Stadium

in Columbia. The win moved Missouri to 10-3 on the season.

Head coach Steve Bieser said the win was a confidence booster for his team.

“It’s hard to sweep a series … so just being able to come out on a Sunday and play a complete game, take the lead and never look back was important for us,” Bieser said.

Junior third baseman and do-it-all player Brian Sharp continued his hot start, reaching base twice on a hitby-pitch and three-run homer in the fifth inning. Sharp, who also pitches for Missouri, entered the contest hitting .486. He hit his third home run of the season when he drove

a 2-2 breaking ball from Retriever starter Chase Bailey the opposite way into the Tigers’ bullpen in left field to give Missouri some separation.

Sharp said he was trying to hang tight in his at-bat when he hit his home run.

“There were two strikes, and I was just trying to compete and get a pitch I could drive,” Sharp said. “He ended up throwing a breaking ball, and I got the barrel [of the bat] to it, so it was good.”

Bieser said Sharp has had a good approach at the plate thus far this season.

“He’s had a really good week again,” Bieser said. “I don’t think any of us over think it, but he’s a good

athlete and a good player.”

While Sharp was the star offensively, it was Missouri’s starting pitching that made the team’s fifth consecutive win an easy one. The team got a strong start from senior right-hander Andy Toelken, who went 6 1/3 innings, scattering six hits and striking out five while walking one without surrendering a run.

Toelken entered the contest having given up nine earned runs in his first 8 1/3 innings of work this season but maintained his composure on Sunday.

His breaking ball was working especially well, helping him get Retrievers hitters to chase out of the zone,

start | Page 13

SOFTBALL

Missouri softball dominates in sweep of Mizzou Tournament The Tigers tallied 47 runs over the weekend.

GAVIN WHITE

Staff Writer

Missouri softball impressed in the Mizzou Tournament at home this past weekend, winning all of its last four games Saturday and Sunday.

The Tigers struggled on both ends in the first game Saturday morning against Southeastern Louisiana, but pulled out a 6-4 win in extra innings.

Junior Danielle Baumgartner gave up a leadoff home run to left field in the first inning. She pitched three innings and gave up three runs on six hits, only recording two strikeouts.

She continues to struggle this season,

with her earned run average at 4.5 after the game.

Missouri’s offense wasn’t very active, only producing six hits in the game. However, the Tigers made the hits count, scoring six runs and ultimately winning the game off a deep home run to left field in the eighth inning by junior Kolby Romaine.

“A rise ball coming in, at that point with a runner on third with no outs, I’m just trying to hit it high and far,” Romaine said.

However, the Tigers did not strike out once in the game against the Lions on 27 at-bats and 104 pitches.

Sophomore Nalani Scates got the nod in the Tigers’ second win Saturday afternoon against Creighton. She

came into the game with a 2.27 ERA and a record of 2-0. She struggled early, giving up a three-run homer in the first inning, which ended her 11-game scoreless inning streak.

Redshirt junior Amanda Sanchez struggled the first game, going 0 for 3. Most of her hits were poorly placed line drives. In her second game, she came right back, going 2 for 2 with two home runs and a walk.

Missouri won 11-3 in five innings.

“We hit the ball well today,” interim head coach Gina Fogue said after the games. “Pitching wise, we were leaving the ball up a little bit, letting them in the game, but we kind of stopped that once we brought our second pitchers in both games.”

The bats were alive on Sunday as

well when the Tigers completed their weekend sweep. They won 8-0 in the first game against Creighton in just six innings. The freshmen stole the show, with five hits among them.

Callie Martin and Brooke Wilmes went 2 for 3 in the game. Freshman Trenity Edwards went 1 for 2, with one bomb to center field.

Sanchez was walked intentionally four times, not getting anything after the previous game against Creighton, in which she went 2 for 2 with a pair of home runs.

“Very scary at the plate,” sophomore Braxton Burnside said about Sanchez. “She’s been really hot. She’s seeing the ball really well.

RUNS | Page 13

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T H E M A N E AT E R | S P O RTS | M A R C H 7, 2 0 1 8

START

Continued from page 12 especially when he needed to get out of a jam.

Toelken said he was pressing in his previous two starts but was able to stay calm in his start on Sunday.

“I really just tried to attack the zone today and attack with all three pitches,” Toelken said. “The past two starts in Florida, being back home, [I

was] probably trying to do too much and getting in my head a lot. Today, I just tried to go out there and get one out at a time, one inning at a time and let it pile up.”

Bieser said Toelken’s bounce-back performance was one he can build off of.

“I’ve seen Andy throw better, but it’s a step in the right direction,” Bieser said. “It’s what we needed him to do today.”

Toelken was lifted in the seventh inning for freshman left-hander Ian

Bedell, who was nothing short of masterful out of the bullpen. The Davenport, Iowa, native got a strike out and a ground out in the seventh while stranding Toelken’s final base runner at second, two strikeouts and a groundout in the eighth, and a strikeout and a ground out in the ninth. His 2 2/3 innings of perfect work were good enough for his first save of his career.

Bieser said he was pleased with his team’s performance on the rubber.

“I thought our pitching staff was

phenomenal today,” Bieser said. “I liked the tempo and the way they

attacked the game itself. They just found a way to pitch around [trouble]

and make great pitches whenever they needed to make their pitches.”

Next up, Missouri will face La Salle

in a three-game series at home starting Friday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m.

Edited by Bennett Durando

bdurando@themaneater.com

RUNS Continued from page 12

Anytime she gets a chance to hit, she’s taking advantage of it.”

Freshman Lauren Rice got the nod in this game and did not disappoint.

She threw six innings, notching six strikeouts, giving up only a single hit and no runs. She had thrown a no-hitter through four innings. She recorded her first career shutout game.

“That’s the Lauren we’ve seen the last couple of weeks,” Fogue said.

“When she pitches like that, we are going to do well.”

Creighton posed a threat in the fifth inning, but a beautiful 4-6-3 double play that led to a runner on third with two outs helped the Tigers escape the inning without any damage. The lead was 3-0 at that point.

Wilmes helped extend the lead with a triple hugging the right field line. This led to Sanchez being walked, and Wilmes scored with help from a sacrifice fly from Burnside.

In the second game in Sunday’s double-header against Drake, the offense did not slow down. The Tigers won the game 10-3 in seven innings.

An explosive outing by the Tiger offense helped secure the final victory they needed to end the Mizzou Tournament with a sweep.

Junior Regan Nash had an impressive showing with one run batted in, going 2 for 3 on the day, also adding noteworthy play from left field.

Sophomore Eli Daniel got the nod in this game, pitching four innings, giving up six hits and two runs. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it got the job done. Norman came in and got the save after giving up a single run.

The freshmen showed up in this game, too, with Hatti Moore getting her first career home run and Edwards adding another multi-hit game.

“Brooke [Wilmes] is still doing well, and Hatti [Moore] and Trenity [Edwards] stepped it up a little bit,” Fogue said. “They’re continuing to do great things, which we need because we have a young team, and they’re going to help round out our order.”

The Tigers now sit at 16-7 on the season and will start Southeastern Conference play at No. 5 Tennessee on Friday, opening a three-game series against the Volunteers.

Edited by Bennett Durando bdurando@themaneater.com

Third baseman Trenity Edwards exits the dugout before playing against Drake University in the final game of the Mizzou Tournament on March 4, 2018. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

14

“Vagina Monologues” performers cheer on Sophia Faiella as she speaks during the production on Feb. 24, 2018. PHOTO BY JACOB MOSCOVITCH | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

PERFORMANCE

‘Vagina Monologues’: a call to empower and take action The MU community put on a performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” a show where women perform a collection of other women’s experiences written by Eve Ensler.

CHARLY BUCHANAN

Reporter

The 16th annual performance of the Vagina Monologues embodied the theme of rise, resist and unite with vulnerable performances that illustrated the strength and perseverance of women at the Missouri Theatre on Feb. 24.

A reflection of current and past trials and successes that women have experienced, the Vagina Monologues held audience members captive through stories of comedy, tragedy and resistance. With prevailing themes of intersectionality and inclusivity, the women demonstrated that there is no one way to be a woman but that they are all linked by the common thread of bravery.

Each performance impacted the audience uniquely. Some inspired rage against mistreatment, some left few audience members with dry eyes and some elicited laughter and bountiful cheers. One such performance that brought laughter and preached self-love was Jalen Stackhouse’s performance of “Because He Liked to Look At It,” in which she tells a story of learning to love her vagina after a man shows her its beauty.

Though Stackhouse did not share

that experience with her character, she did find familiarity with the idea of learning to love yourself.

“I felt that pressure of feeling like you’re not good enough or something’s wrong, so I could definitely relate to it in that way,” Stackhouse said. “I also related to her [in that I] ended up loving my vagina because I love my pussy now.

Stackhouse also commented on the bravery of her fellow performers and what performing alongside them meant to her.

“I feel like most women want to be empowered, but not a lot of women have the courage to speak up, come out there and scream ‘c***’ on a stage or be in lingerie,” she said. “It was really empowering to know I’m on a campus with women like this.”

Yet, The Vagina Monologues have not always been empowering for all women. The performance “They/ Them” by Sophia Faiella spoke directly to Eve Ensler, the creator of The Vagina Monologues, about how transgender women were excluded from the narrative.

“Eve Ensler didn’t think my story deserved to be told,” Faiella said.

“My monologue is my battle cry; my battle cry is my resistance.”

For many, the monologues resonated with them as their personal experiences aligned with the stories being told. For some, the show was eye-opening. MU senior Ben Cosgrove discussed the way he felt as a male audience member. “[It was] more uncomfortable in the fact that I was kind of a grievance rather than this was weird or uncomfortable, more just that

I couldn’t empathize or I hadn’t thought of that or considered that,” Cosgrove said.

MU graduate student Madelyne Maag, a first-time audience member and two-time Vagina Monologues performer, discussed the educational value of the performances.

“It’s not only a fun, very entertaining, empowering show; it’s about education and it’s about empowering women specifically about their bodies, no matter what their bodies look like,” Maag said.

She also described what it felt like performing some of the more intense pieces.

“We got really, really emotional, and we would break down sometimes just even performing this, and it’s like, look, we’re doing this for a purpose of getting out the message of this has happened,” she said.

While the majority of the performances were from Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, three of the performances were written and performed by community members, showing great courage on their part. One performance in particular told the terror of the Franco regime in Spain and the pain mothers experienced after finding out their children they once thought were dead had actually been stolen for the purpose of the regime. The shock during this performance was heard through the deafening silence of the crowd.

This and many other performances demonstrated a common voice opposing injustice against women.

Donell Young, Director of Academic Retention Services and Assistant

Vice Chancellor of the Division of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity elaborated on the circumstances women often face.

“The reality is on a college campus women are actually outperforming men on so many different levels, but then when you go to outside of college, the disparity in pay just kind of blows my mind,” Young said.

Though Young offered his perspective, he did so reluctantly in fear of taking any of the spotlight away from the most important people of the night: the women who performed.

The monologues addressed more than just injustice in the sectors of opportunity and pay. “Coconut Oil” by Ayesha Vishnani, another community spotlight piece, addressed race. Vishnani questioned how she can learn to love her vagina if she has yet to learn how to love the color of her skin.

One of the most timely and grave issues stressed in the monologues was sexual assault, and in keeping with this theme, the proceeds from the show benefited the MU Stop the Violence Fund. Women broke apart on stage and put themselves together with words of empowerment and defiance, vowing to end the culture that perpetuates the allowance of rape and sexual violence.

“Until the violence stops, we will continue to do this,” said Justine Durham, who performed in “The Wear and Say Lists” and the “Not-SoHappy Fact.”

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

15

T H E M A N E AT E R | M OV E M AG A Z I N E | M A R C H 7, 2 0 1 8 TRUE/FALSE FILM REVIEW

True/False film ‘América’ unveils familial complexities ‘América’ captures the struggles and memories that come with family and caretaking.

EMMY LUCAS

Reporter

Taking place in Colima, Mexico, América is a documentary that tells the tale of the frustrations and love that come with caretaking.

When brothers Diego, Rodrigo and Bruno are not impersonating Elvis, unicycling or doing acrobatics, the trio is taking care of América, their beloved grandmother.

Despite crumbling relationships that emerge as time goes on and the task of full-time caretaking becoming more stressful, genuine, gracious moments unfold throughout the documentary. The film ultimately highlights the complexity of familial relationships.

The brothers’ father was taken into custody after América was found on the ground of their home, bleeding after a fall. The film then captures the frustrations that follow the legal process of their father’s release. Beyond juggling for their performances, the brothers must juggle both caretaking and legal frustrations.

While América depends on her grandsons for basic tasks, the

directors are thoughtful and portray América with a sense of dignity.

When taking a stroll through the park, Bruno encourages América to stand on her own and walk without a hand to lean on.

Directors Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside capture humorous and intimate moments that surround the journey of caretaking. From tucking América into her bed at night to watching her grandsons perform acrobatics in the backyard, the film captures genuine scenes between each csubject.

The film provokes laughter but also reflective reactions. Humorous moments emerge in the interactions that come with assisting América to the bathroom, eating dinner together and taking América on walks. However, there are serious moments such as legal proceedings at the senior institute, frustrations with caretaking and bickering between brothers.

As emotions flare and stresses become more intense, the film lifts the mood through its inclusion of sweeter moments at the dinner table, listening to music and circus acts in the backyard.

From scene to scene, the film also creates a sense of place through different wide shots and still photography. The film portrays their culture well by showing glimpses of their home, lifestyle, music and the surrounding areas such as the park

A still from the film América. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRUE/FALSE FILM FEST

and local streets.

Up until the end in 2017, América was ensured the best quality of life and cared for by her family.

The film América illuminates the

complexities that come with family and highlights the enjoyment of the smaller moments in life.

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

LOCAL ART EXHIBIT

Food-themed exhibit allows artists to explore art of eating

Columbia Art League curates a food-themed exhibit each year for artists to be creative.

EMMY LUCAS

Reporter

An art exhibit driven by food inspired artists to get creative and cook up a meal for the eyes.

The Columbia Art League curates a food-themed show each year. This year’s exhibit is titled “Indulge” and channels the art of eating. “[The food-themed shows] are always under a different name,” CAL Operations Manager Louise Sarver said. “We thought ‘Indulge’ would be a fun idea for our artists to explore.”

Promoting outlets of exploration, themed exhibits allow artists to explore new ideas. Through the theme of food, artists have to turn eating and food into art.

“We thought it would be accessible to a wide range of mediums, and it would be fun for people to dive into the artful experience of eating,” Sarver said.

CAL encourages artists to indulge in their connections to food to uncover aspects of their lives such as time, place and culture. The different aspects of art and food combine in these various artworks.

“There’s so much creativity that goes into food as well as art, and we wanted to give our artists the opportunity to experience that,” Sarver said.

CAL takes submissions from members and non-members. A juror then selects the pieces. Don Luper, an art instructor at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Missouri, served as the juror for this exhibit. Luper has worked with CAL before; he juried shows and has taught for over 25 years.

All mediums of art are welcomed and showcased. As a sculptor himself, Luper put his passion for sculptures aside and juried the two-dimensional pieces submitted.

“We have artwork from all mediums, ages and experience levels,” Sarver said. “Some of the art is funny, others are more serious. We’re thrilled with the variety.”

The walls of the exhibit are scattered with drawings and paintings of food galore. Connecting to the theme was key in choosing pieces to be a part of the exhibit, Luper said.

“Since it is a themed show, the idea was to just pick pieces that go with the theme or connected to the theme,” Luper said. “It was definitely left open for interpretation.”

For Luper, the idea of indulgence meant gluttony.

“I think gluttony and indulgence have a fairly close tie with one another, and that’s how I look at it,” Luper said.

In addition to connecting with the theme, Luper said it is also important to find pieces to relate to.

“I chose the award-winning piece because that piece became very personal to me because it looked like a giant wad of gum, and my father-

The exhibition will be open from Jan. 16 - March 9. Pictured here: Hannah Ingmire’s La Compote De Poire. PHOTO BY LIA WALDRUM | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

in-law who suffers from diabetes and multiple other issues, he is obsessed with gum,” Luper said. “I mean he just loves to chew gum and he never throws one piece away; he just keeps adding more and more to the ball.

“And that’s what art should be, going into an exhibit you really just pick pieces that you relate to,” Luper said. “I mean if any other juror had

done this they might have picked another piece. That’s the beauty about jurors, too, I guess. You never know what they’re going to pick.”

“Indulge” opened Jan. 16 and will continue through March 9 at 207 S. Ninth St. Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

16

T H E M A N E AT E R | M OV E M AG A Z I N E | M A R C H 7, 2 0 1 8

TRUE/FALSE FILM REVIEW

‘Lovers of the Night’ finds beauty in the heart of monks How to see life and love in everything the world offers is just one glittering aspect of “Lovers of the Night” by Anna Frances Ewert.

EVA WALKER

Reporter

With great care, humanity and attention to the unspoken, Lovers of the Night is a documentary that is both lighthearted and emotionally stimulating. It is not a film of grand gestures or intricate lives; it is just life. The mundane is made beautiful, everyday tasks are approached with delicate attention and the monastery in Ireland where it takes place is almost a character of its own. It has beauty, grandeur and undeniable spirit just like the men who live there.

This documentary follows the everyday lives of the monestary’s resident monks and shares the problems, worries and joys that coat their lives. There is no added effect of drama or enticing plot line. There

is only the message that a deep love of life does not take extraordinary measures, just the proper recognition of the world around us. True beauty lies in the simple things.

Director Anna Frances Ewert shows us much of the grounds on which the monastery is built and a great deal of personal spaces within its walls.

Early in the film it is clear that the building itself is extremely important to the monks because it was built by monks. It was made with the same care and devotion still shown today.

Brother Alberic, one of the main subjects of the film, points out that the staircase railing supports have steel bars encased in dark wood, a mark of previous craftsmanship that he takes great pride in. The craftsmanship is once again brought up in the form of the choir pews where we see the monks praying multiple times throughout the film. The detailoriented mindset that is necessary for such ornate carpentry is the same present throughout the monastery, with extreme thoughtfulness found in every decision made. The pride and humanness of this place is so apparent throughout that it is not hard to understand the love that

inspired Ewert to make this movie.

She shows us the connection she has to the resident monks by showing them directly. They are funny, religious, honest and emotional, and that is what makes this documentary the masterpiece that it is. It tells the audience that not knowing who someone is can be a chance to discover someone entirely new, and that is extraordinary. These men are monks, but they are still rugbyloving, joke-making men. They are gorgeously alive in their own skin, and they share that life with Ewert.

That gift of insight offers this film authenticity, humor and a voice to the unpredictable.

Brother Alberic shares the story of when he first told his father he wanted to join a monastery. Met with belittling remarks and no support, Alberic still joined and became a monk. While telling this story, his face flashes with sadness at the memory of his father. However, the flash merges into laughter and selflove when he goes on to describe the true home in his heart. He found his home before God unexpectedly and the love that comes with that radiates from him.

There was a lingering question: What about women? Ewert covered that as well. When asked if he misses loving a woman, Father Alberic immediately replies that yes, he misses it every day of his life. He points out that the world has become macho driven and is in desperate need of more feminine qualities.

When asked why he prays at 3:30 a.m. every day he answers, “Maybe I’m not looking for something but someone. Lovers meet at night, don’t they?” This declaration that love is still alive and well is a captivating aspect of the film. A simple sentiment — missing a lover — what could be more human?

Lovers of the Night does not disappoint due to the simple fact that nothing is hidden or glamorized to the point of envy. It is life in a monastery, and it is a glowing representation of human life just as it is. It is imperfect, in this case pious, and unwavering in its conviction that beauty can be found anywhere.

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

TRUE/FALSE FILM REVIEW

‘Shakedown’ is an intense, emotional glimpse into a hidden world Leilah Weinraub’s immersive film about an underground LA strip club is a joyride.

HANNAH MCFADDEN

Reporter

In the early 2000s, Leilah Weinraub brought a camera to her job at a black lesbian underground strip club in Los Angeles. Last weekend, she shared that footage during the True/ False Film Fest in her intimate and edgy film Shakedown.

The film gives a deeper look at the club, its patrons and its workers.

Weinraub talks to dancers as they prepare to perform as well as in their own homes. The girls are comfortable with each other and there is a sense of family among them. They’re funny, emotional and exude confidence as they recount their experiences of performing and of their relationships with other performers. Their stories are interspersed with clips from their enticing strip performances at the club.

The film is provocative, and not just because it takes place almost solely in a strip club. To feel comfortable and nostalgic about somewhere you’ve never been is hard. To feel this way about a place you’d never expect should be impossible.

Weinraub gives her audience access to a world that is rarely seen. It’s not often that the LGBTQ community gets screen time without being trivialized or labeled as “just a gay movie.” But Shakedown takes its audience inside a black lesbian strip club and makes viewers feel like they’ve been going to the club for years. It normalizes the entire experience by making it feel personal.

A still from the film Shakedown. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRUE/FALSE FILM FEST

The cinematography of the film enhances this. There are montages of old posters from events at the club that have a distinctly 2000s feel to their designs. The shakiness of the camera combined with the grainy, early-2000s picture quality makes the film feel almost like a home movie. This fuels the sense of home and family and gives the film an unexpected nostalgia. Because of the perspective of the camera, it feels like you’re inside Weinraub’s head experiencing her job as she lives it.

You can’t help but feel close to the dancers and become immersed in their world.

Because of the intensely personal feel of the film, the storyline becomes an emotional joyride. As the dancers share stories about how they came into performance and how they balance their career with their personal lives, their love for the club becomes more evident and real. The variety of tales allow each dancer and club worker to develop as characters as the film progresses.

Shakedown films all the way up to the club’s closing after a series of police raids. Several of the raids are caught on film. Foreshadowed by ominous music, it’s clear that something is wrong. The uneasiness

gives the raid scenes a heartbreaking aftertaste as viewers realize the club is slowly going under.

The film has a bittersweet ending.

Much

like

a

home

movie,

the

nostalgic feeling of the footage gives it warmth. However, it also signifies that the club and its dancers are in the past and that we are living in a separate world. It’s an odd kind of closure, but it feels right.

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

17

T H E M A N E AT E R | M OV E M AG A Z I N E | M A R C H 7, 2 0 1 8 TRUE/FALSE REVIEW

‘The Price of Everything’ takes a deeper look into art, luxury and commerce The documentary features influential artists, curators, collectors and art historians who share their opinions and experiences with the economics of art.

LAUREN WILCOX

Staff Writer

“Price of everything, value of nothing.” Is this what the art world has come to? Has contemporary art become just another luxury brand?

Why are art and wealth almost synonymous in today’s society?

Nathaniel Kahn’s documentary The Price of Everything seeks to answer these questions and understand the commerce of the art world by bouncing between interviews with prominent art collectors, curators, artists, art auctioneers and influential professionals in fine art.

Kahn interviews high-profile people in the art world, including wealthy art collectors such as Stefan Edlis and his wife who have pieces from Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol and Maurizio Cattelan. Koons explains his feelings toward being regarded as one of the most successful artists

A still of Larry Poons from the film The Price of Everything.. PHOTO COURTESY OF IMDB

of our time, both financially and artistically, in his studio while creating of his Gazing Ball works.

Of the many interesting and intelligent characters featured, some stand out more than others. An example is Larry Poons, a successful contemporary artist. He has been laying low since the ‘70s, but the film follows him as he gets ready for a gallery show in New York City. His main message throughout the film is that art can be anything and should

not be dictated by money.

Along with other artists and historians, a main portion of the film talks with Amy Cappellazzo, the chairman of the Fine Arts division of Sotheby's, as her team gets ready for the fall auction. She explains what makes art so expensive. It depends on time period and desire; the more clients willing to bid, the more significant the work becomes. She is straightforward and determined to find the best parents for the artwork

on display.

To anyone who loves art, this film is satisfying. It explores how society has created a bubble around the arts, a bubble of expense, luxury and high class. Curators, art historians and artists can see how the money-driven world has affected art of the past and the future, and even the most influential in the art world cannot tell if this is for the better or worse.

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

TRUE/FALSE REVIEW

‘The Next Guardian’ represents struggle between new and old The documentary received positive reviews for its truthful portrayal of family life.

ALEXANDRA SHARP

MOVE Assistant Editor

It’s remarkable how one building can represent so much. In the True/False documentary The Next Guardian, directors Dorottya Zurbó and Arun Bhattarai represent the struggle between Westernization and tradition with a single monastery.

Strikingly telling and surprisingly funny, The Next Guardian explores the disconnect between an older generation and its children.

In Bhutan, Gyembo and Tashi, a brother and sister duo, try to balance their hopes and desires with their family’s expectations. Gyembo wants to complete his modern education, but his father asks him to leave it all behind to become a monk. The family’s monastery is under threat of removal by the government, and Gyembo’s father believes him becoming a monk is the only way to save it. At the same time, Tashi has the heart of a boy and a passion for soccer, but her parents insist she act ladylike. As the siblings adapt to a quickly changing world, their parents cling to sacred traditions.

Rather than focusing on Bhutan’s youngest generation in the broader

scope, Zurbó and Bhattarai were clever in narrowing their lense to this specific family. The characters were easy to relate to, reminding me of conversations I’ve had with older family members. Between eye rolls and exasperated sighs, their family’s story was one that could be applied to many generations and cultures, not just Bhutanese families.

Although portraying a serious topic, humor was intermixed perfectly to make the film both thoughtful and funny. With every joke, the characters became more relatable, making the 74-minute movie finish in the blink of an eye.

What I loved even more than the bits of metaphor and humor sprinkled throughout were the progressive themes. While the Bhutanese family did not use this specific term, transgender youth is an ever-important topic coming into debate in the 21st century.

While I’ve heard and read many stories about the LGBTQ community in America, I rarely get the chance to hear about what it’s like to be LGBTQ in aa non-Western country.

Tashi’s struggle being a boy in a girl’s body is portrayed accurately and respectfully. What I found more interesting than her take on the situation was her parents’, who described it as her past life being stuck in her current body. This angle was a fascinating look into how other countries and older generations are adapting to modern-day concepts.

A still from the film The Next Guardian. PHOTO COURTESY OF IMDB

A beautiful film in characters, story and sound, The Next Guardian did an excellent job telling the story of a modernizing child’s disconnect with traditional parents. Even though the story took place in Bhutan, its themes are relatable across cultures and to all individuals.

I believe this is a film that should be seen as a family: parents and children sitting side by side. This way, it is easier to see how different

lifestyles and environments do not mean one generation’s interests should be placed above another’s.

After all, one generation is not always completely correct while another is entirely in the wrong. As The Next Guardian points out, usually life works out best when one practices a combination of the old and the new.

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

OPINION

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

We want to hear your voice.

Submit a letter to the editor by emailing letters@themaneater.com.

18

THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY THE MANEATER COLUMNISTS DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINIONS OF THE MANEATER EDITORIAL BOARD.

COLUMN

The shooting in Florida was a byproduct of incompetence BRANDON BARTLETT

Opinion Columnist

Brandon Bartlett is a freshman political science major at MU. He is an opinions columnist who writes about politics for The Maneater.

On Feb. 14, tragedy struck the nation when a 19-year-old male entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and opened fire on the occupants. The shooter used a legally purchased AR-15 style rifle to take the lives of 17 people and injure 14. The suspected shooter was apprehended while walking down a street within a couple hours of the shooting and has since admitted to committing the horrendous act.

Many students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and family members of the victims have called for the government to, once again, enact stricter gun control.

These requests have been echoed by much of the American public and many in the media. These requests are understandable, especially from those directly affected, and my thoughts and prayers have and will continue to go out to them. However, I feel it is important to look at the facts of the current situation. And the facts that have come out about this shooting point to anything but more gun laws since the ones already on the books aren’t being enforced.

There was complete and utter failure by law enforcement to prevent this horrific act. It also seems the more that is reported the more it is made clear that the Broward

County Sheriff’s Department was incapable of handling the situation as it was happening. The shooter, in this instance, had been reported to the FBI twice. Once last September after commenting “I’m going to be a professional school shooter” on a YouTube video and again on Jan. 5 when he was reported by a tipster who claimed he had a “desire to kill people, erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts.” The Broward County sheriff’s deputies had also been called to the shooter’s home 45 times, at least 19 of which were related to the shooter. The calls ranged from complaints of him fighting with his brother to cursing at his mother and throwing her against a wall. He was also examined by a mental health agency in 2016 after sending a Snapchat video “in which he cut his arms and said he wanted to buy a gun,” according to NBC News.

However, after being examined it was determined he wouldn’t be hospitalized.

This maniac should not have been allowed to keep his guns in this case, and it was completely irresponsible for the Broward County Sheriff’s Department to allow him to do so.

Legal experts have stated that his threats of wanting to shoot and kill people were enough to constitute authoritative actions to deprive him of firearms. So why was there no action taken by the sheriff’s deputies?

Sadly this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the careless acts by the Broward County Sheriff’s Department.

It’s been reported that there was an armed school resource officer who waited outside of the school

building and avoided conflict by standing outside, while the shooting was happening. Not only did the one resource officer not enter the building but three other deputies simply stood outside with their guns drawn after the shooting had supposedly ended while there were innocent people inside who needed critical medical attention. It has also been alleged by two witness to the shooting that EMS personnel were prohibited from entering the building to administer such life-saving medical attention by the Broward County Sheriff’s

“THERE WAS COMPLETE AND UTTER FAIURE BY LAW ENFORCEMENT TO PREVENT THIS HORRIFIC ACT.” Department. All of this brings to mind several questions about the competence of the Broward County deputies. Maybe the sheriff of Broward County, Scott Israel, could answer these questions if he weren’t too busy placing blame on anyone but himself. During CNN’s Feb. 21 town hall, Israel sat on stage with Dana Loesch, a spokesperson for the NRA, and said to her, “I understand that you’re standing up for the NRA, but you just told this group of people that you’re standing up for them; you are not standing up for them until you say, ‘I want less weapons.’”

He did much of the same in an interview with Jake Tapper from

CNN. When asked by Tapper why he wasn’t taking any responsibility for his department missing multiple red flags, Israel responded, “I can only take responsibility for what I knew about. I exercised my due diligence.

I have given amazing leadership to this agency” and “You don’t measure a person’s leadership by a deputy not going into a — these deputies received the training they needed.”

In response to Sheriff Israel’s refusal to admit the mistakes made by his force, Tapper said “Maybe you measure somebody’s leadership by whether or not they protect the community.” This sorry excuse of a sheriff deserves to be fired. There are 17 people who died as a result of incompetence from his department.

He and his deputies completely failed to take appropriate measures to keep the community of Broward County safe.

Had the authorities reacted properly, this shooting may have been prevented. The shooting may have been preventable had the laws already in place been enforced, so there is no need for new gun legislation to help prevent future atrocities. The shooter was reported to the FBI twice, law enforcement 45 times and examined by a mental health agency. The gunman used 10-round magazines rather than the AR-15’s standard capacity 30-round magazines (the magazines which Democrats are currently attempting to ban) and was still able to kill 17 people. To prevent future atrocities, we need to enforce the laws already in place, or, if anything, have fewer gun laws so that the public can defend themselves in such situations.

COLUMN

World should not tolerate Myanmar’s genocidal behavior TATYANA MONNAY

Opinon Columnist

Tatyana Monnay is a freshman journalism major at MU. She is an opinions columnist who writes about politics for The Maneater.

The genocide of Rohingya Muslims by their own government has gone on long enough.

The Rohingya are an ethnic minority based in Myanmar. As a group, they represent the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar.

With a majority of Rohingya Muslims living in Rakhine State, the Rohingya have their own language and culture that has been established in that region for generations.

Since 1982, the Myanmar government has not recognized the Rohingya people as a part of Myanmar. They have continuously been denied citizenship and were

excluded from the 2014 census — as if that would make the Rohingya disappear. Myanmar’s refusal to accept the Rohingya population has essentially forced them to be stateless people.

The rapid rate of migration of Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a result of persecution is being referred to as the “Rohingya crisis.” However, Rohingyas were fleeing from Myanmar far before the crisis began in August 2017.

Rohingyas were always seen as second-class citizens in the eyes of the government of Myanmar and have been fleeing as a result of abuse and mistreatment.

The Myanmar military claims it is attempting to fight Rohingya militants rather than fight the Rohingya people as a whole.

However, the United Nations marked the military’s efforts as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” The

Myanmar military’s offensive efforts are hurting Rohingya civilians and threatening to wipe out the Rohingya people as a whole.

While the Myanmar government puts the number of dead Rohingyas at around 400, Medecins Sans Frontieres, a humanitarian group, reported that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in August 2017 alone.

Out of the 6,700, at least 730 were children under the age of 5. On top of that, Amnesty International, a human rights organization, claimed the Myanmar military raped Rohingya women and young girls.

The United Nations has marked this as the “world’s fastest growing refugee crisis.” So, why has the international community been so quiet about a population of almost 1 million people being murdered by their government?

The refugees are in need of shelter, food, water, health care and other basic needs. But what they also need

is someone to stand up for them. The United States encouraged Myanmar’s military to “respect the rule of law, stop the violence and end the displacement of civilians from all communities.” China advised the international community to “support the efforts of Myanmar in safeguarding the stability of its national development.” Theresa May, U.K. Prime Minister, said the military offensive action against Rohingyas in Rakhine must stop.

The Rohingya need more than words from the international community; they need action.

Myanmar is going to continue its devastation of Rohingya villages and human rights abuses unless it is put in its place. The international community must band together and enforce sanctions on Myanmar in order for its condemnations to be truly meaningful and impactful.

THE MANEATER | SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION | MARCH 7, 2018

19

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Women’s basketball needs to correct offensive slump for NCAA Tournament Missouri averaged 50 points in its two SEC Tournament games.

ANDY KIMBALL

Staff Writer

Junior Sophie Cunningham stood red eyed in the locker room after her team’s loss to Georgia at the Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday night.

After a 3-for-17 shooting performance, she credited her teammates for being able to pick up the slack when teams are able to take her away on offense.

“My teammates really stepped up and I know they can,” Cunningham said. “If you’re gonna take me away then there are going to be other threats on the floor.”

That has been the case for most of the year. Missouri sophomore Amber Smith carried the offense when Cunningham struggled versus Ole Miss in the first round of the SEC Tournament and redshirt senior Jordan Frericks has been able to carry the load offensively when Smith or Cunningham have been unable to do so.

Junior Cierra Porter has also shown the ability to be a top option on offense, matching her career-high 27 points from last season in a win over Florida on Feb. 5.

However, Missouri’s offense, which is 18th in the country in field goal percentage, has been in a slump the last few weeks.

Going into its season finale against Texas A&M, Missouri averaged 71.4 points per game.

Then the Tigers ended the season by scoring 63 in a blowout loss to the Aggies and averaged 50 points in their two games in the SEC Tournament, beating Ole Miss 59-50 and losing 55-41 to Georgia.

In the loss to Georgia, Cunningham wasn’t the only player to struggle. Frericks and Porter both shot 4 for 13 from the field.

A reason for Missouri’s offensive struggles has been the Tigers’ inability to handle pressure.

In the loss to Georgia, Bulldogs guard Taja Cole applied suffocating pressure after Missouri’s offense crossed the half-court line.

Missouri’s offense starts with quick post feeds and quick ball movement on the perimeter.

When guards couldn’t handle pressure, they were forced to over dribble or pick up their dribble far from the basket.

Time and time again, Missouri guards weren’t able to break the pressure and were forced to pick up their dribble over 30 feet from the basket, stalling the offense and forcing the Tigers to rush contested looks at the end of the shot clock.

Georgia is ninth in the country and first in the SEC in field goal percentage defense, so Missouri probably won’t play a defense as stout as the Bulldogs’ in the first few rounds of the NCAA Tournament. However, Missouri has struggled with handling pressure and scoring against many of the tournament-level teams the Tigers have played in the SEC. In addition to losing twice to Georgia, Missouri has struggled all year versus the top teams in the conference. The Tigers are 2-6 versus Louisiana State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Georgia and Texas A&M, the six other SEC teams projected to make the tournament, according to Charlie Creme’s latest bracket prediction for ESPN. The difference in the outcomes for Missouri has been scoring. In Missouri’s two wins, they scored 83 in a home win over South Carolina on Jan. 7 and scored 77 in a win over Tennessee on Feb. 18 at Mizzou Arena.

In the six losses, Missouri has averaged just over 54 points per game and failed to score over 65 points.

Against Mississippi State, Missouri went out to a 34-25 halftime lead before guard Morgan William and the Bulldogs stifled Missouri by holding it to 19 second-half points to come back and beat the Tigers.

William, similar to Georgia’s guards, provided instant pressure to Tigers after they crossed half court, causing Missouri to stall and have to keep the ball on the perimeter and force jump shots late in the shot clock. Missouri shot 48.15 percent from the field in the first half, but after William and Mississippi State brought pressure in the second half the Tigers shot 31.82 percent in the second half.

The key for NCAA Tournament play will be making sure Missouri can speed up the game and speed up its offense. Guards will need to be able to get down the court and feed the post quickly, giving Missouri’s offensive sets time to develop.

For Missouri to go on a deep run in March, it will need to bust out of its offensive slump and get back to playing offensively efficient basketball.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

Amber Smith dribbles around a Mississippi State defender to get the ball to the paint. PHOTO BY COURTNEY VILLMER | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

THE MANEATER | SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION | MARCH 7, 2018

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GRAPHIC BY ELIZABETH USTINOV | GRAPHIC DESIGNER

There was no such half in the rematch, as an angry Kentucky team blew Missouri apart, 87-66. The Tigers struggled to stay afloat, needing a constant flow of outrageous 3s from graduate transfer Kassius Robertson and ultimately just couldn’t keep up.

Whether Missouri sees four-game-losing-streak Kentucky or four-game-winstreak Kentucky on Friday remains to be seen (as does whether Missouri sees Kentucky on Friday at all) — but one player stands out as a must-slow-down for the Tigers.

Freshman and likely NBA lottery draft pick Kevin Knox has been Kentucky’s most perfect asset in an imperfect season. The young talent, who almost committed to Missouri, was still shut down at Mizzou Arena by unlikely defensive hero Cullen VanLeer. Knox led the Wildcats’ onslaught at home with 21 points. He scored 5 in Columbia.

Missouri’s chances will increase mightily if it can produce a winning formula against Knox again, but this time, the team won’t have VanLeer to help after an ACL tear last Saturday. If only the Tigers had a freshman phenom of their own to

fill that hole and take the challenging matchup with Knox …

Semifinals: Saturday, March 10, Noon CT, ESPN: 5 Missouri vs. 1 Auburn / 8 Texas A&M / 9 Alabama If Missouri gets this far, the breadth of potential opponents is too great and the odds of each matchup too low, so we won’t bother you with any speculation.

Against these three teams in the regular season though, Missouri had a mix of success. It took its worst loss of the season on its own floor to Auburn, 91-73, split its two matchups with Texas A&M and notched maybe its biggest road win of the season at Alabama.

Finals: Sunday, March 11, noon CT, ESPN Missouri would need quite a Cinderella run to win the SEC Tournament or even get to its championship game, but either way, the Tigers should be smiling a few hours after this game come Selection Sunday.

Selection Sunday: March 11, 6 p.m. CT, TBS The Tigers await their NCAA Tournament seed at the end of all this. Just getting in will be a vindictive moment

for Martin and the program, but a spot on the bracket will undoubtedly mean more than they’re willing to admit.

Success in the SEC Tournament may or may not be enough to reach another, smaller goal: getting off the 8-9 seeding line. As things stand, ESPN’s acclaimed “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi has Missouri projected as a No. 8, playing Butler for the right to most likely take on No. 1 Virginia. Since the winner of each 8-9 game in the NCAA Tournament has to play that region’s No. 1 seed, Missouri would love to boost itself up to No. 7 and set up more favorable matchups.

Winning Thursday may or may not be enough to do the job. Beating Kentucky on Friday probably would be.

Also factoring into all of this is Missouri’s biggest elephant in the room: Michael Porter Jr. Thursday or Friday might finally put an end to the will-he-won’the-play game that fans and media have been playing for months. It’s another reason that winning this week, at the very least on Thursday, is so crucial; if Porter Jr. is given the green light, Martin will want to get him as much in-game playing experience as possible before the Big Dance.

Forward Kevin Puryear prepares for a pass during the Showdown for Relief at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on Oct. 22, 2017.

PHOTO BY ADAM COLE | SPORTS SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

In short, more games means more time to experiment.

Whether or not Porter Jr. steps onto the court in a Missouri Tiger uniform, March Madness seems sure to excite for the rest of them.

And for an overachieving

Missouri team and its fans, there’s no better place to tip off that madness than St. Louis.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

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THE MANEATER | SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION | MARCH 7, 2018

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Everything you need to know about Missouri ahead of the SEC Tournament

Forward Jordan Barnett defends a shot during the Showdown for Relief against the Kansas Jayhawks on Oct. 22, 2017. PHOTO BY ADAM COLE | SPORTS SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

The Tigers finished fifth in the SEC and will tip off postseason play on Thursday.

BENNETT DURANDO

Assistant Sports Editor

It’ll be a Gateway greeting for the Missouri Tigers come Thursday.

The men’s basketball team, formidable beyond all expectations after it lost a certain 6-foot-10-inch freshman two minutes into this season, has seemingly caught its stride at the right time. It will groove into St. Louis this weekend a winner of 20 games, 10 in the Southeastern Conference, having locked up the No. 5 seed in the 14-team SEC Tournament at the Scottrade Center.

More importantly, two colossal wins to close the regular season last week likely landed the program its first berth since 2013 in a much bigger dance: the NCAA Tournament.

That doesn’t make the SEC’s biggest stage a trivial one for Cuonzo Martin’s team by any means, though.

Here’s a rundown of everything there is to know about this weekend’s bracket, schedule and, most

importantly, implications Selection Sunday:

toward

Round 2: Thursday, March 8, approx. 2:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network: 5 Missouri vs. 12 Georgia / 13 Vanderbilt Missouri (20-11, 10-8 SEC) just missed out on a top-four seed in the conference standings that would have granted it a double bye until Friday’s tournament quarterfinals. Still, the Tigers finished top tier enough to wait for the winner of one of two Wednesday night play-in games.

The one they’ll be watching is Georgia vs. Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs finished 16-14 and lost three of their last four. The Commodores were the same in their final stretch, but went 12-19 overall. Vanderbilt did, however, win in its only meeting with Georgia. Both teams only clashed once with Missouri during the regular season, and the Tigers were winners against each.

Both games followed similar patterns, as well. Missouri had to overcome rocky first halves that both ended with the team trailing, but then cruised to double-digit leads for much of the second frame each time.

It toppled Georgia 68-56 in Columbia

in January, and Vanderbilt 74-66 on the road last week.

Whichever team Missouri faces off with Thursday, SEC All-Freshman Team recipient Jontay Porter will be its most important individual component. The 18-year-old stretchfour led the team in scoring in both regular-season matchups. He posted 15 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double to lead the way against the Bulldogs.

He followed it with perhaps Missouri’s most dominant individual performance of the season, coming off the bench to score 24 points on 9-of10 shooting — 4 of 4 from 3-point range — and to add seven rebounds and six assists. It was a coming-ofage outing against Vanderbilt, one that carried over to last Saturday’s 19-point effort against Arkansas.

Missouri’s key to success in the two regular season wins and its hottest hand lately will need to make his presence felt on Thursday, whether off the bench or not.

Quarterfinals: Friday, March 9, approx. 2:30 p.m CT, ESPN: 5 Missouri vs. 4 Kentucky A win Thursday for the Tigers would set the stage for a highly

anticipated decisive third game of 2018 against a college blueblood whom Missouri has split its season series with thus far.

The SEC’s No. 4 seed Kentucky Wildcats were largely criticized most of the year for being insufficient by head coach John Calipari’s standards.

That may not be the case anymore, though, as they seem to have figured out something that’s working down the stretch. Winners of four straight before a loss at Florida ended the regular season, Kentucky (21-10, 11-8 SEC) has used a balanced attack to dominate its conference competition late in the season.

In all four games, the Wildcats had five players scoring in double digits. The result? An average of 88 points per game and four wins all by double-digit margins, including an avenging statement in Lexington over Mizzou.

Missouri had shined in the first showdown in Columbia, upsetting the nation’s then-No. 21 team 69-60 in what became part of a four-game skid for Kentucky. It was a win paved by shooting woes for the Wildcats and by one of the best all-around second halves of the season for the Tigers.

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THE MANEATER | SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION | MARCH 7, 2018

COLUMN

No. 20 Missouri gymnastics is making too many mistakes, making it impossible to live up to high expectations The veteran squad’s experience has failed the Tigers, who have proved to be far less mentally sharp than what was expected of them.

LIAD LERNER

Staff Writer

Missouri gymnastics should have beaten No. 6 Alabama back in January.

The Crimson Tide had seen its half-point lead in the third rotation drop just as abruptly as its first two beam performers, each of whom touched the floor midway through their routines in what should have been a disastrous turn of events for the home team.

Mizzou, fresh off of a dominating victory against another top-10 team in Arkansas the week before, looked poised to use its impending comeback to launch its season to new heights and finally meet the team’s lofty outside expectations.

However, juniors Michaelee Turner and Brooke Kelly each fell on their ensuing floor routines and the meet was lost, the potential momentum gone with it.

Fast forward to the present and not much has changed.

Three quarters into the 2018 season, No. 19 Mizzou has yet to click into the gear that it was expected to. While it’s true that a team’s overall record is not as important in gymnastics as the points scored, the fact that Mizzou’s veteran-heavy team is 6-6 (2-5 in

the Southeastern Conference) is worrying.

In returning 11 gymnasts from the nation’s No. 17 program last season, the Tigers should, in theory, have a mental advantage over their less experienced opponents.

But individual errors, such as the ones that blew the meet in Alabama, have been far too common and have halted both the progress and the promise of the team. The Tigers have posted 23 event scores below 9.6 this season, which means they average roughly two routines with significant point deductions for every three rotations.

In addition to making too many

23 event scores below 9.6 mistakes, the Tigers’ routines are often not good enough even when they aren’t marred by errors.

Mizzou’s individual gymnasts have only won seven of their 36 events, and as a team, they average less than 49 points in all four events.

Quite simply, Mizzou has proven to be too inconsistent this year to be counted on to be able to turn these statistics around before the end of the season.

Mary Nicholson poses during a floor routine during the Mardi Gras Invitational in St. Charles, Missouri, on Feb. 16, 2018. PHOTO BY KAYLA LOVELACE | PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT

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Tia Allbritten competes in a beam routine during the Mardi Gras Invitational in St. Charles, Missouri, on Feb. 16, 2018.

PHOTO BY KAYLA LOVELACE | PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT

While senior Kennedi Harris has yet to score below 9.8 in her team-anchoring floor routine, she is the only gymnast who the Tigers can truly rely on to get a result when it matters most. And Harris’ contributions are limited due to the fact that she only competes in two events.

Even as sophomore Aspen Tucker and junior Madeleine Huber have impressed this season after having been given more prominent roles on the team, they, too, are not immune to slipping up in important moments.

In addition to Tucker and Huber, redshirt sophomore Morgan Porter has not rediscovered the form that led her to being named the 2016 SEC Freshman of the Year since returning from tearing her Achilles tendon last season, and it seems unlikely that Britney Ward gains her balance on the beam during the Mardi Gras Invitational in St. Charles, Missouri, on Feb. 16, 2018. PHOTO BY KAYLA LOVELACE | PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT

she will be back to her best until next season.

Without Porter, Mizzou needs its other talented gymnasts to continue to step up and start producing better results in order for the team to live up to its potential and extend its postseason past the SEC championship meet at the end of this month.

On March 2, Mizzou showed they may be on their way to doing just that. The Tigers defeated the No. 5 Florida Gators thanks to its consistency in performances, as the team only posted four scores below 9.8.

Mizzou will need to keep that level of performance up in its remaining meets if it wants to meet its expectations.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com