Vol84issue24

M THE MANEATER The student voice of MU since 1955

www.themaneater.com

Vol. 84, Issue 24

March 21, 2018

FUNDING LOSS

Future of higher education wavers amidst student concerns, new budget plan The Missouri House finalized a budget for fiscal year 2019 after weeks of negotiations and debate.

ALLISON CHO Higher education cuts in fiscal year 2019’s budget may not be as severe as previously expected. On Jan. 22, Gov. Eric Greitens proposed cutting $68 million from higher education funding. However, the first draft of a different 2019 budget was finalized last week by the Missouri House of Representatives Budget Committee.

Under the governor’s proposal, higher education institutions would have had to “cut administrative bloat, eliminate duplicative, lowimpact programs, step up cost-saving collaborations,

and improve operational efficiencies,” according to the Jan. 22 budget summary.

The Missouri Department of Higher Education couldn’t provide comment on the the specific effects of the cuts.

The department manages a number of programs impacting post-secondary students, including Missouri’s state financial aid programs, but has little say in how funding will impact particular universities and higher education initiatives.

“The budget requests for the colleges and university are part of our higher education budget, but each college has a board of governors or curators who approve their own budgets,” said Liz Coleman, MDHE communications director. “[The boards] are the ones that make the decisions at specific colleges and universities. As far as impacts on students, that

MU junior Victoria Vitale speaks in front of the governor’s mansion at the MU Socialists’ Stop the Cuts rally in Jefferson City, Missouri, on March 10, 2018. PHOTO BY NATASHA VYHOVSKY | STAFF WRITER

would be determined at the college or university level as well.”

Still, the governor’s

proposal came as a source of concern for many MU students, especially in conjunction with a task

RESIDENCE HALLS ASSOCIATION

Nathaniel Dare takes RHA presidency unopposed Dare and Donovan ran unopposed under the campaign “Dare Donovan.”

SKYLER ROSSI

Student Politics Editor Nathaniel Dare, Residence Halls Association speaker of Congress, and Alexia Donovan won the 2018 RHA presidential election as president and vice president, respectively.

Dare and Donovan ran unopposed under the slate “Dare Donovan.”

“I’ve dedicated nearly two years of my time and service to RHA, and I’m so excited to be at the helm for this

next academic year,” Donovan said in an email.

Donovan said their main goals are to provide free feminine hygiene products in the residence halls, use RHA finances to provide every hall with entertainment such as gaming systems and pingpong tables and develop a residential life app as a one-stop resource for all of residents’ needs.

Current RHA President Maggie Recca said current RHA executives want to push for the continuance of projects put into place during her term.

“I think it’s common to think that with a new year, everything starts over,” Recca said. “But no, there are a lot of great things that you can

keep doing and a lot of things that you can put your own spin on.”

One project the Dare/Donovan platform plans to continue is to make dorm life desirable for upperclassmen.

“We want [to] continue the push to bring upperclassmen back to live in the residence halls,” Donovan said in an email. “We will continue to work with Residential Life to come up with more perks to living on campus.”

While the election process does slightly change depending on the year, Recca said it remains pretty similar.

Candidates have to obtain student signatures in order to be eligible to

RHA | Page 4

force assessment released in late January. The report

CUTS | Page 4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

MANEATER FILE PHOTO

Wrestling places sixth at NCAA Tournament page 15

2

T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | MARCH 21, 2018

ANIMAL TESTING

Physicians Committee offers School of Medicine free demonstration in opposition to live animals

The Student Voice of MU since 1955

Vol. 84, Issue 24 G210 Student Center • Columbia, MO 65211 573.882.5500 (phone) • 573.882.5550 (fax) editors@themaneater.com www.themaneater.com

Dr. John Pippin, director of academic affairs for the Physicians Committee, offered the demonstration on March 15, which the university has yet to respond to.

Twitter: @themaneater Instagram: @themaneater Snapchat: @the.maneater facebook.com/themaneaterMU

STEPHI SMITH

University News Editor The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has offered the MU School of Medicine an on-site demonstration of a training method that would replace the use of live animals for emergency medicine resident training.

The offer came up after Dr. John Pippin, director of academic affairs for the Physicians Committee, allegedly sent a letter on March 15 to Dr. Chris Sampson, program director of the emergency medicine residency at MU, asking it stop using live animals in its training. Pippin said he did not receive a reply from Sampson and then went up the “chain of command” and sent an email to UM System President Mun Choi, who also allegedly did not reply.

Pippin said he did receive a reply from Jeff Henegar, director of animal care quality assurance in the MU Office of Research, who told Pippin he disagreed with his reasoning and believed animals are necessary in teaching emergency medicine.

Pippin first reached out to Sampson in May, when he asked for his reasoning behind using live animals in emergency medicine training.

Sampson responded to Pippin in December, when he wrote to him explaining that he could not find replacements for some procedures.

“Thoracotomy and cardiac repair are still the 2 main procedures that I cannot find replicated in non-live models,” Sampson wrote in the email. “While I think the cadaver model with simulated blood infusion is interesting, I think the cost for cadavers would be prohibitive.”

Sampson wasn’t available for comment, but Jesslyn Chew, public relations manager with MU Health, spoke on his behalf.

Currently, the School of Medicine uses live pigs to demonstrate how to insert a test tube into a person’s

THE MANEATER

The MU School of Medicine currently uses live animals, including pigs, in its emergency medical training.PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

body between their ribs, Pippin said. He offered an alternative to the university and said he knows of a simulation, EnvivoPC, through a company called Maximum Fidelity.

Pippin replied to Sampson’s message offering that the Physicians Committee pay for a demonstration of the EnvivoPC technology to residents studying emergency medicine.

“A perfused cadaver can be used to teach every procedure for which MU is using live pigs, including thoracotomy and cardiac repair,” Pippin wrote in the email. “In addition to ethical concerns, the use of live pigs for teaching emergency medicine residents fails to provide anatomical accuracy.”

Pippin wrote to Sampson that pigs have major differences in anatomy compared to humans, including the number of ribs in a pig’s chest and thicker skin.

Pippin said the Physicians Committee has no direct relationship with Maximum Fidelity and is offering it because it believes it will help the university’s medicine teaching methods. “[The Physicians Committee is] only trying to find a solution for the university,” Pippin said.

Pippin said the demonstration that the Physicians Committee is offering is a $4,500 value.

From there, the School of Medicine can choose whether to adopt the technology.

He also said “the vast majority of emergency medicine residency programs in the United States and Canada … use humanrelevant training methods,” such as cadavers and simulations. In addition, he said every other emergency medicine residency program in the state of Missouri uses

these methods in place of live animals.

“Torturing and killing pigs to train human medicine is archaic; it has just virtually disappeared,” Pippin said.

He also said it allows for a “substandard” method of teaching students. “[The Physicians Committee doesn’t] understand why [the university doesn’t] look around and see that everyone around them has moved past the use of animals,” Pippin said. “We think they are just absolutely wrong about the need to use pigs for this training, and we have to wonder if they’re just not qualified or don’t understand how to use the simulation to do this.”

Chew said the primary goal of the School of Medicine is to provide emergency medicine resident physicians with the necessary skills and procedural knowledge for their future careers. This sometimes involves animals, but the university mainly uses simulations, she said.

She also said the courses include “national and international experts on emergency medicine simulation training.”

Chew said using live animals is a rare case, involving approximately six animals a year.

“When we need to train emergency medicine resident physicians on lifesaving measures that are not adequately replicated through simulation, we use humane and strict protocols that are reviewed by the university’s Animal Care and Use Committee,” Chew said.

Pippin offered the demonstration through the Physicians Committee on March 15, which Chew said is currently being reviewed and that a decision has not been made yet.

Edited by Morgan Smith mosmith@themaneater.com

The Maneater is the official student publication of the University of Missouri and operates independently of the university, student government, the School of Journalism and any other campus entity. All text, photos, graphics and other content are property of The Maneater and may not be reproduced without permission. The views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the University of Missouri or the MU Student Publications Board.

“Can you play ‘I Ejaculate Fire?’”

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

Opinion Editor Hunter Gilbert MOVE Editors Claire Colby Brooke Collier Visuals Director Madi Winfield Designers Corey Hadfield Hannah Kirchwehm Sara Marquardt Elizabeth Ustinov Social Media Editor Kaelyn Sturgell Sports Social Media Manager Adam Cole Adviser Becky Diehl

Want to work with us? themaneater.com/workforus

NEWS

Online this week: A new study is published about social media use, School of Journalism professor awarded Kemper Fellowship and more at themaneater.com.

3

THE CHALLENGES:

Hide and Seek PHOTO COURTESY OF PARKER REHM VIA TWITTER

GIVING DAY

Draw the Logo

Mizzou Abroad

PHOTO COURTESY OF NINETY 94 CHICAGO PODCAST VIA TWITTER

Campus Up-Close

PHOTO COURTESY OF ZALK VETERINARY MEDICAL LIBRARY VIA TWITTER

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIZZ0U VIA TWITTER

Show your Stripes PHOTO COURTESY OF KELLI HANSEN VIA TWITTER

Mizzou Giving Day yields over $13.7 million

More than $5 million more was raised than the first annual Mizzou Giving Day last year.

LAUREN BISHOP

Staff Writer

MU raised over $13.7 million during its second annual Mizzou Giving Day, which ran from noon March 14 to noon March 15.

Gifts could be given online, over the phone or mailed during this 24-hour period.

Gifts received via mail were accepted from March 12-16.

Most MU schools, units and programs reached out to lead donors in advance of Giving Day to increase momentum for the event.

Todd McCubbin, Mizzou

Alumni Association executive director, helped advise the Mizzou Advancement team during Giving Day. McCubbin also coordinated Mizzou Giving Day in 2017.

He said the event is about participation from all types of people as a way to help MU overall.

“It’s fun to see all the schools and colleges and departments and different groups that are supportive in some form or fashion,” McCubbin said. “It was just an all-around team effort. It really was about trying to celebrate private gift support for the university, which is very important to us.”

The top five units that raised the most dollars got a bonus from the dollar challenge prize pool in addition to the money they raised. The School of Journalism received

a $5 million donation, and additional funds were raised to give the school a total of over $6.2 million in donations. The school received an additional $18,000 for first place in the dollar challenge.

Shannon Burke-Kranzberg, director of advancement at the School of Journalism, said the $5 million donation from Mizzou Giving Day will be used to fund a new building project for the School of Journalism. The rest of the donations will go toward various journalism scholarships and funds.

In November, MU presented a building project plan to the UM System Board of Curators that would demolish Neff Hall and its annex and replace it with a five-story building that houses different School of Journalism programs, including KOMU, the

Hillyer gets head start in nursing research

CHRISTINA LONG

Reporter

Freshman Rachael Hillyer made history as the first Sinclair School of Nursing student to be selected for the Discovery Fellows Program.

The program, one of the MU Honors College’s longest-running fellowship programs, awards 46 $2,000 scholarships to first- and

because the reality is it fuels a lot of what goes on on this campus.”

Each unit is also a part of a participation challenge, which ranks the top five units based on the number of gifts.

Student Affairs received 318 gifts, earning it first place in the challenge and $18,000 for the program.

In addition to the MU colleges and programs receiving aid, the Mizzou Alumni Association created a scholarship challenge. Every dollar given online during the Giving Day period was matched by other donors for up to $2,500 per each chapter of MAA listed.

McCubbin said he was grateful for Giving Day’s success and said it shows how much the MU community

give | Page 5

TRANSIT

HILLYER

As the Sinclair School of Nursing’s first Discovery Fellow, Rachael Hillyer was awarded $2,000 and the opportunity to conduct research with an MU professor.

Columbia Missourian and the Novak Leadership Institute, according to the Columbia Missourian. The majority of this project would be funded by donations, BurkeKranzberg said. Planning is ongoing.

Burke-Kranzberg said donations to the School of Journalism show that the MU community cares about the work the school does to educate journalists and strategic communicators.

“From the J-School’s perspective, we are seeing alumni and people who just care about good journalism stepping up and seeing us as a way they can support quality journalism and quality strategic communications,” Burke-Kranzberg said. “It’s really nice to have a day where we are all talking about the importance of philanthropy

MSA bill establishes Public Transit Week, offers free rides to students The bill was proposed

by MSA senator Dylan Cain, who said using public transit allows students to be more engaged and educated on the issues of poverty and disability.

Rachael Hillyer is a freshman Discovery Fellow and works as a research assistant to Dr. Jane Armer in the School of Nursing. Rachael is pursuing a degree in nursing. PHOTO BY EMMALEE REED | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

second-year students each year with an ACT composite score of 33 or higher who are looking to become more involved in the research community, according to the Honors College website.

Research experience with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis

during high school inspired Hillyer to apply for the program upon her admission to the Honors College.

“I felt like [Discovery Fellows] would be cool because I figured, ‘I kind of have a background with

nurse | Page 5

STEPHI SMITH

University News Editor The Missouri Students Association senate passed bill 57-31 on March 14, which established MSA Public Transit Week as April 9-13. This bill allows for MU students to ride public buses for free during that week.

The bill was established after MSA senator Dylan Cain proposed it in early

February. He said he wanted to do something regarding transportation since last semester, since MSA has had discussions about public transit on several other occasions.

Cain was also formerly involved with Columbia’s Public Transit Advisory Commission, a commission with the city of Columbia dedicated to resolving issues regarding public transit. He said when this bill was passed, members of city government reached out to him and told him he should consider adding an incentive for students to ride buses during this week.

Cain said he went to Go COMO, Columbia’s public transit system, soon after and asked for a week to allow students free ridership and was granted such.

bill | Page 5

4

CUTS continued from page 1

recommends the inactivation of degree programs across 13 disciplines, including the romance languages, chemical engineering and applied mathematics.

In response, MU Socialists led the formation of the Stop the Cuts Coalition, an organization that seeks to spread awareness and take action against higher education cuts and tuition hikes. Members discussed the governor’s proposal on Feb. 12 at the organization’s first meeting.

“It’s crazy that we’re cutting [higher education] engineering programs,” said junior Victoria Vitale of MU Socialists. “I mean, any programs really. We’re going to be losing students, and MU isn’t going to be a flagship university of research universities, which is what we advertise ourselves to be. It’s just

RHA continued from page 1

run. After that, candidates run campaigns and participate in a debate before the voting dates.

Because there was only one slate this year, campaigning was slightly different. Recca said the slate was less inclined to campaign heavily due to the lack of competition.

“This year, [the campaign] wasn’t that large …” Recca said. “[The candidates] got the word out there, but it wasn’t as public. My year, a lot of people knew about the RHA election, and we had a lot of people vote and a lot of conversation going around each slate.”

The debate also acted as more of a forum where residents could ask questions.

This year’s election saw a significant decline in votes. RHA Chief Justice Noah McCarty said the decline was due to the lack of heavy campaigning by the slate.

“Our total vote count this year was 66 residents: 57 in support of the slate and 9 in a vote of no confidence,” McCarty said. “This is opposed to last year’s [approximately] 600 total vote count, which came from a competitive and highly publicized election.”

Over the next month, Dare and Donovan will shadow Recca and other RHA executives to learn their roles. Recca said that even after the transition period, she will be encouraging the new executives to contact her.

“I won’t be involved next year because I’ll be doing my own thing, but they’ll still definitely be able to reach me,” Recca said. “We are really emphasizing that constant communication and also giving them all the information that we can.”

Edited by Morgan Smith mosmith@themaneater.com

T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | MARCH 21, 2018 going to decrease enrollment more.”

Vitale said budget cuts to higher education would decrease untenured faculty and force tenured professors to focus more on undergraduate teaching instead of facilitating research, which is “really not the best use of our faculty.” As a result, enrollment numbers would also significantly decrease, as prospective undergraduates and graduate students in those initiatives would need to find programs at other universities.

“People tend to start going to their undergrad where they want to get their Ph.D.s,” Vitale said. “I mean, some people change, but I plan on getting my master’s here because I have professors I know I’ll be able to get TA positions [with]. I have connections, and people want to get their undergrad somewhere they can get connections. That’s going to continue to deteriorate MU.” In the House’s budget draft, the $68 million in cuts to higher education previously recommended

by the governor will not be executed.

However, Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick said he would allocate $30 million of the $68 million to scholarships if public universities decide to raise in-state tuition, according to the Associated Press. Stop the Cuts Coalition also hopes to address the potential increases in tuition.

“It’s in the Missouri constitution that tuition for public universities and colleges can’t rise faster than inflation, so this bill would allow tuition to raise up to 10 percent faster than inflation, and colleges want this,” Vitale said. “Our board of curators is lobbying for this bill.

Why? Because they need to make up the money they’re losing in their funding. This budget is being balanced on the backs of students.”

Recently, MU students and faculty have had firsthand experience with budget cuts on campus. After revelations of a $60 million budget hole and subsequent faculty cuts, the approved draft’s lack of a $68

million cut to Missouri higher education could be a comfort to some.

“We know there is a long process to be completed in the legislature related to our budget,” MU spokesman Christian Basi said.

“However, we’re very appreciative of the work that the legislators have done over the last several weeks to help maintain our budget for the following year. We’ll be working with them in the coming weeks to provide any information they need to make a final decision about our budget.”

Further details on the 2019 budget will emerge as the appropriations process continues. Coleman said the General Assembly will likely go through the process for the next couple of months, though a consensus needs to be reached before the legislative session ends in May. Edited by Stephi Smith ssmith@themaneater.com

From left, Residence Halls Association Vice President Alexia Donovan, President Nathaniel Dare and speaker Blake Willoughby after the announcement of their new roles at the RHA banquet on March 18, 2018. PHOTO COURTESY OF RHA MIZZOU (@ RHAMIZZOU) VIA TWITTER

5

T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | MARCH 21, 2018

GIVE Continued from page 3

cares about the university.

“With lagging state support and enrollment issues the last couple of years, I think it’s a really good, positive day to see what our alums, our friends, our parents, our students think about us, that they would rally together and have that sort of impact over a 24-hour period,” McCubbin said.

MU community members were also encouraged to participate in social media challenges:

NURSE Continued from page 3

this,’” Hillyer said. “I didn’t really know if I was going to get it or not, but I figured it was worth a shot.”

The Discovery Fellows Program provides freshmen with the unique opportunity to get involved with research as undergraduate students.

“This is the only program that we offer that lets a freshman dive in on day one,” said Ava Corn, scholars and fellows coordinator at the Honors College. “They get a faculty mentor, and usually they get to connect during Summer Welcome or the first week of

BILL

Continued from page 3 “That provided us a cool opportunity to promote public transit throughout the whole student body and push the benefits of public transit,” Cain said.

Cain said these benefits include understanding more about poverty and disability.

“Issues of disability and issues of poverty are going to run at the core of Go COMO’s mission,” Cain said.

“So to ride public transit and to understand public transit is to understand really the experience of poverty and disability in Columbia.”

He said these issues make the topic of public transit more important for MU student leaders to understand and make themselves involved in the greater local community.

Additionally, Cain said using public transit helps local city governments and their resources.

Drew Brooks, transit and parking manager at Go COMO, said he hopes the week increases the awareness of the citywide bus system and provides more transportation for MU students.

“Public transportation is safer than nearly all modes of travel,” Brooks said.

Brooks and Cain also referenced the environmental benefits of using public transit as opposed to each individual driving everywhere. Brooks said public transit is one of

- Hide-and-seek: Five stuffedanimal Truman the Tigers were hidden around campus. Whoever found each tiger first had to take a selfie with it and post the photo to social media.

- Draw the logo: Participants were asked to draw the MU logo and post it on social media to try to win an award for a program of their choice.

- Mizzou abroad: People were asked to post a photo of themselves wearing MU gear somewhere around the world.

- Campus close-up: Mizzou Giving Day posted a close-up photo of a self-proclaimed MU landmark.

People were asked to identify the

school. It’s a highly personalized learning experience that you really can’t get elsewhere.”

The program matches fellows with professors conducting research to serve as faculty mentors. Hillyer was matched with nursing professor Jane Armer.

Armer and Hillyer work together 8-10 hours a week in researching lymphedema, a disease that causes swelling in the arms and legs. It’s most common in people who have undergone cancer treatment.

“Last semester, I did a lot of interview transcriptions with breast cancer patients [about] their experience with lymphedema after being in remission from cancer and then the lowest carbon footprint modes of travel.

“Climate change is a reality that we can all impact by making small personal changes,” Brooks said. “Transportation is one choice that can have a great impact on reducing carbon emissions.”

MSA is also putting out a survey for students who ride the bus during Transit Week. It will promote the survey through social media and offer one person a free bus pass for a year. Cain said he would like to have other student governments, such as the Residence Halls Association and the Legion of Black Collegians, to be involved in Transit Week as well.

“Having a lot of student leaders’ inputs is going to be important,” Cain said.

“We want those people going out there and bringing back what they learned with their student government in mind.”

Cain said having public transit as a viable alternative would benefit the greater community, as most first-year students don’t have a car on campus and not everyone in college can afford their own car.

“I don’t think we should be necessarily in a position where we just have to bring our cars here or have to pay parking passes and the fees that come with those,” he said. “It’s all about providing options.”

Edited by Skyler Rossi srossi@themaneater.com

object on social media for a chance win a donation to the unit of their choice. The landmark was the statue of Beetle Bailey, located outside of Reynolds Alumni Center.

- Show your stripes: The community was asked to share a photo or video of themselves wearing MU’s black and gold to social media.

These posts were tagged with #MizzouGivingDay on social media.

The winner of each challenge was able to choose a college, program or school to donate bonus money to.

Senior Jalyn Johnson found a stuffed tiger in the Office of Admissions and was able to award a $40 gift to MU’s Legion of Black

going back to work with that,” Hillyer said.

Hillyer has visited breast cancer support groups to provide progress updates on the research and spread the word about Armer’s recent work: an app for lymphedema patients to help track their symptoms and communicate with doctors.

“We’re ready to take [development of the app] to the next step, but we’re seeking funding,” Armer said. “In the meantime, Rachael is helping us disseminate information about what we do.”

Hillyer said she has great respect for Armer as both a professional and a person.

“I look forward to every time that I meet with her,”

Collegians.

Johnson said the 4,065 donors who participated in Giving Day demonstrate the large scale of support that MU has created and maintained.

“Our alumni support system is crazy strong, and I think it shows that people really care about this university, and once you leave, you’re not detached from it,” Johnson said.

“It’s always going to be a part of you.

You’ll always bleed black and gold.”

During the first Mizzou Giving Day in 2017, more than $8.3 million was raised from over 3,500 individual gifts.

Edited by Morgan Smith mosmith@themaneater.com

Hillyer said of Armer. “I really can’t imagine doing this type of fellowship with anyone else.

She has made it so enjoyable … She has a heart of gold, and you can tell just from talking to her.”

Armer had similar praise for Hillyer.

“I very much enjoy working with Rachael,” Armer said.

“She’s truly delightful and is always positive in responding and great at problem-solving.

It’s been a very nice, reciprocal relationship.”

Outside of research, Hillyer has found more ways to get involved on campus. She is a member of a club soccer team and Pi Beta Phi sorority. Hillyer also serves as an Honors College

ambassador, a role she hopes to use to encourage other aspiring nurses and potential Discovery Fellows.

“I’ll probably talk a lot about Discovery Fellows when I meet with [visiting] families,” she said. “I think a lot of people would meet the requirements to get into the Honors College, but they just don’t realize how much of an advantage it is to be in that program, especially when you’re doing nursing.”

After college, Hillyer hopes to return to St. Louis to work at Barnes-Jewish Hospital as a bedside nurse. Armer believes the Discovery Fellows Program will help Hillyer reach her goals.

Edited by Morgan Smith mosmith@themaneater.com

OPINION

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

We want to hear your voice.

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

6

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

COLUMN

Extreme political division will be death of U.S. In order to solve the problems facing our country, we must have a conversation based on the merits of an idea and not the political party of the person backing it.

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.

Politics has centered around conflict in the U.S. throughout the country’s history. Two of the country’s Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, were very good friends during the American Revolution but became great rivals when they started to compete politically and ran against one another to be president. In the mid-1860s, the U.S. fought the Civil War over slavery. This resulted in the death of about 620,000 people and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth.

In 1963, another U.S. president, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated. Kennedy was an anti-communist who made many efforts during his presidency to

stifle communism’s spread throughout the world. His assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, declared himself a communist when he was applying for citizenship in Russia. The FBI also had information that he had attended meetings with known communists. Just a few years after Kennedy’s death, in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray. It seems clear that both of these assassinations were politically motivated acts.

Politics has always been a much debated subject in the U.S. Hopefully it will always be, but we must learn to handle our reactions to differing political views better. This does not only apply to the extreme cases such as those listed above, but also the ones we experience in everyday life. Since the 2016 election, it seems politics have become extremely divisive. We must change this because we need to be able to have conversations that include a free flow of ideas instead of slandering opponents for thinking differently.

First and foremost, we need to expose ourselves to ideas we disagree with. It is so easy to just listen to people on the news and surround ourselves with like-minded people.

However, that isn’t helping us decide what is best for the country. You are never shown an opposing point of view with a different way of attempting to solve a problem. I’m not saying that we should only listen to points of view with which we disagree or even that we have to agree or find middle ground with the other point of view,

but there needs to be a conversation.

If not, how do we even know what we think when we only know one side of an argument?

Secondly, when we have a conversation about an issue, it shouldn’t be dictated by emotions. An argument filled with statements that include “I feel like,” “to me” or “in my opinion” is not an argument but a statement of how we feel about something. If we actually want to figure out what is the best solution to a problem, we need to look at it from a factual basis.

Also, if your only response to an opposing argument is calling someone a name rather than giving them a fact that proves them wrong, you might as well just admit they are right.

Someone might say, “I think we need to build a border wall to stifle illegal immigration,” and all you have to say is, “That’s because you’re a racist.” If someone says, “We should have free college,” and all you have to say is, “You’re just entitled and looking for a handout,” then you have already lost the argument, and you aren’t helping to solve the problem. It should be assumed that anyone who does this is doing so because they don’t have a factual point to make and just don’t want to concede with the possibility of being wrong or not knowing what they are talking about.

Finally, we need to start judging people less by the political party they ascribe to and more by their ideas and their character. George Washington once said, “[political parties] may now and then answer popular ends,

they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” Washington’s insightful statement means political parties are useful for identifying those who we mainly agree with and a few other things, but in the end they will be more often used to gain power by people who don’t actually care about the principles of the political party.

I have supported President Donald Trump thus far because he has governed according to the conservative ideals he claimed he would. I have, however, lost a lot of my faith in him as the current leader of the Republican Party when he recently supported ideas such as barring people under 21 from purchasing firearms, limiting the free market by imposing tariffs and subjecting drug dealers to the death penalty. If we only judge people by their political party, then we will end up agreeing with people we would not have otherwise and we won’t even begin to think that those who think differently might have some good ideas. We must work through the problems our country faces as a collective group rather than as two opposing forces. A few years prior to the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln said, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

NIBBLING AWAY AT CORRUPTION

Russia investigation heats up, Paul Manafort is at center MADDIE NIBLETT

Opinion Columnist

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

Last week saw the world act out what can only be described as the plot of a global conspiracy-type action movie.

On March 8, Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was indicted on a second set of charges by Robert Mueller’s special counsel to investigate Russian collusion in the 2016 election.

According to the indictment, Manafort paid millions of dollars to a group of influential European ex-politicians without registering as a foreign agent, which is, of course, illegal. The goal of this Illuminati-esque group was to support his client, Viktor Yanukovych, the widely unpopular former president of Ukraine. Since these charges are being investigated by Mueller, this could mean that the larger Russia investigation is moving forward more quickly than we

know.

The Mana-nati, ominously referred to as the Hapsburg Group (a misspelling of Habsburg, a famously inbred royal family in Europe that ruled multiple countries over many centuries), allegedly lobbied the U.S. and other governments to take a pro-Ukraine stance in 2012 and 2013, when Yanukovych was president of Ukraine. During this time, Yanukovych opposed Ukraine joining NATO and attempted to back out of an agreement to join the EU at the last minute, leading to mass protests and eventually Yanukovych’s exile to Russia and his ousting as president.

These events were the backbone of the Ukrainian revolution.

So basically, Manafort’s misuse of money and influence led to a political uprising that claimed the lives of thousands of people and further destabilized a region of the world already plagued with political turmoil. The consequences for these kinds of crimes are severe — possibly severe enough that Mueller is able to convince Manafort to cooperate with the Russia investigation in exchange for his freedom.

In addition to manipulating an entire foreign government, Manafort has been

charged with laundering more than $30 million in offshore accounts and lying to multiple entities about finances. In one case, Manafort couldn’t afford to pay back a $300,000 charge on his credit card. To avoid the negative impact on his credit score, he lied and claimed that his friend Rick Gates had taken the card and told the bank that he would pay the money back. This, ladies and gents, is called credit card fraud.

While Trump has not commented on the most recent charges against Manafort, his response to the first indictment was only to remind everyone that he wasn’t directly involved instead of defending a former top member of his team.

After the first indictment last October, Trump oh-so-professionally tweeted, “Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????”

Regardless of whether or not Manafort’s alleged actions directly involved Trump’s campaign, this indictment could be one of the final pieces of the Trump-Russia puzzle. After all, the special counsel to investigate Russian collusion is the one investigating the charges. Manafort’s BFF Rick Gates is already cooperating with Mueller’s

Paul Manafort, right, speaks to “Good Morning America” co-anchor George Stephanopoulos at the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016. At this time, Manafort served as then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign chairman. PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC NEWS VIA FLICKR

investigation after accepting a plea bargain. It is entirely possible that Manafort will agree to a similar deal in exchange for information about Russian collusion and, given that he was a top official in Trump’s campaign, it would stand to reason that he knows more about Russian collusion than anyone.

Either way, justice is finally being served to those who take advantage of millions of people for their own personal gain.

7

WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

Tiger Hotel hosts MU’s annual Women’s Leadership Conference Keynote speakers Lauren Ash and Nadya Okamoto inspired women at the Tiger Hotel.

SIENA DEBOLT

Staff Writer

The Women’s Leadership Conference took place at the Tiger Hotel on March 17. The annual MU event welcomes female students and women in the Columbia area.

At the event, participants started by attending two breakout sessions that intended to educate and unify women. Speakers such as Amanda Buchholz, president of the Kansas City chapter of the National Organization for Women, hosted a breakout session that educated women on menstrual equity.

“I came to speak because I think it’s imperative that women of all ages make connections with young women as they’re choosing their career paths but are preparing to come out into the world,” Buchholz said.

“It’s really an ideal situation to speak to young minds, especially when it’s a women’s leadership conference. There is nothing like being in a room full of women who are in a student community as well as from the professional community. It’s not very often that these diverse groups come together, and the whole purpose is not just to educate each other but to inspire one another and to create a community of women where we help one another.”

The first keynote speaker, Lauren Ash, spoke while

the women in attendance ate lunch. Ash, a wellness guru and podcaster, had the participants join together for a mindfulness activity. During the activity, Ash had the attendees think about women who have impacted and shaped their lives and when it’s OK to let certain unhealthy relationships go.

“This year, for me, is about owning my power,” Ash said during the activity. “Once I started shifting from end goals to larger intentions, I exceeded the goals that I had in my life.”

The empowerment breakout session after Ash’s speech was created with the idea of teaching women how to channel the best versions of themselves to the world.

MU senior Tyler Riley decided to focus her session on goals and mental health. During her session, attendees were encouraged to write down the best versions of themselves and ideas of their best future.

“Now, what’s getting in the way of your future best self?” Riley said. “The answer is nothing. The only thing that’s getting in your way is perspective. What we need to realize is that our walk is not defined by our struggles, but rather by how we embrace them.”

The conference then shifted from the empowerment session to the last keynote speaker, Nadya Okamoto, a sophomore at Harvard University.

PERIOD, a movement Okamoto started when she was 16 years old, focuses on sexual and menstrual education and also provides menstrual products to women in need. During a time when Okamoto was struggling with insomnia, she

began to research the role that menstruation plays in women’s lives around the world.

“I learned that periods are the No. 1 reason why girls don’t go to school in developing countries because it signifies a girl’s transition from girlhood into womanhood,” Okamoto said during her speech. “But that information was relatively easy to find. What was harder was to uncover the need in the U.S. and realizing that there’s no sustainable service that brings period products to women in homeless shelters or prisons, and you can find these articles and realize how pads and tampons become bargaining chips of power between guards and inmates in female prisons because there simply is not enough.”

After speaking with homeless women in the downtown Portland, Oregon, area where she was raised, Okamoto decided to make a change in her community.

She committed to making packages every week for 20 homeless women she had met.

“That’s all I wanted to do; I was just dreaming small,” Okamoto said. “I talked to everyone, went to Eventbrite and won every competition I could find and ended up getting a startup grant from Hillary Clinton’s foundation for about $25,000, and I recruited a staff.”

Now, PERIOD is the largest youth-run nongovernmental organization in women’s health and one of the fastestgrowing nonprofits in the United States. Okamoto is also currently focusing on Next Fellows, an organization that matches youth with peer leaders to make political change the youth hope to see.

Top: Tiffany Melecio, right, holds a “Wonder Woman power pose” during a session on empowerment at the Women’s Leadership Conference on March 17, 2018.

Right: Freshman Mikella Vermaire poses for a photo with keynote speaker Nadya Okamoto at the Women’s Leadership Conference on March 17, 2018.

Okamoto is the founder of PERIOD, the largest youth-run non-governmental organization, or NGO, in women’s health. PHOTOS BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

MU freshman Abigail Labonte said hearing Okamoto speak inspired her to make changes in her own community.

“Nadya was really inspiring in showing that there are women’s issues that not a lot of people think about and that there is always change to be made,” Labonte said. “I think what I’m going to take from this conference is to stop the stigma of being afraid to talk about issues. If someone asks about a particularly feminine issue that I normally wouldn’t

be comfortable talking about, I would get the word out and talk about it on social media to just get it out there.”

The speakers at the Women’s Leadership Conference hope to inspire women to make changes of their own.

“It’s great to share stories and talk about these things,” Buchholz said during her session. “But what matters is what you do when you leave here.”

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

8

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 2 1, 2 0 1 8

WOMEN’S POETRY NIGHT

Women’s Poetry Night empowers performers and audience Eight women performed their original poetry for an intimate crowd.

CHARLY BUCHANAN

Reporter

The 22nd annual Women’s Poetry Night combined artistry with conversation to facilitate poetry performances on March 14 at the Women’s Center.

Eight women read their poetry, each with honest voices and deeply personal stories. Their poems ranged from heartfelt accounts of familial relationships to expressions of both selfdoubt and triumph. Sarah Cox, a student staff member at the Women’s Center and first-time poetry performer, began by telling the crowd of her love for affirmation. She felt relieved and happy after her performance.

“It was really cool to be in this space that I’m so familiar with and sharing it with people that were very sympathetic,” Cox said. “I loved that I could look into the audience and everyone was nodding and smiling at me. I felt so good about myself.”

Cox addressed the way society perceives largebodied women with her poem

“Space” and the way people have negatively reacted to her size.

“Not everything in this universe is encouraged to take up space,” Cox said in her poem.

The Women’s Center and the Counseling Center, who sponsored the event, prioritized making everyone feel safe and comfortable.

The event began with a representative from the Counseling Center speaking to the crowd about its resources. She explained that mental health issues disproportionately affect women and minority groups.

As the night progressed, audience members were invited to share their answers to a number of questions, such as “Who inspires you?” and “How do you speak your truth?” The crowd became more comfortable and responded to replies with cheers and clapping, while the poets received an abundance of snaps.

The poets ranged from first-time readers to experienced performers. One performer, Hanna Caldwell, has been writing poetry since she was 12 years old and performing it for roughly two years. She explained the way performing at the Women’s Center was different than performing in other places.

“Everyone knows they’re here for poetry,” Caldwell said. “If you’ve ever been the only poet in a room full of musicians, it is the worst feeling because no one quite wants you up there but they’re willing to let you talk because they have to.

Here, people are like, ‘Yes, we came for this,’ and that’s a very unique and wonderful feeling.”

Catherine Parke, MU professor emerita of English from 1973-02, happily returned to read one of her poems to the group and hand out “Art in Hard Times,” a list of her favorite works of art from previous years. She explained that the best art is made during difficult times.

She also had the audience pass around an object and share a “beautiful memory” and encouraged them to take this practice back home with them.

The coordinator of MU’s Women’s Center, Danielle Palomo, participated in the night by reading her own poetry. She described the experience as both nervewracking and fun and emphasized the importance of this kind of event.

“This is just an opportunity for women to really share their stories and really share their words because for the longest time, women’s poetry

The MU Women’s Center held a local, female-centric poetry night on March 14, 2018. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WOMEN’S CENTER (@MUWOMENSCENTER) VIA TWITTER

wasn’t exactly considered worth listening to at all,” Palomo said.

Cox expressed similar feelings about the night and the history of women as poets.

“I think poetry is such an amazing form of expression that women have been kind of shut off from for a lot of

our history,” Cox said. “I mean, for most of history, anonymous was a woman. So I just think that spaces like this and times like this and events like this just allow us to give back what history has stolen from us.”

Edited by Alexandra Sharp asharp@themaneater.com

MU IMPROV

Femprov celebrates female-driven improv comedy Two all-female teams from MU Improv performed scenes about exorcisms, bestiality and a failing family coal business Tuesday night.

EMMA VEIDT

Reporter

MU Improv’s female comedians furrowed their brows in concentration after listening to audience members yell out suggestions of things not associated with sex. Lined up against the wall of The Shack during the annual Femprov show on March 13, the women improvised one-liners like: “Sex with me is like Tide Pods. If you put it in your mouth, you will die.”

“Sex with me is like a plane crash. There are too many people in the cockpit.”

“Sex with me is like Six Flags. I might throw up. I’m sorry.”

MU students gave suggestions, like life events or places where you would

lay a blanket, to create interconnected scenes.

According to MU Improv President Connor Levi Hills, the two teams, Vagical and Not Your Mom, each had 30 minutes to perform, and at the end of the night, they combined to play a game called “Sex with me is like…”

Each team showcased longform improv, the same format that catapulted the careers of female comedians like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

“One of the main goals of Femprov is to acknowledge women in comedy because we are quite a minority,” Femprov performer Sarah Pribe said. “It gives all of us the opportunity to perform with each other, which in turn allows us to support and motivate each other both on and off the stage. We are all women in comedy, and so by supporting each other, we can hopefully create a greater platform for women in comedy.”

Members of the first team, Vagical, ran on stage to Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” and the seven women introduced themselves as their characters for the night.

These characters spanned

from Gert, a Swede who was hit on the head as a child and did not speak correctly, to Virginica, a girl infected with demons and needing to be exorcised. Throughout the half hour, the performers webbed together stories about a failing family coal business and a high school dance. Both were centered around two audience suggestions: a picnic basket and an exorcism.

Two or three women improvised at a time on The Shack’s stage while the remaining members of the team stood offstage and laughed with the rest of the audience. Sometimes, performers took the scene in a far-fetched direction and reacted to their own words with a sympathetic grimace.

However, the improvisers say “yes, and” to all ideas, a concept in which a performer accepts what another performer says onstage and expands on that idea.

The second team, Not Your Mom, began its performance with two women riding alongside each other on horseback. This established the themes for the rest of the night. The other scenes

Femprov participants pose after their performance on March 13. PHOTO COURTESY OF KENDRICK SMITH (@MUIMPROV) VIA TWITTER

included a town-wide horse versus mule rivalry, a woman undergoing surgery to attach herself to her horse and a child learning about sex for the first time. If somebody standing offstage thought of a new direction to take the scene, often as a response to something her teammate said on stage, she would shoo that teammate into the sidelines and present her new idea.

“It is a space where you don’t have to be good, just interested,” Pribe said.

“Everyone has good and bad scenes, even the most experienced people, so it is a very humbling activity, and everyone knows that.

Something we do at the end of each practice is pat each

person on the back and say, ‘I got your back’ because

not only do we have each other’s backs in scenes but also outside of the club.”

Even though the problems

women

face

persist

over

time, jokes and scenarios performed at Femprov occur only

once.

According

to

members

of

MU Improv member Gabby Velasquez,

Femprov practice Thursdays at 7 p.m. on the second floor of Memorial Union and have

shows every Tuesday at 9 p.m. in The Shack.

Edited by Alexandra Sharp asharp@themaneater.com

9

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 2 1, 2 0 1 8 THEATER

Spring break theater productions in St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago

If you’re looking to find your new favorite play or musical this spring break, don’t miss these productions in cities close to Columbia.

HANNAH MCFADDEN

Reporter

Spring break is a time for freedom from school work and new experiences. If you’re interested in seeing something new, exciting and artistic that’s close to home, check out these nearby on-stage performances in major cities.

Kansas City Informed Consent Unicorn Theatre March 7 to April 1 Ticket Prices: $37 – $42 Informed Consent is based on a 2004 court case, Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai Reservation v. Arizona Board of Regents and Therese Ann Markow. In the late ‘80s, Arizona State University researchers reached out to members of the Havasupai Tribe to include them in a study regarding the high rates of Type 2 Diabetes within the tribe. Years after the diabetes testing, a woman from the tribe attended a researcher’s lecture and discovered the tribe’s blood samples had been used for other testing outside of diabetes. A lawsuit about participants’ informed consent during research followed.

The play, by Deborah Zoe Laufer, is a thoughtprovoking look into the ethics behind the court case and the process of informed consent.

It follows a determined yet borderline obsessive genetic anthropologist from Arizona in her research and how her personal life relates to the case. It’s an intense show, and it explores the intricate minefield of genetic testing.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Kansas City Repertory Theatre March 23 to April 15 Ticket Prices: $25 – $80 Stephen Sondheim’s horror musical about London urban legend Sweeney Todd is a gory and spectacular event.

The show puts the killer at the center of its plot. Todd, after being wrongfully imprisoned for most of his life, returns to London, bent on seeking revenge against those who

had him imprisoned. His ploy is slightly complicated by a surprise accomplice, a poor baker named Mrs. Lovett.

Infatuated with Todd, Lovett indulges him in his path to revenge. She bakes his victims into meat pies and makes a killing off the profits. It’s a dark show, but its musical numbers make it surprisingly lighthearted. Popular songs from the show include “Green Finch and Linnet Bird,” “The Worst Pies in London” and “A Little Priest.” If you aren’t sold on the live production, there is a 2007 film version starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

St. Louis The Color Purple The Fabulous Fox Theatre March 20 to April 1 Ticket Prices: $25 – $85 Based on the renowned book by Alice Walker, the Broadway tour of The Color Purple will play in St. Louis over spring break. It’s a heartbreaking yet wonderful story of what it means to be a family and to be an AfricanAmerican woman in the early 1900s. Sisters Celie and Nettie are abused by their father and end up being separated.

Through marriages, children, affairs and mission work, Celie must slowly work her way back to Nettie, building a family of their own along the way.

The enticing tale of friendship during hardship won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 2016, and actress Cynthia Erivo won the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her emotional and stunning performance as Celie.

Chicago On Your Feet! The Emilio and Gloria Estefan Musical Cadillac Palace Theatre March 23 to April 1 Ticket Prices: $77 – $199 The national tour of this Tony-nominated Broadway production stops in Chicago over spring break. On Your Feet! made its world premiere at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago in 2015 and was Broadwaybound shortly after. The plot follows Grammy-winning husband and wife duo, Emilio and Gloria Estefan. Through ups and downs, the pair stays devoted to each other and the success of their music.

It’s a passionate, energetic show that features some of the Estefans’ most popular songs, such as “Conga,” “Turn the Beat Around” and “Mi Tierra.”

The national tour of On Your Feet! returns to Chicago this spring break after a Tony-nominated Broadway run. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA

The Gentleman Caller Raven Theatre March 28 to May 13 Ticket Prices: $15 – $29 This is the world premiere of The Gentleman Caller, a steamy, intimate look at the true love affair of playwrights Tennessee Williams and William Inge. The show takes

place before the playwrights had found fame. Williams is opening a new show and Inge is a newspaper critic.

Right before the premiere of Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie in the 1940s, Inge invites Williams over for an interview. This sparks a romance perfect for the stage.

The show is incredibly familiar for those of you with

a good deal of Midwest pride.

Williams’ show is opening in Chicago. The interview between Williams and Inge

takes place in St. Louis. What’s

most familiar is the fact that Inge was once a Stephens College faculty member.

Edited by Brooke Collier

bcollier@themaneater.com

10

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 2 1, 2 0 1 8

COLUMN

‘Annihilation’ offers a surreal distortion of genre thrills In director Alex Garland’s exotic version of the final frontier, life’s answers lead to even bigger questions for a fiercely resistant Natalie Portman.

JESSE BAALMAN

Columnist

No other major studio is taking risks like Paramount, the distributor that heavily marketed Mother! and Downsizing before both flopped in wide release. The effort it put into each wild card is admirable even if box office doom was inevitable for such original work. It’s more of a shame that the third strike had to be Annihilation, arguably the most accessible to mainstream audiences.

The good news is Columbia’s Ragtag Cinema will begin screening the film (adapted from the novel of the same name) on March 23 as it disappears from other local theaters less than a month after release.

“Isn’t self-destruction coded into us?” Alex Garland’s anticipated follow-up to Ex Machina opens with a biologist regarding an expedition into a quarantine zone termed “the Shimmer.” Lena (Natalie Portman) enters the anomalous region after her military husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac), returns home as a bizarrely

ill lone survivor. To learn more in the wake of uncertainty about her life and marriage, she volunteers for the Area X mission with a group of soldier-scientists who are each broken in their own ways.

The Shimmer is like an iridescent jellyfish mushroom that rapidly expands over the Southern coastland of the country, mutating all its inhabitants. It is an extraterrestrial phenomenon that formed in a lighthouse on a beach after a meteor strike. As each character moves farther into an opaque jungle, their psyches become increasingly disfigured. Josie, the physicist, (Tessa Thompson) suffers from depression and begins to realize the environment acts on organisms the same way a prism distorts and refracts light. These effects become alarming when the team paramedic, Anya (Gina Rodriguez), descends into mania.

Like the creature in Alien or the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Shimmer represents the unknown in which sci-fi characters push their existential boundaries. It functions as the main source of the film’s thought-provoking themes as well as its psychedelic playground of engaging set design. Mutations range from beautiful to demented and provide the audience with several scary set pieces like a shark-toothed alligator and a bear with a skull face.

Everyone who enters the shimmer awaits a separate fate, but Lena

Natalie Portman stars in Annihilation, the newest sci-fi film from director Alex Garland. PHOTO COURTESY OF IMDB

and psychologist leader Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) reach an especially strange destination in the film’s final act.

Portman could carry the movie herself, but she is enlivened by skilled performers in this rare female-fronted action-horror film. It might not be as convincing as Black Swan or Jackie, but that’s partly due to the fact that the film stumbles slightly when it comes to effective character drama. However, Garland comes close to balancing personal subjects against sci-fi spectacle like in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. Tying both elements together, the score

by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury

features acoustic guitars, orchestral synths and a touch of electronics.

Annihilation is a lot like if Earth had a form of cancer. At one point, Lena realizes, “It’s not destroying … it’s making something new.” In a climax of hallucinatory craziness, she struggles while resisting nature’s transformative power. Sure to leave hearts beating and minds wandering, the last moments are a visual experience that must be seen to believe.

Edited by Claire Colby ccolby@themaneater.com

COLUMN

Millennial musical artists who will stand the test of time We’ve had plenty of great artists crop up over the last few years, but who will stick around for years to come?

MEGAN OOSTHUIZEN

Coulmnist

From the Beatles to Nirvana, there are certain artists that define an entire generation. Whether it be their catchy songs, natural talent or even their questionable reputation, some artists manage to live on in the hearts of a specific age group.

Though our generation of music is far from over, here are my top picks of artists I think will be remembered as the voice of the millennial generation.

Beyoncé How could I not include the Queen Bey herself? From Destiny’s Child and Sasha Fierce to the bat-wielding symbol of women empowerment in Lemonade, Beyoncé embodies the word “iconic.” For nearly three decades, Beyoncé has truly reigned supreme.

Kanye West I think Kanye said it best himself:

“I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice.” And that he definitely is. Though West has had massive success within the music industry, he is perhaps best known for his definite above-average ego.

He will, in his own words, go down as “one of the greatest rappers of all time.”

Rihanna A singer, fashion icon and general badass, Rihanna is all these things and so much more. Her music career has spanned over a decade, with hits like “Umbrella,” “Diamonds” and “Work” earning her the title as one of the best-selling music artists of all time. More recently, she’s even dominated the makeup world with the launch of her Fenty Beauty line.

Bruno Mars Though this artist might be a surprise for some, with massively successful hits like “Just the Way You Are” and “Uptown Funk,” Bruno Mars has quickly become a household name. His undeniable talent and unique singing voice has lead to the sale of over 180 million of his singles worldwide. If that doesn’t earn him a spot in history, what will?

Edited by Claire Colby ccolby@themaneater.com

Beyoncé performs at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2013. She has performed at three Super Bowls, twice during the halftime show and once during the national anthem. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA

MOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVE MOVE MOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVE MOVE MOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVE MOVE MOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVE MOVE

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 2 1, 2 0 1 8

11

SPORTS

Online this week: Softball loses second straight SEC series, baseball drops two of three at LSU and more at themaneater.com.

12

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Late-season skid puts bitter end to historic season for women’s basketball Missouri’s season ended after a 80-70 loss to Florida Gulf Coast in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

ANDY KIMBALL

Staff Writer

Head coach Robin Pingeton stood on the sideline with her hands on her hips as she watched the last seconds of her team’s season tick away.

After the final buzzer sounded, Missouri had been stunned by 12-seed Florida Gulf Coast, as an 80-70 loss ended the season of Pingeton’s most talented team at Missouri.

Missouri had one of its most successful seasons in recent memory, but the success of the regular season could be overshadowed with a late-season skid that left a bitter taste in the mouths of Tiger fans.

Missouri’s loss in the first found of the NCAA Tournament was the Tigers’ third loss in their last four games and ended a season of firsts for the Tigers.

Missouri was ranked as high as 11th in the country, the program’s highest ranking since 1984, and had the most wins since the 198384 season.

After a strong start to the season and a dominant run in Southeastern Conference

play, Missouri’s season took a turn for the worse after the Tigers went to College Station and were blown out 82-63 in their regular season finale against Texas A&M. Missouri then went to Nashville, Tennessee, for the SEC Tournament. There, Missouri’s offensive dominance in the regular season vanished. Missouri escaped the first round with a 59-50 win against league-worst Ole Miss, and its offense was suffocated in a 55-41 loss to Georgia in the second round.

The Tigers then traveled to Palo Alto, California, where any Tiger not named Sophie Cunningham was devoid of effort. Missouri’s shooting hurt it as well as the two problems that plagued the Tigers all season: turnovers and ball pressure.

Missouri struggled to force turnovers all year. The Tigers were 334th in the country in steals and were 344th of 349 teams in NCAA Division I with 10.5 turnovers forced per game.

The lack of ball pressure from Missouri and an offense that turned the ball over 475 times this season led to the team losing the turnover battle in 28 of its 32 games this season, forcing the Tigers to outscore their opponents with fewer possessions in nearly every contest.

Losing possessions from turnovers put a lot of pressure on Missouri’s shooting. Because Missouri would almost always have fewer

WBB | Page 13

Guard Sophie Cunningham looks to make a pass against Mississippi State on Feb. 1, 2018. PHOTO BY COURTNEY VILLMER | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Questions remain following Missouri’s early exit from NCAA Tournament After a season in which the team’s roster was constantly changing, uncertainty reigns regarding who will stay, who will go and what new assets Missouri will add this offseason.

BENNETT DURANDO, JOE NOSER

Assistant Sports Editor, Sports Editor What happened?

When it was all said and done, in the depths of Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena in the wee hours of a bittersweet Friday night, Cuonzo Martin and the Missouri men’s basketball team could only just begin to sort through the rollercoaster ride that had finally reached its conclusion against Florida State that evening.

For a program that had won just eight games the year before and hadn’t seen NCAA Tournament competition since 2013, mere presence in the field of 68 teams was an accomplishment to be celebrated. Still, considering their ambitious 2017 offseason and overachieving Southeastern Conference campaign, the Tigers expected more than a first-round exit.

The feelings, without a doubt, were conflicting.

At the center of this season’s up-anddown narrative was one trait: depth.

The roster was never consistent at any point as transfers, injuries and one unseemly Title IX investigation followed the Tigers throughout the season.

On opening night against Iowa State, Missouri was 11 men deep, excluding walk-ons and redshirts. Then Michael Porter Jr., the No. 1 freshman prospect in the country, was sidelined two minutes into the season. It was hip discomfort at the time; it was a supposed season-ending back surgery two weeks later.

The snowball kept rolling from there, picking up redshirt freshman and expected future star C.J. Roberts on its way down. He transferred to Texas Tech, and not long after, freshman Blake Harris followed the transfer trend by leaving for North Carolina State.

Harris had been slotted in at starting point guard for eight straight games prior to the surprising decision.

By conference play, Martin had to be sweating about his guard options, and then, suddenly, another one was gone.

Junior Terrence Phillips was suspended indefinitely after a Title IX investigation was opened against him. Soon after, he was no longer on the team.

Even the Tiger walk-ons weren’t safe, as fan favorite Adam Wolf’s season ended due to a knee injury suffered during practice. Then, with Porter Jr.’s potential return looming in early March, junior Cullen VanLeer, a 13-game starter who had become a more relevant role player than anticipated due to the already diminished roster, tore his ACL on senior night at Mizzou Arena against Arkansas.

Cue yet another adjustment.

That was Brett Rau, another walkon who was shoved into nine minutes against Georgia in a first-round SEC Tournament loss.

Then came maybe Missouri’s most detrimental loss of the year, and Rau was forced into 13 more minutes of playing time on the team’s biggest stage in five years.

Senior Jordan Barnett’s arrest on suspicion of a DWI fewer than 48 hours before the selection show was a devastating blow. The experienced small forward had started all 32 games for Missouri and was averaging 34 minutes per game. It was peak Murphy’s Law timing for the Tigers.

Their answer? Porter Jr., finally back from the dead and ready to carry his team to a magical March run on his transcendently talented shoulders.

That didn’t pan out. Porter Jr. shot 9 for 29 over his two games back.

He didn’t appear in a regular-season game beforehand, causing him to be visibly gassed in his extended minutes in both postseason contests. But like his teammate junior Jordan Geist, who dealt with flu-like symptoms ahead of the SEC Tournament and was repeatedly battered against Florida State, Porter Jr. had to play through those problems.

Martin had no other choice.

“We lost both games I played,” Porter Jr. said after the season-ending defeat, “so I don’t feel like I helped the team.”

That was why he came back — to help the team — but battling his own body as the recovery process was clearly still in progress, Porter Jr. was never truly back.

Instead, the team had to adjust to altered roles with minimal preparation, and the missing chemistry was evident.

“It was more so complicated for our [other] players,” Martin admitted after it was all over. “We didn’t get into a flow like we needed to.”

That’s the reason it’s all over so soon: Throughout the four-month season, Missouri was dealing too much with its own personnel losses to establish a lasting flow with the players it had. It’s also why those 20 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth are so impressive

MBB | Page 13

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

WBB Continued from page 12

quality possessions than the other team, the only way for the team to win would be by outshooting its opponent.

The strategy worked well for most of the season as Missouri shot 45.8 percent from the field, the 19th-best mark in the country, and used its efficiency on offense to mask the problem of the team’s lack of ball control.

But once the Tigers lost their shooting touch late in the season, they couldn’t overcome their issues with turnovers and on-ball defense.

Now, Missouri will look toward next year and will need to find a way to create more turnovers to be able to take the next step in becoming one of the top programs in the country.

MBB Continued from page 12

in the first place; not many teams could’ve had that kind of success considering the circumstances.

But when Rau played one more minute than steady starting center Jeremiah Tilmon in that tournament game, it’s go figure why Missouri didn’t go further. It can only hope that it can maintain the positives and take the next step in the future based on the lessons from this roller coaster season.

What’s next?

With Porter Jr. more than likely gone for the NBA draft and his brother Jontay potentially right behind him, Missouri will have to look for more star power next year to replace if one or both of the Porter brothers leave school.

Production-wise, though, no one will be more difficult to replace than graduate transfer Kassius Robertson and Barnett.

Robertson was Missouri’s leading scorer, averaging 36 minutes per game and 16.3 points per game. Robertson did an admirable job at point guard, a position he’d never played in college prior to this season, but it was evident he was out of his element in the role at times.

While Missouri will have to look elsewhere to replace Robertson’s lead-by-example presence on and off the court, the team will have a few options to replace Robertson at the point guard position.

One is Geist, who will be a senior next season. He will be asked to provide more veteran leadership for a team that will be even younger next season.

But while he led the team with 2.9 assists per game, he’s showed he’s more comfortable coming off the bench in a sparkplug-type role than as a starter.

Missouri would be better off with him as a rotational player than being the one to bear the burden of the majority of the

13

Missouri will also have to look at improving its defense despite losing redshirt senior Jordan Frericks, the team leader in steals and the team’s secondbest player behind Cunningham.

The Tigers have two options to replace Frericks. First, they can replace her with redshirt sophomore Hannah Schuchts and have junior Cierra Porter switch to a more post-oriented role on offense.

Schuchts is a player who specializes in shot blocking and spacing the floor on offense. She was fourth on the team with 17 blocks, despite only averaging 7.8 minutes of play per game this year.

Schuchts was also fifth on the team in 3s with 15 and fourth on the team in 3-point percentage, shooting 37.5 percent from behind the arc.

The switch to the post could be good for Porter, who struggled shooting outside

jumpers this season. Porter shot 25 percent from behind the arc but was much more efficient inside, shooting 50 percent on shots inside the arc.

Inserting Schuchts into the lineup would allow Missouri to add more rim protection to help the defense when it is exposed on direct drives to the basket, like in the loss to Florida Gulf Coast. Also, Schuchts would space the floor on offense and allow Porter to shift to a position where she can be more efficient and also use her size to grab more offensive rebounds.

The second option would be to replace Frericks with a more traditional wing player. Missouri will add two wings next year when it brings in Grace Berg and freshman Haley Troup.

Berg, a senior at Indianola High School in Iowa, is ranked as the 37th best player in the class of 2018 by ESPN.com. She is a wing player with a skill

set similar to sophomore Amber Smith and Cunningham.

Troup transferred from South Carolina in the summer and will join the team after redshirting her freshman season. Troup is a 5-foot-10 player who had over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds at Gadsden City High School in Alabama.

Adding Troup or Berg as fourth wing players would give Missouri more quickness for defense on the perimeter.

With more long wing players, the Tigers would be able to pressure the ball and create more turnovers and deflections.

Also, Smith has shown herself to be capable of playing as a smaller power forward. She filled in for part of the 2016-17 season as a power forward once Frericks missed the season with a knee injury. Smith is also a good rebounder. She was third on the team with 5.3 rebounds per game playing from the wing.

Adding Troup or Berg and switching Smith to a small-ball power forward would make the Tigers more athletic on both sides of the floor, allowing Missouri to apply more pressure on defense and to better defend one-on-one against drives to the basket.

The added athleticism would also add more players who can drive to the basket and space the floor with better shooting from outside, as Troup and Berg are both better shooters than Frericks.

No matter what changes Pingeton makes for next year’s team, fixing the issues that plagued the Tigers in the postseason will determine whether they can make the next step and become a team that can advance out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

team’s minutes at the point guard position next season.

Since Geist is the only player returning who played significant minutes at point guard, the team will have to turn to class of 2018 signee Xavier Pinson. Pinson, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound three-star point guard out of Simeon in Chicago, is undersized and will have to put on weight to be a playmaker at Missouri. But his court vision and passing ability is already there, so if he can put on some muscle over the summer, he should be able to make an immediate impact.

However, Pinson will take a backseat if Missouri can land an even more coveted recruit — Webster Groves, Missouri’s, Courtney Ramey.

Ramey originally committed to Louisville before Rick Pitino was fired amidst an FBI scandal and is now one of the nation’s top remaining unsigned players in the class of 2018.

Missouri has turned up the pressure in recent weeks to land Ramey, who made an unofficial visit to Columbia for Missouri’s March 3 game against Arkansas.

Martin visited Ramey at his state championship game on Saturday and has seen three of the senior’s last four games.

If Missouri was able to land Ramey, he would be penciled in as the Tigers’ starting point guard next season and would make an already solid 2018 recruiting class all the more formidable.

At shooting guard, Missouri should get an upgrade from the arrival of four-star recruit Torrence Watson. Watson is a good friend of Ramey’s and should help in the recruiting efforts to bring Ramey to Mizzou.

Watson is the 20th-best shooting guard prospect in the country according to 247sports. com and has had a senior season nothing short of ridiculous at Whitfield School in St. Louis, averaging a city-best 31.9 points per game. At 6-foot-5, 175 pounds, like Pinson, he will also have to put on weight

to succeed in college. But he’s showed himself to be a capable scorer, something Missouri will need to replace the production of Barnett and Robertson.

Missouri has a limited number of players on its roster that can fill in for Barnett next season in the starting rotation.

While his outside shooting will be difficult to replace, Missouri could end up with an even more athletic stretch-4 type to replace his production: Belleville, Illinois, product E.J.

Liddell.

Liddell is already a beast of a player. At 6-foot-7, 220 pounds, he’s got the size to compete at the next level immediately.

His commitment is considered open, but he’s set to graduate in the class of 2019, so Missouri will have to wait a while to hear his decision.

With Tilmon coming back at the fifth spot in the rotation and with the potential for Porter to return as well, Missouri could end up having an even

more formidable starting five next season than it did when the team began this season with Michael Porter Jr. in the starting lineup on Nov. 10.

If Ramey chooses to come to Mizzou and Watson is as good as advertised, Missouri could have a team well positioned to take the next step in Martin’s quest to “build a program” in Columbia.

Edited by Kaitlyn Hoevelmann khoevelmann@themaneater.com

14

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

LEGACY

A sports writer’s musings: I finally covered an event alongside my biggest hero In my first year studying journalism at MU, worlds collided with the longtime Post-Dispatch scribe at the SEC Tournament in St. Louis.

BENNETT DURANDO

Assistant Sports Editor

An hour before tipoff of Missouri’s eventual win against Tennessee in January, I was strolling toward the media entrance to Mizzou Arena with Vahe Gregorian, a sports columnist for the Kansas City Star and one of my biggest role models in journalism, who happened to have been available to graciously give this college student’s tired legs a ride that night.

As we were circling the building, Vahe turned to me and pointed something out.

“You know, it’s funny; I’ve done this probably a hundred times with your dad,” he said, referring to the walk into a venue to cover a sporting event.

“Now I’m doing it with his son.”

This March, I got to make that walk with my biggest role model, my dad, for the first time.

This is where I should ask for your forgiveness, because this is not a story carrying any Missouri basketball news, nor is it a game recap, profile or feature of any sort.

This is about personal experience.

So pardon me for momentarily ignoring the third-person veil

Men’s basketball beat writer Bennett Durando with his father at the SEC Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, in March 2018. PHOTO BY JOE NOSER | SPORTS EDITOR

between beat writer and reader.

Regarding that veil: When I go to cover an event, I’m there to bring information and insight to you, the person who is hopefully reading this right now either on our website or in a paper on campus.

I’m not there for me. But that being said, journalists are still people, and especially as a student journalist who may not have his content read as much as professionals, every event is also a personal opportunity — an opportunity to surround myself with the process of game coverage, an opportunity to get better.

So covering the men’s basketball SEC Tournament in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago was of course beyond exciting in more ways than one — none more so

than covering an event alongside Stu Durando for the first time.

Not shadowing him for an evening or waiting after a game for him to finish a write-up, but being independently credentialed to work alongside him.

So naturally, I couldn’t help but snicker when the long-time St. Louis Post-Dispatch scribe turned to me during one of the games, cringing to suppress an embarrassed laugh of his own, and asked if he could borrow a pen from me.

The tournament was full of those little moments; finding him multitasking in the workroom, finishing a story write-up while calling me over to share updates on the postseason exploits of his usual

beat, Saint Louis University; turning to him and the rest of the PostDispatch crew to share in a moment of mixed hilarity and disgust at one team’s radio producer cheering on Press Row; meeting for a quick goodbye hug under the arena while surrounded by other writers before I departed for Columbia.

It’s due to him and my ex-sports writing mom (who ties him for that No. 1 role-model ranking) that I’m now an undertaker in this trade to begin with. They once founded a school newspaper while I was at Avery Elementary. I joined in second grade; I had nothing better to do. I loved it.

Over the years since then, I’ve followed my dad on work trips from his days on the SLU beat to the Illinois beat and back to SLU. I learned from his and my mom’s experiences more than anything. I learned what it meant to be a sports writer, and I learned what parts of the job were most loved and least loved.

I learned that one of the most important — and most enjoyable — parts of being a sports writer is seeking out and telling unique stories. We are inherently compelled by a good story, especially one about family.

Covering the SEC Tournament with dad, I was lucky to be a part of one of those stories.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

Apply today for Fall 2018!

UCENTREONTURNER.COM

PROUD SPONSOR OF MIZZOU® ATHLETICS

See office for details.

15

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

Missouri gymnastics wins final regularseason meet on senior night Friday’s meet was highlighted by senior night celebrations and high-scoring routines from the Tigers.

REAGAN LOFTUS

Staff Writer

Scoring 196.800 points, No. 21 Missouri gymnastics dominated Hearnes Center with wins over Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri on Friday.

It was a bittersweet day for the Tigers as they honored their senior stars before the final regular season meet began, but emotions did not affect the team’s performance.

Missouri lit up the arena, starting on vault in the first rotation. Redshirt sophomore Morgan Porter earned her season’s top score on vault with a 9.850. She continues to improve after tearing her Achilles tendon last year.

Junior Britney Ward and sophomore Aspen Tucker both scored 9.875 to add to the final score of 49.175.

Junior Madeleine Huber secured the top score on bars, performing a near-flawless routine that earned her a 9.900. Excitement filled the arena and continued as senior Shauna Miller stepped up to

the bars and scored a 9.800.

On beam, the Tigers controlled their every move, earning a high score of 49.275.

Senior Tia Allbritten scored a 9.875 and junior Brooke Kelly added a 9.925.

In the final event, senior Kennedi Harris scored a 9.900 on her floor routine. She took home the floor victory, as she has done many times throughout her Missouri gymnastics career.

The Tigers’ win topped off an emotional day for the team. Seniors were surrounded by their teammates showing the love and dedication they have for one another. Head coach Shannon Welker joined the celebration, saying senior night was a success.

“I thought we did a nice job tonight, I was excited for them,” Welker said in a press release. “I think senior night can always be a little bit emotional, and I thought they did a real nice job; every event was good.”

Next up, the Tigers will compete in the SEC Gymnastics Championship on Saturday at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis.

Session I will begin at 2 p.m. on SEC Network, and Session II is at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Edited by Bennett Durando bdurando@themaneater.com

Junior Madeleine Huber lands after a bar routine during the Mardi Gras Invitational in St. Charles, Missouri, on Feb. 16, 2018. PHOTO BY COURTNEY VILLMER | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

WRESTLING

Missouri wrestling finishes sixth at NCAA championships Individually, four wrestlers — Eierman, Leeth, Lewis and Miklus— achieved All-American status.

HANNAH HOFFMEISTER

Staff Writer

First, it was an undefeated regular season for the Missouri wrestling team.

And then, record-breaking domination at the 2018 MidAmerican Conference Wrestling Championships.

Then, this weekend, a strange, disappointing end at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

After going 19-0 in the regular season and then winning the MAC Championships with 177 team points, the team was hoping to capture its first national team title. Missouri finished sixth overall in the NCAA Tournament with 61.5 team points and no individual titles above fourth place.

“We had really high expectations of where we wanted to finish here and what we wanted to accomplish, and [we] just lost a lot of tight matches,” head coach Brian Smith

said in a video interview posted by Mizzou Athletics. “So my overall feeling is disappointment, but I’m still proud of my kids.”

Of the nine Mizzou wrestlers who competed at the championships, redshirt sophomore Jaydin Eierman, redshirt junior Grant Leeth, redshirt junior Daniel Lewis and redshirt senior Willie Miklus were named All-Americans. All but Leeth had achieved All-American status before this season.

The other five Mizzou wrestlers headed to the consolation bracket after only the first session of the tournament. Probably the most surprising loss was John Erneste’s.

The redshirt junior, ranked No. 5 in the 133-pound weight class, was upset 8-3 by an unranked opponent, NC State redshirt freshman Tariq Wilson. Both Erneste and redshirt senior Joey Lavallee lost in the round of 12 to come one match short of AllAmerican status.

Eierman and Lewis each placed fourth, with Leeth and Miklus placing sixth and eighth, respectively. Lewis, ranked No. 3, lost in the semifinals by fall, his first loss of the entire season after going 29-0 before the NCAAs. He then won by injury default

Then-redshirt sophomore Daniel Lewis grabs his opponent’s leg as the referee watches in a match against Virginia Tech on Nov. 20, 2016. MANEATER FILE PHOTO

and lost his final match to finish fourth. It is Lewis’ third consecutive season that he has finished as an AllAmerican.

The No. 2-ranked Eierman also placed fourth, losing 7-2 to his No. 4-ranked opponent in the match for third place. According to Mizzou Athletics, Eierman’s finish was the highest for an All-American at Missouri in the 141-pound weight class.

Leeth, ranked No. 3 at the NCAAs,

wrestled in the MAC for the first time this season after transferring and then being sidelined due to injury for a season. No. 6 Miklus, on the other hand, became an All-American for the third season and will wrestle again next year with Mizzou. He was granted a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA after missing the majority of two seasons, including last year.

Edited by Bennett Durando bdurando@themaneater.com