Vol84issue26

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Vol. 84, Issue 26

April 11, 2018

FIRST DEBATE

Five takeaways from first MSA presidential debate

The two presidential slates, Wopata/McAteer and Schmidt/Kahveci, debated MSA and social justice issues at the April 9 debate.

Wopata said she was considering running for senate rather than president, but decided to continue in the race for presidency.

2. Both slates admit there are holes in their platforms regarding LGBTQ issues on campus.

CAITLYN ROSEN AND SKYLER ROSSI

Assistant Editor, Student Politics Editor The Board of Elections Commissioners and Four Front held the first debate of the 2018 Missouri Students Association presidential election Monday in Bengal Lair. The two slates are Julia Wopata and Connor McAteer of “More to Roar” and Robert Schmidt and Alp Kahveci of “Mizzou for You.” Here are The Maneater’s top five takeaways from the debate:

1. Neither of the presidential candidates have served in MSA before.

Actually, the only candidate in

MUTV livestreamed MSA’s first presidential debate for the 2018-19 school year from the Bengal Lair in Memorial Union North. PHOTOS BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

the race who has been involved with MSA before is McAteer, who served as an academic business senator.

Neither Wopata nor Schmidt have participated in MSA before, and neither has Kahveci.

When asked if they would be willing to serve in MSA should they not be elected, the slates responded differently. Schmidt and Kahveci were open to the idea but said they didn’t know where or how to apply.

Four Front asked if there was anything specific in the slates’ platforms that addressed LGBTQ issues. Schmidt said there is a part in his platform addressing mental health and that because members of the LGBTQ community are more likely to have mental illnesses, it applies. He also added that he and his running mate would listen to the concerns of the community.

Wopata said she plans to continue MSA efforts to install gender-neutral bathrooms in downtown Columbia.

However, she and her running mate recognized that there is nothing specific in their platform addressing this and plan to listen to the concerns of the community as well.

Five | Page 4

THE SLATES

Wopata/McAteer focus on Schmidt/Kahveci aim to mental health, communication increase student input on budget

Operating under “More to Roar,” the Wopata/ McAteer slate aims to build an inclusive community for students.

MAWA IQBAL

Staff Writer

Junior computer science major Julia Wopata and junior business major Connor McAteer have thrown their hats in the race for Missouri

Students Association president and vice president, respectively.

Operating under the slogan “More to Roar,” Wopata and McAteer are focusing their campaign on student mental health, campus safety, student success and diversity.

Wopata and McAteer are one of the two slates running in the MSA presidential election.

Both Wopata and McAteer have been involved in various organizations

ROAR | Page 4

Schmidt and his running mate, Alp Kahveci, hope to bring outsiders’ perspectives to MSA with “Mizzou for You.” CAITLYN ROSEN

Assistant Student Politics Editor Junior biochemistry majors Robert Schmidt and running mate Alp Kahveci are running for Missouri Students Association president and

vice president, respectively.

They are running under the slogan “Mizzou for You” and a platform that focuses on increased student input, more political involvement, promotion of healthy living and sustainability. Schmidt said they published their website April 5 and launched their campaign via Facebook on April 8.

Schmidt and Kahveci are one of two slates running in the MSA

You | Page 4

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T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | APRIL 11, 2018

MSA FAQ

Frequently asked questions for upcoming MSA election Here are the top six things you need to know for the April 16-18 MSA election.

MSA currently controls $1.2 million. While the cutting of the Department of Student Activities and various auxiliaries will decrease this number next year, the budget will stay in the high figures. Also, student fees still cover the budget.

MSA currently controls eight auxiliaries (KCOU, MSA/GPC Box Office, MSA/GPC Tech, MUTV, STRIPES, Student Legal Services, Tiger Pantry and Truman’s Closet) but is set to vote on the removal of several of them.

MSA is also the first place administrators turn to when they want to hear students’ opinions on major administrative decisions.

It is in charge of various initiatives on campus such as the smoking policy and the bikeshare program.

2. What is the process to run for MSA president and vice president?

In order to be placed on the ballot, candidates must fill out seven forms and gather 500 student signatures. The first form covers the student signatures, and it was due March 22.

The second and third forms were due on March 23 and covered eligibility and campaign manager choice.

The remainder of the forms are turned in throughout the campaigning process and cover general campaigning and finance information.

The filing date for the previous campaigning period was March 1, but it had to be

since 1955

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CAITLYN ROSEN

1. Why should I care?

The Student Voice of MU Vol. 84, Issue 26

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

Assistant Student Politics Editor For those who don’t keep up with the happenings of the Missouri Students Association by attending its meetings or reading The Maneater’s coverage, the current election may bring up a lot of questions.

The election starts April 16, so you may be thinking that it’s too late to learn about MSA or the inner workings of the election process. Here are a few answers to questions you may have about the upcoming MSA election.

THE MANEATER

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.

“Tinder is for people who are sad and lonely and also horny.”

MSA executive slates More to Roar, left, and Mizzou for You participate in the first presidential debate on April 9, 2018. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

moved due to the suspension of the election.

Once controversial tweets were uncovered, three candidates dropped, and MSA senate decided that voting on only slates with one candidate each constituted an unfair election.

3. Who is running in the election?

The slates are Robert Schmidt and Alp Kahveci and Julia Wopata and Connor McAteer.

Wopata and McAteer are running under the platform of “More to Roar,” and the Schmidt and Kahveci platform is “Mizzou for You.” Only one of the candidates has experience in MSA. McAteer served in MSA as an academic business senator.

4. What is the Board of Elections Commissioners and what role does it play in the election?

The BEC is the overseer of MSA elections. Joseph Sell is the chair and Cooper Grant is the vice chair.

“Members of the Board are primarily charged with writing the rules and regulations governing the Presidential and Senatorial Elections and ensuring that the elections happen in a fair and open manner,” according to the MSA website. “The BEC is also capable of hosting debates and other opportunities for students to learn about their prospective representatives.”

The BEC will receive and review all forms that slates have to turn in each week and oversee all campaign finance efforts of the candidates. It is also in charge of handling

potential controversies regarding elections.

5. What does the campaigning process look like?

Campaigning began on March 26. Slates published their websites and social media accounts before the debate. In past years, candidates have set up tables in Speakers Circle, where they have reached out to students and advertised their campaigns.

Candidates are required to participate in the BEChosted debate and highly encouraged to participate in other debates. This year, there are two debates. The first debate was hosted by BEC and Four Front on April 9. The second debate will be hosted by The Maneater on April 12.

Polls open April 16 at 6 p.m. and close April 18 at 6 p.m. The winner will be announced on April 18 at Traditions Plaza following the closing of polls.

6. What happened with the last election?

The MSA election was originally set to be held March 21. However, after candidates from each slate dropped out of the race, the election was suspended. MSA senate bill 57-45 called for the suspension of the election and a special election.

Edited by Skyler Rossi srossi@themaneater.com

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 Allie Greenspun Corey Hadfield Hannah Kirchwehm Sara Marquardt Elizabeth Ustinov Sports Social Media Manager Adam Cole Adviser Becky Diehl

Want to work with us? themaneater.com/workforus

NEWS

Online this week: Final MSA debate coverage, April 16-18 election coverage and more at themaneater.com.

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MEMORIAL

MU Remembers honors nine students who have died in last year The Memorial Student Union tower was darkened on Friday and relit the following day as part of an annual tradition to symbolize a new day.

STEPHI SMITH

University News Editor The university hosted MU Remembers, an annual event held to commemorate students who have died since last April, on Friday at 2 p.m. in Stotler Lounge.

The ceremony included remembrance statements from Missouri Students Association President Nathan Willett for undergraduate students and Graduate Professional Council President Alex Howe for graduate students.

Willett spoke on behalf of John “Max” Critchfield, Nicholas Foster, Logan Gilbert, Andrés Velasco Dávila, Richard Ward and Ryan Wilt.

“Mizzou is a family,” Willett said at the event. “On behalf of the undergraduate student body, I extend my sincere condolences.”

Howe spoke for Naira Kuzmich, Carolin Scherf and Ryan Stoll.

“The academic community will

keenly feel the absence of each students’ contributions,” Howe said during the event. “And yet, the university’s loss cannot begin to touch the sorrow felt by these student’s friends and families.”

In addition, there was a reading from Clyde Ruffin, professor emeritus of theater and representative of Ward 1 on the Columbia City Council.

Ruffin read from a poem titled “We are Seeds, We are Eternal” by Jessie Adolph.

“We are light illuminated in the banks of your memory,” Ruffin read.

Graduate student Nicholas Faller performed a musical tribute of the song “Sonata K 2018” on guitar.

Gary Ward, interim vice chancellor for student affairs, said Ellis Library has created books in tribute to the students who died. These books are available at the Ellis Library records desk and were on display on Friday in the library.

“Our hearts are comforted, and we are strengthened as we come together to remember these students,” Ward said.

The Memorial Student Union tower was darkened Friday night in memoriam these students, Chancellor Alexander Cartwright said. It was relit the following morning as a symbol for a new day on campus.

“Tomorrow, the sun will shine on

MU honored nine students who died in the past year at the MU Remembers ceremony. PHOTO

BY STEPHI SMITH | CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

the quad and the tower will be lit once again,” Cartwright said during Friday’s event. “But all of us here will not be the same. We will forever be grateful that our lives have been enriched by those MU remembers.”

MU Remembers has been an event for about 20 years and the darkening of Memorial Union has become an annual tradition, Dean of Students Jeff Zeilenga said. He also said the flags outside the Student Center are lowered every year, usually by the MSA and GPC presidents.

SUSTAINABILITY

MU reaches out to families of students who have died in the last 12 months to ask if they’d like the student to be included in the event, Zeilenga said.

“It’s very important to recognize and celebrate the contributions of students and graduate students who are no longer with us,” Zeilenga said.

“This also brings a sense of closure to friends and families.”

Edited by Skyler Rossi srossi@themaneater.com

TECHNOLOGY

Sustainability Office organizes week of MU 3D Printing Club events to raise environmental awareness works on dog prosthetic Events held during Sustainability Week include an E-Waste Drive, a film showing and a Missouri River cleanup.

Club members working on this prosthetics project incorporate both functionality and comfort in their designs.

REGAN MERTZ

be held in Speakers Circle from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The monetary donations will go to Tiger Pantry to provide food for members of the MU community in need.

Ecochella, a free student-led

The MU 3D Printing Club has worked for the past year to help a local dog named Tucker get a prosthetic leg.

Tucker, a 5-year-old Australian shepherd, was born without his right hind foot. Though he is perfectly mobile now, the pressure of walking on three legs could lead to hip dysplasia, among other health problems, later in life.

Samuel Donovan, president of the MU 3D Printing Club, said the project started when Tucker’s owner, Kendra Earl Warlow, stumbled upon the previous club president, Nick Bira, working at a separate 3D printing service in Ellis Library called Print Anything. She asked Bira about the possibility of printing a prosthetic for Tucker using the 3D printers, and he redirected her toward the 3D Printing Club.

Since April of last year, club members have worked to design and print multiple foot prototypes for Tucker.

They started with a plaster cast of Tucker’s leg, which they then scanned into a computer for a digital model, Donovan said. Using those measurements, they designed various shapes for the foot using a program called Meshmixer.

Printed prototypes have ranged from looking like a peg leg to having a tennis ball at the end. The most recent prototype looked similar to a real dog leg, rather than being mechanical.

ECO| Page 5

DOGS | Page 5

LAUREN CLERC

Staff Writer

Reporter

This week, Sustain Mizzou is hosting Sustainability Week in an effort to promote environmental awareness on campus. Several events are occurring throughout the week that are open to students such as an environmental trivia night, a farmers market and a tree planting.

“There are three components to sustainability: economic, environment and social,” said senior Rachel Peterson, a Sustain Mizzou member.

“These three components work together to help us figure out how the world can sustain itself into the future.”

On Feb. 4, 2003, Sustain Mizzou was founded and in spring 2012, it hosted its first Sustainability Week. This year, Sustain Mizzou is focusing on the environmental component.

At Tuesday’s Sustainapalooza celebration, Sustain Mizzou helped students plant flowers native to Missouri to teach the importance of native pollinators.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAMILLE MCMANUS

“Sustainability Week is a way to interact with a larger audience on campus and help them to understand the little things to change in daily life to help the cause,” Sustain Mizzou President Megan Tyminski said.

During the entirety of the week, a food drive will

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FIVE continued from page 1

3. Neither of the slates have much experience with MU social justice centers.

Both of the slates stated they have limited personal experience with MU’s social justice centers. However, they’ve encountered diversity and inclusion in their lives.

Wopata said she saw the effects of inclusion and diversity in decision-making skills during her time at

ROAR continued from page 1

on campus. Wopata serves on the executive board as the chief education officer for Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, has participated in Mizzou Alternative Breaks and campus ministries and is on the music team in Veritas. McAteer served as a senator for the Trulaske College of Business and MU tour guide in addition to being involved in Sigma Chi fraternity and Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity.

Wopata and McAteer’s work goes off campus as well. This past summer, Wopata held an internship at Google, and she served on the Greek trip to Harmons, Jamaica, this past winter break. McAteer has volunteered for the American Red Cross.

They are running under Wopata’s previous campaign slogan. According to the campaign’s official Twitter, the slogan comes from the slate’s mission to represent more student voices, making “more students roar together for a greater Mizzou.” Wopata

YOU continued from page 1

presidential election.

Neither Schmidt nor Kahveci have served on MSA in any official position, but Schmidt thinks this will benefit the campaign.

“You don’t make it through Bio Chem II without being able to ask questions,” Schmidt said. “[Our campaign is] mostly biochemistry majors, and you don’t make it to that point without being able to work hard, ask questions and learn fast. Certainly we don’t have a lot of experience, but I think we’d learn quickly, try hard and be willing to ask people who have come before us.”

Schmidt decided to run for president after he learned the amount of money MSA controls.

“I was actually reading a few articles from The Maneater that were talking

T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | APRIL 11, 2018 Google. McAteer said he learned to work with different groups of people as an MU tour guide. Schmidt said he learned about different people coming together through his time at an animal hospital.

Kahveci added that being part of the Muslim community has made him more aware of political issues.

Kahveci also said he didn’t know what Four Front was, even though the organization was hosting the debate.

4. Both slates agree that hate speech has no place on MU’s campus.

Schmidt defined hate speech as speech that is targeted and aims to break someone down based on their background, including their race, ethnicity or religion.

He also said universities have the right to expel students for hateful speech.

Kahveci agreed and said the controversial tweets from the former MSA candidates are unacceptable.

Wopata and McAteer reaffirmed this.

“To make it very clear: Hate speech has no place on this campus," McAteer said.

Wopata also said she believes

the victim should decide if speech is hate speech or not.

Wopata said she made efforts to reach out to LBC to learn its concerns but was never able to have that conversation. She said she plans to sit in on LBC and Four Front meetings to understand where improvements need to be

made.

Schmidt and Kahveci had a similar response. Schmidt said he will reach out to incoming freshmen and ask LBC what initiatives they think would be beneficial.

Kahveci suggested weekly meetings with LBC and other student organizations.

The next debate will be hosted by The Maneater in 204 Strickland Hall on Thursday from 6-9 p.m.

Edited by Stephi Smith ssmith@themaneater.com

believes that in order to accomplish this, the slate’s agenda must be flexible.

“It’s not our agenda; it’s the student body’s agenda,” Wopata said. “It’s a selfless position where you’re giving yourself up to serve your peers.”

The slate’s platform has four main ideas: strengthening resources for mental health programs, ensuring the safety of everyone on campus, creating initiatives for students with financial challenges and promoting inclusivity at MU. If they were to win, Wopata and McAteer plan to work with the MU Truman School of Public Affairs Grant Writing Program to secure increased funding to mental health resources on campus. Wopata also plans to collaborate with the Mizzou Student Suicide Prevention Coalition and Greek organizations in hosting speaking events surrounding mental health awareness.

Wopata is also making the effort to appoint counselors from diverse backgrounds and communities in the MU Counseling Center. She believes representation in the Counseling Center is

important for students who feel as though they don’t have adequate mental health resources.

“We want to encourage conversations about mental health around campus,” Wopata said. “MU is already doing so much to bring visibility, and we want to continue bringing support to it.”

According to the campaign’s official website, Wopata and McAteer believe mental and physical health are closely related. The slate hopes to establish a Campus Recreation Standing Committee for the improvement of Student Recreation Complex resources.

In an effort to secure a more comprehensive active shooter response plan, Wopata and McAteer plan to work with the MU Police Department to create a training guide that every MU professor will present during the first week of classes.

The slate is also pushing for MU to join other campuses across the nation in adopting a campuswide SafeTrek mobile app system by introducing it to incoming freshmen during Summer Welcome. With the app, users hold their thumb

down on their phone screen and enter a four-digit PIN when they have safely arrived at their destination. If a user removes their thumb from the screen without entering the PIN, police are alerted of their location.

To make college as affordable as possible, Wopata and McAteer promise to work with Associated Students of the University of Missouri and the fundraiser Rally Mizzou.

In addition, they hope to work with Tiger Pantry to make nutritious food more accessible by making markets on campus Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program authorized retailers.

Echoing the “More for Roar” campaign slogan, Wopata and McAteer plan to foster a diverse campus where all students are represented.

Inspired by current MSA President Nathan Willett and Vice President Payton Englert, the slate will appoint “committed, intentional” students to every unfilled standing committee seat that addresses issues of diversity and inclusion on campus.

“I want to take the lessons that I’ve been able to learn

from the administrations of Willett and Englert and Sean and Tori,” Wopata said.

“We have a goal to fill all student positions in standing committees that work with faculty and staff. These committees come together to make sure the student voice is represented for things like parking and transportation.”

They also hope to meet regularly with representatives of every organization on campus and encourage each representative to attend the events of other organizations and have open conversations with other student leaders.

Wopata believes these dialogues can help MSA better understand the student body’s needs.

“The actions and precedent we set has the potential to permeate out to all corners of campus,” Wopata said in an email. “We believe that through this leadership position we can help create a campus dynamic where students listen to each other and are eager to connect with other organizations all across campus.”

Edited by Skyler Rossi srossi@themaneater.com

about MSA’s budget and how much money they control and how few students are actually giving input on it,” Schmidt said. “There are just over 20 students controlling just over 20,000 students’ money.”

The budget is the main focus of Schmidt’s campaign.

He wants to get more student input on how their money is spent.

“I really wanted to run to get more student input and involvement in MSA,” Schmidt said. “Just to give people more of a chance to get their opinion on what their money should be spent on.”

He hopes to do this by emailing students the yearly budget and asking what they do and do not wish to continue funding.

Along with his budget goals, Schmidt hopes to get more students involved in government by getting speakers to come to MU’s campus in preparation for the 2018 midterm elections.

One speaker he hopes to

bring to MU is Sen. Claire McCaskill, who was brought to campus in February by Mizzou Democrats. He hopes this will inspire more students to be politically active.

Schmidt and Kahveci also plan to improve sustainability on MU’s campus by encouraging Campus Dining Services to expand its current composting system.

“We will push for Mizzou to waste less and save more,” the campaign website states.

“In particular, we will encourage Campus Dining Services to decrease the amount of stuff that ends up in landfills by expanding the existing composting program as well as exploring ways of getting individuals on campus to recycle more and throw away less.”

However, the main goal of the campaign is to increase student awareness and involvement, especially in terms of the MSA budget.

Edited by Skyler Rossi srossi@themaneater.com

5. None of the candidates knew much about the Legion of Black Collegians’ concerns, but both agreed to work with LBC in the future.

Want to know more about the candidates?

Join us at the final MSA presidential debate on April 12 at 6 p.m. in Strickland 204.

T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | APRIL 11, 2018

DOGS continued from page 3

Tucker is predicted to have his final prosthetic by the end of the semester. “[If] we weren’t all taking classes and different stuff, we would have completed this much quicker,” Donovan said. “For the most part, it’s been a constant process where we started with conceptual sketches, moving on to designs, moving on to prototyping, more prototyping and more prototyping.”

Along with the leg itself, club members have experimented with ways to make Tucker comfortable with his prosthetic. This includes designing a sock for him to wear and exploring the prospect of using a harness to secure the leg.

“That’s definitely difficult: designing it so he’s comfortable so he wants to use it,” Donovan said.

“We have to convince him that he

ECO

continued from page 3 concert featuring local musicians, was held in The Shack on Monday from 6-8 p.m.

On Tuesday, Sustainapalooza was held in the Student Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is an event in which students learn more about organizations across campus that contribute to MU’s sustainability and work to reduce its carbon footprint.

There was an opportunity to plant flowers native to Missouri as well as learn how to support native Missouri pollinators.

Lunch was available from noon to 1 p.m. in the Multicultural Center where guest speaker Ben Kreitner, Columbia’s waste minimization coordinator, discussed different ways to be sustainable in daily life.

The day will end with a trivia night testing students’ environmental knowledge from 7-9 p.m. in The Shack. Free food and prizes will be available to participating teams.

On Wednesday, two events will occur simultaneously.

Recycle Mountain in Speakers Circle and the E-Waste Drive in the Student Center are set to happen from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Recycle Mountain is an opportunity for students to become more aware of the amount of waste MU disposes of in recyclable forms. The smoothie bike, a bike students can pedal to cut fruits to make smoothies, will also be available.

“It is literally a way that students can enjoy the fruits of their labor,” Tyminski said.

The E-Waste Drive gives students the opportunity to purge their discarded cords, chargers and batteries, as well as electronics. Electronics include anything containing a cord or battery such as hair dryers, electric toothbrushes, gaming consoles, headphones and full-size TVs. To end the day, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power will be shown in Jesse Wrench Auditorium from 8-11 p.m. The film reveals how close the world is to an energy revolution.

On Thursday, Lowry Mall will host a farmers market and fair-trade sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Local growers will provide fresh produce, baked goods, fresh-grilled hamburgers,

wants to wear it all the time, that it’s good for him to wear it.”

The benefits of the leg go beyond Tucker and toward the future of club members who often work on these kinds of projects.

“There’s a lot of club members that are interested in prosthetics,” Donovan said. “There’s mechanical engineers and biological engineers with the project, [and] also nonengineers as well who are just interested in prosthetics or 3D printing. We’re hoping this exposure to prosthetics will give everybody a lot of great experience that they can apply to the workforce or possibly it will open their eyes to possible career opportunities they may not have thought of previous to this.”

Tucker’s owner will receive the finished product for free, as the project is entirely funded by the 3D Printing Club.

“I am so thankful to have folks as excited about helping my sweet pup as I am,” Warlow said.

Edited by Stephi Smith ssmith@themaneater.com organic coffee and more. It is advised to bring reusable mugs and bags for beverages and treats. The fair-trade sale will provide the opportunity for students to experience goods from around Columbia that focus on ethical production and manufacturing.

Another E-Waste Drive will be held in the Student Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a speaker panel for local sustainability action will occur in Leadership Auditorium from 6-8 p.m. The panel will include local leaders in sustainability who will be available to answer any questions about the environment and sustainability practices.

To end the week, Friday will include a third E-Waste Drive in the Student Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Following the drive, a native tree planting will begin at 4 p.m. in the RC16 parking lot. Six trees will be planted in proximity to the parking lot to symbolize gratitude for the great outdoors and MU’s campus.

The festivities continue into the weekend. To end Sustainability Week, a Stream Team event will be held with Missouri River Relief on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. The Stream Team will camp at the Missouri River over the weekend to pick up as much trash as possible in order to divert it from the waterways.

“It’s a good way to bond with each other and talk about sustainability,” Tyminski said.

Recently, MU received a STARS Gold Rating for Sustainability Achievements.

MU received this award from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for the second time, the first being in 2015.

“This award reflects the hard work that has been put forward into sustainability efforts by the Sustainability Office,” Peterson said.

Edited by Morgan Smith mosmith@themaneater.com

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TUCKER’S PROSTHETIC LEG 3D PRINTING CLUB PROTOTYPES

HAPPY DOG Tucker will be able to go on walks with comfort and grace.

graphic by Corey Hadfield & Abigail Farris

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SPRING

Mizzou Botanic Garden focuses on mission while preparing new landscape The entire MU campus is classified as a botanical garden.

MARIANA LABBATE

Reporter

Have you ever noticed small signs under the trees or flowers on campus? Usually with scientific names displayed, these markers exist because MU’s campus is officially recognized as a botanical garden.

Since 1999, the university has met all of the requirements to be a member of the American Public Gardens Association. You can plan a guided tour through school grounds, donate annually and pay to name trees, benches and even gardens.

With swarmer weather approaching, the Mizzou Botanic Garden staff is prepared.

“For us, things are seasonal and you get into a routine year after year,” Horticultural Manager Jenna Rozum said. “For example, in the spring we are cleaning up beds, cutting down grasses, fertilizing and seeding the turf.”

However, the staff of the Botanic Garden plays an important role year round.

“The fall is dominated by leaf cleanup, and in the winter is when we do most of our mulching across campus,” Rozum said. “We are also responsible for the coordination of snow removal on campus.”

The Mizzou Botanic Garden occasionally needs volunteers for special events and occasions; however, it does have a staff of specialists for regular maintenance. Although it is public, part of its resources come from private ends. For example, part of the university’s annual budget provides public funding, and other donation programs provide private funding.

“The gardens that we have named are funded by a combination of our

general revenue account budget for basic care and private giving or endowments for any materials costs, signage or improvements,” garden Director Pete Millier said. “The sources for private giving to support these gardens come from sources other than our tree and bench programs and could be from fundraising events or activities, corporate gifts to the garden or philanthropy by individual donors.”

The garden also has programs such as Friends of the Garden. Anyone can be a member and donate through an annual or lifetime membership.

Friends of the Garden members benefit from discounts on admissions to attend conferences and classes sponsored by the garden, are invited to special events and granted free entrance to Powell Gardens, Kansas City’s botanical garden.

“At the end of the semester, the students give Friends of the Garden a tour and talk about what they learned in their class,” said Karlan Seville, MU Operations communications manager.

The garden also acts in the academic life of students, providing research material for a number of classes and improving learning with empiric experiences.

“Each year, we work with faculty to provide experiential learning opportunities for students,” Seville said. “We gave the Honors College materials culture class a tour of the garden, and Candace Galen’s capstone biology class students study specific plants in the garden and journal about them throughout the semester.”

The Mizzou Botanic Garden has a mission to support students not only academically through research and extension opportunities, but also in economic development, Seville said.

“To this end, the Garden is to serve as a public resource providing educational opportunities through the collections, display, interpretation and conservation

Top: In addition to its original goal of making campus more beautiful, the garden also aims to educate by placing markers identifying plants throughout, inviting speakers to talk about environmental and botanical topics and partnering with the Columbia Public Schools system to create educational programming.

Middle: The Mizzou Botanic Garden was established in August 1999 to create educational opportunities and a positive atmosphere for students, faculty and visitors.

Bottom: At the heart of the garden is the intent to improve the lives of everybody who walks through. The benches, dedicated to donors and scattered throughout, create a place for people to talk, students to study and faculty to think. It is an “instant setting for something good,” garden Director Pete Millier said. PHOTOS BY EMMALEE REED | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

of plants suited to central Missouri in

a manner which inspires, educates and

delights visitors of all ages,” according

to the garden’s mission statement.

Edited by Alexandra Sharp asharp@themaneater.com

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COLUMN

White feminism doesn’t account for intersectionality By not giving women of minority groups the same attention and praise for their struggles as white women are given, feminism isn’t advocating for the rights of all women.

MELINA PSIHOUNTAS

Columnist

It has recently come to my attention that not all feminism is created equal. In the past, seeing a “feminist” or “girl power” sticker on a laptop or button on a backpack was something that really excited me and often a really good indicator of if that person was someone I wanted to get to know. But behind that proudly displayed “girls rule!” sticker often lies a concept commonly known as “white feminism.”

White feminism is feminism that puts all the focus on the struggles of white women and minimizes the concern for other women. As explained in USA Today by Alia E. Dastagir, “A white woman is penalized by her gender but has the advantage of race. A black woman is disadvantaged by her gender and her race. A Latina lesbian experiences discrimination because of her ethnicity, her gender and her sexual orientation.”

White feminism is a concern for women’s rights but with an added “terms and conditions” in which the issues deemed most pressing and worthy of attention are those that impact

white women; it casts issues that women of color and the LGBTQ+ community face to the side.

In recent years, many highprofile women who identify as feminists have received backlash for practicing white feminism, such as Emma Watson, whose 2014 U.N. speech presented some ideas about feminism that many found far from the truth.

Watson asked, “How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation? Men — I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation.”

The problem with this statement is that not even all women feel invited or welcomed within the feminist community and that this community is not just one united, inclusive unit. Watson has since made statements acknowledging her privilege.

Another notable example is Tarana Burke, the creator of the #MeToo movement that has gained a great deal of attention recently with many big-name celebrities making statements about it. Burke, a black woman from Harlem and sexual assault survivor, created this movement to bring attention and help to women of color who had experienced sexual assault.

Unfortunately, she has hardly received any credit for starting this movement, and instead the #MeToo movement has been adopted by a group more palatable for a white feminist audience, such as Alyssa Milano, who has since credited Burke in a tweet for founding

the movement in 2006 that Milano referenced in her 2017 tweet that gained a great deal of national attention.

While she tags Burke’s website, Milano, a white woman, has become the face of #MeToo, her website and social media all reflecting this. When thinking about the #MeToo movement, I am often also guilty of instantly thinking about the most public and popular cases such as those against Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein and not of the cases Burke originally wanted to bring attention to with her movement. Burke became an organizer for social change as a teenager when the Daily News wrote a story about her and other protestors advocating for justice for the Central Park Five, five boys who were wrongfully convicted of assault, sodomy and rape, according to previous Maneater reporting.

Almost every time I have attended a meeting on campus pertaining to women’s issues so far, the majority of the attendees are white women, so naturally many of the issues we discuss are also focused on this. Additionally, I’ve noticed a sort of “first-world feminism” in which women complain about issues such as dress coding in high schools.

While issues like this are a good example of common sexist behavior, they should not take the place of much more serious violations of women’s rights, especially ones that occur in other countries, such as acid attacks. Since we aren’t seeing international issues firsthand, it is easy to not make them a

Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, speaks at MU on Feb. 20, 2018, as part of the university’s Black History Month celebrations. PHOTO

BY PAIGE SAILORS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

priority. This type of outlook is harmful since it excludes women who need the support of others the most, and by not giving all these other women the same attention and praise for their struggles as we do for white women, feminism is no longer one that cares for the rights of all women.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Try acknowledging your privilege in certain situations or educating others at gatherings about the issues women of the international, LGBTQ+, black, Hispanic, indigenous and many more communities face. These actions can help open the eyes of others to how an individual’s struggle might be much smaller compared to the issues these women face, or

even just comparable. Turning to all-inclusive feminism lets people find the things that connect them to women — the problems we all face and the victories we have all achieved so far — and opens the door to brainstorming for more equality.

As far as learning more about this on campus, MU has organizations such as the Black Culture Center, the Women’s Center, the LGBTQ Resource Center and Circle of Sisterhood that have resources focusing on women’s issues and people excited to discuss these issues with others.

Edited by Claire Colby ccolby@themaneater.com

CONCERT REVIEW

Julien Baker brings her unique, emotional music to Columbia Armed with sad songs and a few guitars, Baker moved hundreds of audience members.

JANE MATHER-GLASS

Staff Writer

Julien Baker stepped onstage with a quiet confidence. She was barely audible when she spoke into the microphone, but when she sang on Thursday, her voice was intense and full of strength.

Her calm demeanor draws the audience in and makes them focus. Her set at The Blue Note was raw, emotional and honest.

Many of Baker’s songs are heavy, and she knows it. Baker’s Instagram bio says, “Sad songs make me feel better,” which helps you understand how she manages to keep it together onstage while she bares her soul to hundreds of strangers. As a queer Christian woman from the South, she has an outlook on life

that most people aren’t exposed to every day. Her concerts are different than most — there is little dancing or singing along in the audience, just standing in awe and appreciation. Her shows require focus and quiet, and this calm environment makes her shows special.

Baker’s show in Columbia kicked off her spring tour. She began with one of her most popular songs, “Turn Out the Lights.” The audience was silent as she started playing. Baker’s set consists only of her, two guitars, a keyboard, a few pedals and a violinist who makes an appearance in a few songs. It’s plain, but the music speaks for itself. When Baker got to the chorus, she belted the lyrics with a surprising amount of force.

Her voice adds to the emotional nature of her songs and makes them feel even more personal.

Baker also played “Distant Solar Systems,” an older song she described as “a B-side to a B-side” that she had to remember how

to play in the dressing room just hours before stepping onstage.

Though she hadn’t performed the song in a while, she didn’t miss a beat. Every emotion came through as she reflected on the triviality of life and conflicts on earth.

One of the most emotional moments of the concert was when Baker played “Rejoice.” The song deals with Baker’s loss of friends and her confusion regarding her relationship with God. Near the end of the song, Baker questions God’s motives and questions her own place and lets the listener in to some of her deepest thoughts.

Another moment that echoed this sentiment was when Baker played “Hurt Less.” The song is about loneliness, apathy and the comfort of friends and was one that seemed to resonate deeply with the audience.

“Sour Breath” from Baker’s more recent album was stunning. At the end of the song, Baker repeated, “The harder I swim, the faster I sink” as the

Julien Baker performs at The Blue Note on April 5, 2018. PHOTO BY JANE MATHER-GLASS | STAFF WRITER

music built. Finally, she sang it one more time without any instruments. Her solo voice rang out in the silence for an incredible moment of pause.

Julien Baker’s show was a change of pace for The Blue Note but very much welcomed. And while Baker’s songs are overwhelmingly melancholy, the crowd cheered enthusiastically after every song.

Her cathartic music leads to a feeling of vulnerability and trust that makes audience members connect with her. Though the tone was somber during the show, people left the concert comforted and so excited to have seen her that they didn’t want to see her go.

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

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DANCE

Dancing for a cause: MizzouThon fundraises for mid-Missouri kids MizzouThon’s main event is a 13.1-hour dance marathon for participants who have raised money to support Miracle Kids and the MU Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

LAUREN WILCOX

Staff Writer

and decorate T-shirts. There was basketball, bowling, a bounce house, ice cream and so much more.

Participants wore different colored shirts showing their support for the specific child who they partnered with through Adopt-AFamily, a program allowing organizations to gain personal relationships with children throughout the year.

As the children were introduced onstage throughout the event, their partnered Adopt-A-Family organizations cheered from the crowd.

The fundraising total was revealed number by number at the end of the event.

“When I rewatch the reveal video you can hear two seperate waves of screaming: one when they revealed the 0 and one when they revealed the 3,” Gammon said. “I don’t think I have ever uttered a scream so loud or hugged anyone so hard as I did in that moment.

It honestly seemed like a lifetime between when they raised the 0 and the 3, but when they did and everyone in the crowd erupted it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life.”

Edited by Alexandra Sharp asharp@themaneater.com

M M M M M M M MMMMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMMMMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M MMM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M MM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M

Hundreds of MU students danced for 13.1 hours in MizzouThon’s main event on Saturday to raise money FTK, or for the kids. This year’s grand total of $307,543.80 was up from last year’s $304,604.63.

MizzouThon is an organization that raises money year-round and gives emotional support to pediatric patients in central Missouri. The funds raised go to programs such as the MU Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s TeleHealth Loving Care program, music therapy program and Cancer and Blood Disorders unit, and they provide salaries for teachers who help hospitalized kids keep up with school.

“I honestly never really felt tired during the 13.1 hours,” said Andrew Gammon, MizzouThon’s morale co-captain. “Having 105 leadership members around at all times to encourage one another to keep going and keep up the energy was an amazing tool to have. That, along with feeding off the energy of the 700-plus dancers, was more than enough to keep me going through the event without thought of slowing down. It’s honestly like the longest continuous runner’s high imaginable.”

The main event took place at MizzouRec from noon to approximately 1:30 a.m.

Sunday. The participants, many of which were from the Greek community and residential halls, had the chance to partake in multiple activities, including meeting the Miracle Kids, pediatric patients in mid-Missouri supported yearlong by MizzouThon.

Activities included dancing to an array of music from Disney classics to ‘70s hits, an auction tent with pieces of art created by the Miracle Kids and an arts and crafts tent to face paint

MizzouThon raised over $300,000 for the MU Women’s and Children’s Hospital leading up to and during its main event, a 13.1-hour dance marathon, on April 7, 2018. PHOTO COURTESY OF MIZZOUTHON (@MIZZOUTHON) VIA TWITTER

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ONE ACT REVIEW

A different symbol represents each of the four plays in Stephens College’s One Act Festival. GRAPHIC COURTESY OF THE WAREHOUSE THEATRE COMPANY

One Act Festival at Warehouse Theatre is haunting, well balanced HANNAH MCFADDEN

Staff Writer

The Warehouse Theatre Company, in collaboration with Stephens College, revived its One Act Festival this past weekend, holding it for the first time since 2009.

The festival was revived this year to showcase the expanse of talent at the company and at Stephens, according the program’s dramaturgy note.

Composed of four short plays and a performance from the Stephens College dance team, the One Act Festival had an eerie yet nostalgic feel. It was like having a horror movie marathon on a cold afternoon.

Though all four short plays had a tone of suspense, each had its own distinct flavor of terror.

Horrors by Don Nigro was a self-aware horror play that was reminiscent of Wes Craven’s Scream. It’s comedic but still manages to get your heart racing. Three college girls in colorful pajamas are having

a sleepover in an old cabin characterized by ‘70s furniture. A mysterious stranger begins to terrorize them. At first, it seems like our heroines are doomed to become the victims of some deranged woodsman. But then the girls decide they want to rewrite the ending of their story instead of becoming helpless victims.

They confront the intruder and question why it is that women are sexualized and then murdered in horror films. The girls befriend the first intruder and he reveals he is scared too. Before the girls can ask what he’s scared of, there is a jolting pound on the door and the stage fades to black.

Barefoot in Nightgown by Candlelight is another play by Don Nigro, but it has a more haunting feeling to it. Dim lighting, ghostly white nightgowns and a dark, empty stage set the scene for a spooky boarding school where recently orphaned Cath has been sent by her adoptive family. Lonely, young and vulnerable, she is targeted by two older girls, Belle

and Alicia, to play a special game called Mistress and Slave on the night of each full moon. The mistress is allowed to ask anything she wants of the slave and the slave must do it. The three girls build an intimate ritual that bonds them in a dangerous way. The longer they play the game, the more the audience can see the tension, jealousy and danger building. The lust and codependency between the girls escalates into something darker than the game itself. It’s a slow-burning suspense that explores the extent of mercy, ritual and trust.

Hold for Three by Sherry Kramer is a lighter play that served as a breather between the other spooky tales. Three girls head out to the beach to watch the moon rise over the sea. One of the girls, Ed, plans to hold her breath for the duration of the moon’s rising, which is supposed to be a perfect three minutes.

While she holds her breath, her friends distract her with wild stories. The whole play is maybe five minutes, but it’s clever

and fun and serves as a playful break from horror.

The Donahue Sisters by Geraldine Aron was the closer to the festival. It’s a story of three sisters with a shared dark secret.

Each has returned to their hometown following a family crisis. As they sit in their mother’s attic, they realize they’ve become more and more disconnected over time. They are at first critical and catty, but middle sister Dunya offers up a joint and they become as animated and friendly as they were as children.

Playful friendship turns into a horrific scene when the sisters begin to reminisce on murdering a teenage boy from their neighborhood as children. Although they’ve drifted, the devilish deeds of their past keep the three connected.

The four selections for the Warehouse One Act Festival were complementary and offered a just summary of the horror genre.

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

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MOVIE REVIEW

Star-studded cast delivers comical yet dark performance in ‘The Party’ The combination of humor and plot twists promises to delight and shock viewers.

OLIVIA JACKSON

Coulumnist

The Party, directed by Sally Potter, follows a group of older adults as they navigate a congratulatory dinner party. The film delicately examines the internal struggles of each character. Shot entirely in black and white, the story is told through scenes that show the characters individually and interacting with one another.

The movie opens with the female lead, Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas), holding a gun directly pointed at the center of the screen, setting a suspenseful tone from the get-go.

The audience is left wondering about the identity of the unknown victim for the rest of the film.

The plot follows the celebration of Janet securing a parliamentary position in the public health sector.

Bill (Timothy Spall), husband to Janet, struggles silently for a while but eventually reveals he’s coping with a life-changing realization.

The auxiliary characters are made up of five wild cards. April (Patricia Clarkson) and Gottfried (Bruno Ganz) are a shockingly different couple who have recently decided to separate, mostly by the will of April.

Kristin Scott Thomas in Sally Potter’s The Party. PHOTO COURTESY OF IMDB

Martha (Cherry Jones) and Jinny (Emily Mortimer) are a recently married couple that has just found out they are expecting triplets. Tom (Cillian Murphy) is the black sheep of the group who is the partner to a mysterious woman who worked on Janet’s campaign.

Amidst a slew of guns, drugs and intense emotions, a series of scandalous reveals lead this story down many winding roads. The unpredictable nature of the film makes it a very exciting and engaging

flick.

Two prominent societal themes explored in The Party are gender inequality in politics and infidelity.

It is clearly communicated that it is no small feat that Janet, a woman, has been elected to a parliamentary position. April gives her a great deal of backhanded praise, saying she is proud of Janet for infiltrating what is very obviously a broken system.

Throughout the film, Janet fields a plethora of congratulatory calls from a variety of people.

Without revealing too much,

infidelity is a crime that many characters are guilty of in this film.

In one way or another, lies and cheating make their way into most of the relationships. This adds to growing distrust and anger, which leads to the climax of the film.

Anyone looking for a mysterious film with a retro feel would enjoy The Party. It keeps the audience entertained with dark humor for the entirety of the twisted ride.

Edited by Claire Colby ccolby@themaneater.com

SPORTS

Online this week: Jontay Porter declares for NBA draft, gymnastics places fifth at NCAA Regional meet and more at themaneater. com.

11

BASKETBALL

Signing period: what Courtney Ramey’s final 10, Chris Mack’s comments and more mean for Missouri Louisville, who Ramey had formerly committed to and had reemerged as a front runner, removed itself from the running after Ramey announced his final 10 schools.

BENNETT DURANDO

Assistant Sports Editor

Courtney Ramey was never supposed to be in this position again.

Everything was figured out. The standout point guard hailing from St. Louis — called a four-star by some, a five-star by others — was committed to Louisville, set to play for a premier college basketball program and free to enjoy the rest of his high school career free of recruiting mayhem.

But after Louisville head coach Rick Pitino was terminated in October 2017 in the midst of an FBI probe for corruption in college basketball, Ramey’s commitment was scrapped, and the class of 2018 talent had to start from scratch.

Now, months later, Ramey’s second journey through the recruiting process has reached a landmark point.

He announced his final cut of 10 contending teams via his Instagram last Thursday.

The schools? Illinois, Louisville, Minnesota, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, South Carolina, Southern Methodist, Texas … and yes, Missouri.

The Maneater spoke with Ramey after his high school’s state championship pep rally in March.

Regarding the factors that affect trimming a list like this down, Ramey

cited a good relationship with a team’s coach and a good atmosphere at the school as being important to him. But his first response, when asked for the elements he considers most, was immediate.

“I want to go somewhere where I feel like I have a chance to win a national championship,” he said.

Missouri doesn’t exactly fit that mold currently, but a blueblood program like Louisville did. It presented an unusual option for Ramey, who was already committed there for over six months before the program seemingly fell into shambles upon Pitino’s termination.

But now, Louisville appears to be out of the picture after recently hired head coach Chris Mack (formerly of 2018 No. 1 seed Xavier) ruled out Ramey and another former class of 2018 commitment on Monday.

Mack was able to name Ramey specifically because he and Louisville are not actively recruiting the point guard. Had Mack been recruiting him, commenting on Ramey by name would have violated NCAA recruiting policies.

Given Ramey’s prioritization of championship opportunities and Louisville’s status as the most recent champ among his final cut, then, Mack’s apparent disinterest in Ramey could be a good sign for Missouri.

So could multiple other recent potential influences. Illinois, which had long been one of Ramey’s top suitors, landed the top junior college point guard in the country, Andres Feliz, on Sunday, diminishing the program’s need for Ramey and perhaps lowering any sense of

MBB | Page 13

Four-star point guard Courtney Ramey warms up before a high school game in St. Louis his junior year. PHOTO BY ANDY KIMBALL | STAFF WRITER

BASEBALL

Hanna, Gubelman lead Missouri to hard-fought win at Missouri State It was Gubelman’s first Division I win.

JERRY DUGGAN

Staff Writer

In a matchup with its in-state rival, the Missouri State Bears, usual Mizzou big boppers Trey Harris, Kameron Misner and Brian Sharp were held hitless, finishing a combined 0 for 9 at the plate with two walks and just one run batted in.

But with a supporting cast of Zach Hanna, Chad McDaniel, Alex Samples and Cade Bormet there to pick up the slack, the Tigers hit their way to an 8-6 win in Springfield on Tuesday night.

Hanna got the scoring started in the first with a single that plated two. Samples added an RBI double. After one, the Tigers had a seemingly commanding 3-0 lead.

Missouri starter Tyler LaPlante only allowed one run but was only able to get through three innings.

The middle relievers needed to come through in the clutch and were unable to do so.

After trading a run each in the third and the fourth, the Tigers were up 5-2 at the game’s midway point.

In the bottom of the fifth, Tiger hurler Giovanni Lopez was hit especially hard, giving up two runs on two hits and two walks while retiring just one batter. After five innings, the Bears had cut into the Tiger lead and trailed just 5-4.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Bears took the lead as another Tiger reliever, this time Ryan Rickett, was tagged for two runs, thanks to four hits allowed in just two-thirds of an inning.

Lead| Page 13

Outfielder Zach Hanna prepares for a pitch against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers on March 4, 2018. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

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GYMNASTICS

Missouri gymnastics doesn’t live up to potential in 2017-18 campaign The 2018 senior class of Tigers set high expectations for the future as freshmen, but they left the program in the same state as when they joined.

LIAD LERNER

Staff Writer

In 2015, Missouri gymnastics (6-7) qualified for the NCAA Norman Regional after placing seventh at the Southeastern Conference championship that year.

The Tigers’ season ended in Norman, Oklahoma, as they placed fourth in the Regional. It wasn’t a bad result, considering that 44 percent of the routines in those two meets were performed by freshmen, and it certainly looked promising for the future.

In 2016, No. 20 Missouri (6-9) placed eighth at the SEC championships and qualified for the NCAA Minneapolis Regional, where the team’s season once again came to a close following a thirdplace finish. This time, 94 percent of the routines were

performed by underclassmen.

Last year, the No. 15 Tigers (10-7) finished seventh at the SEC championships and then third at the NCAA Gainesville Regional as the team failed to qualify for the semifinals for the third consecutive year.

The two seniors on the team only combined for one total routine in these two meets, and the rest of the team was returning for the 2018 season.

This brings us to Saturday’s NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, where the freshmen who showed so much potential in 2015 were now leading the No. 20 Missouri Tigers (9-7) as seniors. The team had placed seventh in the SEC championships two weeks beforehand and was the fourth seed in a strong regional group that included ranked opponents No. 6 Alabama, No. 12 Georgia, No. 13 Michigan and No. 19 Illinois, as well as Central Michigan.

Missouri placed fifth in the meet, nearly half a point behind second place and advancement to the semifinals.

When looked at individually, none of these seasons can be considered a failure. The SEC is arguably

the strongest conference in women’s gymnastics, and there is no shame in the Tigers finishing behind six or seven ranked teams, especially when ranked themselves. Additionally, only 12 programs qualify for the NCAA semifinals, and it would be foolish for Missouri to expect their team to make it every year. It’s simply too difficult.

However, when the four seniors of this 2018 team graduate next month, they will leave the gymnastics program in the same state as when they joined it, leaving many wondering what happened to the program’s supposed shining future.

When seniors Tia Allbritten, Kennedi Harris, Shauna Miller and Becca Schugel announced themselves to the Mizzou faithful three years ago, a statement was made with the success that they had: The talented freshmen would carry this Tiger team to new heights as they gained experience and improved.

The excitement surrounding the team increased with every youngster who broke through and thrilled the fans in the years since. In 2016, Morgan Porter became the first Tiger

to win SEC Freshman of the Year. Juniors Madeleine Huber and Allison Bower have been mainstays in the lineup for their events (vault, bars and floor for Huber; beam and floor for Bower) for the past three seasons.

Sophomore Aspen Tucker posted a 39.450 and 39.400 in consecutive weeks in the all-around competition as a freshman in 2017.

The expectation was that these gymnasts would improve as they got older and gained experience, and Missouri would reach a new level of success with them.

But, curiously, Missouri gymnastics has not progressed to the extent it was expected to. In fact, many of these young stars’ performances have actually regressed in the years since.

The freshmen who performed almost half of the Tigers’ postseason routines in 2015 only performed 23 percent as seniors in 2018.

They have not improved with age and have been replaced in the lineup by younger gymnasts. Porter tore her Achilles in 2017 and has yet to fully regain the form she displayed as a freshman.

Bower recorded only one score of at least 9.900 this season, and Tucker has not replicated her all-around scores of last season, tallying scores under 39.000 in each of the postseason meets in 2018.

There has been enough talent to qualify for at least one NCAA semifinal. And yet, time and time again, the Tigers have not been able to put all the pieces together and become the dominant force they are capable of being.

This does not imply the past few years have been a complete failure for Missouri gymnastics. On the contrary, the Tigers have consistently produced solid, above-average results in recent seasons, evidenced by their constant presence in the NCAA top-25 rankings.

Most programs across the country would consider themselves lucky to reach the levels this Missouri team has reached, and the Tigers can pride themselves on this achievement.

But time is running out for the Tigers to make the next step and become one of the nation’s elite. Consistent, above-average seasons do not mask the fact that Missouri could have been better. The Tigers have been on the cusp of greatness for years, yet have stagnated when it mattered most.

Allbritten, Harris, Miller and Schugel have each had excellent careers for Missouri, but as they leave, the spotlight is shined on what could have been for this gymnastics team.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

Assistant coach Casey Jo MacPherson speaks to a gymnast at the mardi Gras Invitational in St. Charles, Missouri, on Feb. 16, 2018. PHOTO BY KAYLA LOVELACE | PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT

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MBB continued from page 11

compellment for him.

The same could be true of Ohio State. The Buckeyes also added a future point guard on Sunday with the commitment of CJ Walker, a transfer from Florida State who averaged 8 points per game for an Elite Eight team last season. Walker entered school a four-star recruit and will be eligible as a potential starting point guard for two seasons after sitting out this one.

The other seven schools include Texas and Oklahoma State, both of which Ramey made official visits to; South Carolina, whose head coach Frank Martin visited Ramey’s high school on March 27; Minnesota, whose head coach is Pitino’s son; and Oregon, the only school whose head coach has not yet paid a visit, though assistants have.

Then there’s Missouri, an in-state program that was barely even a competitor for Ramey’s talents a little over a year ago when he was preparing to commit in February 2017. How did the team get to this point?

Today’s Tigers are a completely

LEAD continued from page 11

However, the Tigers wouldn’t go down without a fight. In the top of the seventh, a two-out rally was started when Hanna was hit by a pitch. Then, Samples singled.

different team from the first time Ramey went through this circuit.

They were en route to an eightwin season and a head coaching transition period of their own, with Kim Anderson on the hot seat.

Now, Cuonzo Martin has altered the course of the program, having finished fifth in the SEC and brought Missouri to its first NCAA Tournament in five years.

If freshman Jontay Porter sticks to his recent decision to declare for the NBA draft, Martin and the Tigers will have three open scholarships left to offer ahead of the 2018-19 season. Ramey has been one of their top targets.

Martin was at three of Ramey’s last four games in his high school career, while the Webster Groves High senior led his team to a second consecutive state championship.

Previously criticized for under recruiting the prospect who lived two hours away, Martin was in attendance for the state final in Springfield, fewer than 24 hours after his Missouri Tigers had their season axed at the hands of Florida State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was a testament to how devoted he had become to pursuing the country’s top undeclared point

guard. “[Martin] told me why it was scaled back, then he picked it up,” Ramey said after the pep rally. “He just felt like I was leaning toward a different school. It wasn’t the case.

He told me that, and he was being honest with me.”

Good relationship with the team’s coach: check.

And along the way, Ramey and his high school coaching staff even attended a game at Missouri, experiencing the Tigers’ senior night festivities, and later, their 20th win of the season.

“It was fun; it was a different atmosphere from the last time I had been there,” Ramey said. “It was just good to see how the change was, how the fans were back at Mizzou.”

Said his high school head coach Jay Blossom: “I think that really got [Missouri] back in the mix.”

Good atmosphere at the school: check.

And while the idea of an established program may be enticing to Ramey, it’s not everything to him.

Villanova is a case study. Jay Wright’s Wildcats are fresh off their second national title in three years, but they were ruled out after landing

Jahvon Quinerly, at the time the only point guard nationally ranked higher than Ramey.

The apparent message? The St. Louis prospect seems also to value the opportunity to have significant minutes in college right away.

That’s where Blossom thinks Missouri’s pitch needs to be.

Blossom, a Columbia, Missouri, native, was frustrated by the team’s starved backcourt at many points during conference play in the 201718 season.

Ramey, he says, would be a perfect fit to fill that hole.

Whether Ramey ultimately chooses Missouri, some other school or if he finds that blueblood, the next college basketball signing period opens April 11 and closes May 16.

After it opens, there’s no rush for Ramey to make his decision.

He still has three allotted official visits to make, and with the cut still publicly whittled down to 10 (or now, presumptively nine) teams, he is still likely to remain one of Missouri’s biggest offseason waiting games.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

McDaniel doubled to bring in the tying run, but a misplay by the Missouri State outfielder allowed the go-ahead run to score on the play. Bormet then added to the lead with an RBI of his own, and the Tigers were suddenly up 8-6.

After coming in and shutting the door in the bottom of the sixth, Jordan Gubelman put up zeros in

the seventh, eighth and ninth to secure the Tiger win. He allowed no hits and just one walk while striking out four en route to his first Division I win.

After the game, head coach Steve Bieser was pleased with his team’s resolve in overcoming a deficit.

“I’ve never questioned our club,” he said in a press release. “They

never quit — I’ve never seen that out of them ever.”

Looking ahead, the Tigers have a weekend series at Florida starting Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Edited by Bennett Durando bdurando@themaneater.com MU baseball players tap helmets in celebration during a game against University of Maryland, Baltimore County on March 4, 2018. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

14

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

TENNIS

Women’s tennis losing streak hits 11 matches The Tigers have yet to win against an SEC opponent.

AIDAN CARLSEN

Staff Writer

Missouri women’s tennis (11-14) dropped both matches played this past weekend, extending its losing streak to 11 matches.

The team is 0-11 against Southeastern Conference opponents with just two conference matches remaining.

After being swept 4-0 by No. 12 Florida two weekends ago, the team came home for a weekend tilt against the No. 15 Auburn Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The match against Auburn started on a positive note for the Tigers, with senior Amina Ismail and sophomore Serena Nash winning the first doubles match of the day, 6-2.

However, Auburn battled back and won the next double’s match against senior Clare Raley and freshman Marta Oliveira, 7-5. In a tight finish, sophomore Mackenzy Middlebrooks and freshman Ellie Wright lost 6-4, and Auburn took a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

In singles play, Auburn jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Missouri, with freshman Taylor Gruber and Ismail both losing their respective matches. But Missouri didn’t go down

quietly, tying singles play 2-2 after Middlebrooks and Nash took down their opponents. Wright nearly gave her team the edge after winning her first set 6-4, but lost her final two 6-2 and 7-5. Mizzou lost the match, 4-2.

On Sunday afternoon, the Tigers celebrated Senior Day with a match against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

To start their final home match of the season, the Tigers won the doubles point for the first time in five matches. Middlebrooks and Wright came out swinging and finished their doubles match with a dominant 6-1 win. Following them was Ismail and Nash, who secured the doubles point with a 6-3 victory.

With a 1-0 lead on the day, Missouri shifted its focus to singles play once again.

Alabama didn’t seem to take kindly to losing the doubles point though, as the Tide riddled off four wins in singles, with Gruber, Nash, Ismail and Wright all losing. Middlebrooks was the only Tiger to secure a win during singles, and Mizzou fell to Alabama 4-2.

The Tigers have four matches left to try and end the year with a winning record. The team will face No. 31 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Thursday at 5 p.m. in its next match.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

Freshman Marta Oliveira serves during a singles match on Feb. 10, 2018. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

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COLUMN

Passing HB 1936 would acknowledge Missourians’ gun rights 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.

Missouri is moving toward returning its citizens’ Second Amendment rights with House Bill 1936, which proposes removing several locations, including college campuses, from the list of gun-free zones.

Of course, everyone is looking to end gun violence and save lives of innocent people, but when looking at the facts, it’s hard to see how gun-free zones are in any way a solution to the problem.

Gun-free zones seem to be a beacon to the awful people who seek to perpetrate mass shootings, as 98 percent of these shootings happen in such places.

According to The Blaze, the Crime Prevention Research Center states that “from the 1950s through July 10, 2016, 98.4 percent of mass shootings have occurred on gun-free zones.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Imagine a situation in which there is a building that might have a lot of people with guns in it and there is another building that presumably doesn’t have any people with guns in it. If someone is seeking to do as much harm in as little

time as possible, they are going to choose the building with the “gun-free zone” sign on the front door. This is presumably what happened in the mass shooting in the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The perpetrator of this shooting had several movie theaters to pick from that were relatively close. There was a movie theater that was even closer to his apartment than the Cinemark that he ended up going to, but the Aurora Cinemark Theater was the only one with a sign designating that it was a gun-free zone. If the people in the theater had not been prohibited from bringing their concealed weapons then, they may have been able to defend themselves.

Missouri has some of the least obstructive laws in the country when it comes to firearms and concealed carry.

Some believe this would make taking places like college campus off the list of gun-free zones more dangerous but other states have already done what is being discussed and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of evidence for that position.

Like Missouri, Kansas does not require its citizens to obtain a concealed-carry permit and instead relies on background checks that are administered when purchasing firearms. Despite the high number of citizens with the potential of having concealed-carry weapons, after implementing campus carry at the University of Kansas they saw a 13 percent drop in crime from 2016 to 2017, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.

There is also the issue of why people have

A banner protesting Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt’s funding from the NRA hangs over the side of an apartment building along the route of the March for Our Lives in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 24, 2018. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

been barred from practicing their Godgiven rights in the first place.

The right to bear arms is a natural right which cannot be infringed upon according to the Second Amendment of the Constitution. While one might be able to argue that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is a little bit vague, the Missouri Constitution is far more clear.

“The right of every citizen to keep and bear arms, ammunition, and accessories typical to the normal function of such arms, in defense of his home, person, family and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil power, shall not be questioned,” according to the state constitution.

The state government had no right to impose gun-free zones on public land in the first place and such laws have been an infringement upon our unalienable

rights ever since. Whether anyone agrees with colleges being gun-free zones or not, it is very clear that according to the constitutions of both the nation and the state that the state should be required to make public institutions places in which firearms can be carried.

Former Missouri Students Association senator Chris Vas addressed guns on campus at a Campus and Community Relations committee meeting on April 25, 2017, according to previous Maneater reporting.

“If I stand across the street [from the university], I have unalienable rights to own a firearm, but if I step on this side of a street, all of a sudden my unalienable rights are gone,” Vas said.

It seems to me that passing this bill would be some common sense gun reform as we so often hear we need.

COLUMN

Missouri House bill would allow guns almost everywhere Republicans back a bill to eliminate mandatory gun-free zones following the historical March for Our Lives movement for stricter gun control.

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.

On Saturday, March 24, 800,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., holding signs that read “Protect kids, not guns” and “NRA? More like NR-No Way!” Between speeches, chants of “Vote Them Out” pierced the air, shouted by people who all had one thing in common: a rational fear of guns. The monumental rally was joined by over 450 sister marches nationwide and attended worldwide by about 1.2 million people.

The pro-gun control March for Our Lives demonstration in D.C. was estimated to be the most-attended single-day march in the city’s history (and no, that’s not

an “alternative fact”). The thing that makes #NeverAgain so distinguished from similar social media campaigns is the people behind it, the organizers and speakers, are all in high school.

Despite being mocked and invalidated for their age by conservatives, the students of Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have been some of the most influential voices in the gun control conversation in recent weeks. Their social media presence following the mass shooting committed at the school in February has given them the momentum they needed to do what Republicans have never let people do before: start a national conversation about the need for gun control following a mass shooting.

Thanks to some generous grandparents, I was lucky enough to attend the D.C. March for Our Lives.

The speakers called for universal background checks, a ban of all magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition and a return of the assault weapons ban that was in place until 2004. These things probably won’t happen until the government is no longer controlled by Republicans.

But the fight for stricter gun laws doesn’t end with March for Our Lives.

Missouri Republicans are trying to pass a law that would eliminate gun-free zones, places where the state mandates that nobody but police and military

officials be in possession of firearms.

Missouri House Bill 1936 contains laws regarding guns, including establishing gun-free zones. An amendment to HB 1936, introduced by Republican Rep. Jered Taylor would allow guns to be carried in places like schools, hospitals, college campuses, bars, airports and sports stadiums. Private businesses like bars could choose to post signs banning firearms on their premises, but state-owned spaces, like public college campuses, would be unable to prevent people from carrying concealed weapons. The bill has passed in the House but has yet to go to the Senate.

Opponents of the bill emphasize the danger that allowing firearms on college campuses could cause. As a college student, I can say with absolute certainty that none of us should have access to a weapon that has the capability to kill multiple people in a matter of seconds. Most of us are too drunk to walk half of the time, and the other half of the time we’re hungover enough to kill someone if we had a gun. Imagine if easily concealed metal death machines were legally added into that mix.

Defendants of HB 1936 claim that allowing anyone to carry any kind of gun anywhere without anyone else’s knowledge would actually be helpful.

They repeat what’s become a mantra for pro-gun activists: “The only thing that

stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” As much as I would love to live in a world where the only thing keeping me alive is my ability to murder someone who starts shooting at me in public for no reason, the idea that more legally armed citizens will help eliminate mass shootings is simply untrue in most cases.

According to Mother Jones, most cases in which a shooter is stopped by a bystander carrying a weapon are either cases in which the shooter was already done shooting or the bystander was some sort of military personnel or security official.

Admittedly, it is difficult to study and compare mass shootings since every case is unique and each shooter has their own motivations for murdering innocent people, so evidence both for and against legislation regarding mass shootings tends to be anecdotal rather than statistical. But the evidence that we do have suggests that eliminating gunfree zones would just make things more dangerous since normal, untrained gun owners are unprepared to handle a real life-or-death situation with a gun. The answer isn’t to increase the amount of guns present in America, but to decrease them. Every day that passes without common-sense gun reform is another day closer to the next mass shooting.