Vol84issue27

M THE MANEATER The student voice of MU since 1955

www.themaneater.com

Vol. 84, Issue 27

April 18, 2018

MENTAL HEALTH

Law student advocates for mental health services

After her personal battle with anxiety, MU law student Jessica Chinnadurai found a way to help classmates struggling with mental health and substance abuse.

CHRISTINA LONG

Reporter

To her fellow law students, she is the image of confidence and competence.

Third-year law student Jessica Chinnadurai described herself as a “procedural, process-based person” who always knew she wanted to go to law school. A heavily involved student, she serves as associate editor-in-chief of the Missouri Law Review and is a member of both the Student Bar Association and Women’s Law Association.

Jessica Chinnadurai is passionate about mental health within the field of law. Chinnadurai, a third-year law student at the University of Missouri, is a student liaison in the Missouri Lawyers’ Assistance Program. PHOTO BY EMMALEE REED | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

“She has a very hard-topronounce last name, and every time I go to pronounce it, every student jumps in

MISSOURI STUDENTS ASSOCIATION

to correct me,” professor Michelle Cecil said. “They all know her.”

During her second year

of law school, however, Chinnadurai found herself struggling with anxiety.

“It was anxiety related to

doing well and trying to live up to the expectation that I put on myself,” she said.

“The amount of work that you have to put in is a lot.

It’s almost like an 8-to-8 job.

I’m in the law school about 12 hours a day, and I eat all of my meals there.”

As she came to terms with the demands of law school and the pressure to succeed, Chinnadurai realized she was not alone.

“I’ve learned that a lot of people are like that,” she said.

“They’ve got a lot going on underneath the surface, and it’s been really enlightening to see the humanity of a law student. I think we’re often looked up to, but also we’re everyday people that need help once in a while.”

Realizing how pervasive the problems of anxiety, depression, burnout and substance abuse were among

LAW| Page 4

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

MSA senate bill passes to remove New School of Music five auxiliaries from MSA control building will provide 21stThe five auxiliaries no longer under MSA are KCOU, MUTV, MSA/ GPC Box Office, MSA/GPC Tech and Student Legal Services.

SKYLER ROSSI

Student Politics Editor MSA senate passed Bill 57-37 on April 11 to drop five of eight auxiliaries from MSA’s funding. These five are KCOU, MUTV, MSA/GPC Box Office, MSA/GPC Tech and Student Legal Services.

The bill makes changes to the MSA bylaws following the removal of the Department of Student Activities.

According to the bill, “DSA has moved and … these auxiliaries would operate more effectively outside of MSA and … MSA should shrink its budget to operate more nimbly and externally.”

century technology Music students will have accommodations that make learning easier.

REGAN MERTZ

Staff Writer

Following the MU School of Music’s centennial celebration April 7-9, ground Records line the walls outside KCOU, one of five auxiliaries that is no longer fund- was broken for the school’s ed by MSA as of April 11. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR new building that is expected to open August 2019.

Before voting in full senate MSA/GPC Tech coordinator Since the School of last week, Jake Eovaldi, MSA Sarah Stone believes the Music’s founding in 1917, budget chair and author of the event-production group will the school’s main building bill, said that he reached out be reported under Missouri has been moved to three Unions.

MUTV different locations. Currently, to each of the organizations Student general manager Aviva the School of Music is split before pushing the bill.

An original version of the Okeson-Haberman and KCOU among six different buildings, bill did not include MUTV general manager Riley Evans the main one being the Fine in the list of auxiliaries said MUTV and KCOU hope Arts Building on Lowry Mall, being moved out of MSA; to be reported under Student that are not technologically it was added through an Unions as well. equipped for the needs of Heath Immel, senior 21st-century musicians. amendment.

Eovaldi was not available The only problem, MSA | Page 4 however, is not the lack for further comment.

of technology but also the division of the School of Music community.

“To have a music discipline, which by its nature is collaborative, split up all over campus is not conducive to working together, collaborating and making good music together,” School of Music Director Julia Gaines said.

Gaines said that she rarely sees professors except for at staff meetings.

“It’s not a great working environment for either our faculty or our students,” Gaines said.

The new building will allow more regular interaction among peers and colleagues.

Gaines has been the director of the School of Music for four years, but previously, she was the school’s director of percussion studies since 1996. In her

TECH | Page 5

2

T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | APRIL 18, 2018

GREEK LIFE

Greek system tackles fraternity closings IFC and university administration emphasize student safety as a top priority.

EVAN OCHSNER

Staff Writer

The Greek community is looking to improve after a fall semester that saw more disciplinary action taken against fraternities than in previous years.

Three fraternities on campus — Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and FarmHouse — had their charters revoked by their respective national organizations. Ten other fraternities and one sorority were found to be responsible

by MU for violating the standard code of conduct for student organizations during the fall 2017 semester.

“There is a recognition, both nationally and locally, that we must change certain aspects of Greek culture, including how we combat hazing and alcohol abuse,” said Liz McCune, associate director of the MU News Bureau.

McCune said in order to combat such issues, MU works with the national organizations of the fraternities it recognizes on campus. MU disciplinary issues are addressed by the Office of Student Accountability & Support or the Office for Civil Rights & Title IX. Both MU and the Interfraternity Council are content with national organizations playing a significant role in the disciplinary process. “[The national organizations] know their houses better than we do,” IFC

President Jake Eovaldi said.

“We know the students and we know the undergraduates, but as for how they function for the past few years, nationals have a better grasp of that, so we typically agree with the nationals.”

Eovaldi also wants potential new members to know that not all houses are associated with the issues of other fraternities on campus.

“Just because you’re seeing a house get removed from campus for whatever reason, that doesn’t mean that's all the houses on campus,” Eovaldi said. “Every house on campus — or most houses on campus — are pushing for excellence, and there’s a few houses that don't adhere to those standards, and it reflects poorly on the full community.”

IFC’s current focus is on prevention, leaving discipline to the university and the national organizations. IFC hopes to be a proactive resource in the community, said Matthew Oxendale, IFC’s vice president of public relations.

Among these resources is the IFC Peer Educators program, which aims to educate IFC members on important issues. Oxendale said IFC hopes that by having students lead discussions about issues such as sexual assault and binge drinking, dialogue will open up.

MU created the Fraternity & Sorority Advisory Board to implement changes suggested in a report by Dyad Strategies about the Greek system. “Vice Chancellor Gary Ward, as the interim vice chancellor of student affairs, he’s made it his goal, as well as the dean of students, Dr. [Jeff Zeilenga], to make Greek life at Mizzou safe, but one of

the best and more prosperous Greek communities in the nation,” Eovaldi said. “So they brought in that Dyad report, and now we have this fraternity-sorority advisory council which is taking the recommendations and tailoring them down to what will work on Mizzou’s campus.”

Eovaldi chairs one of the five workgroups on the board.

IFC representatives and McCune emphasized student safety as the primary goal of the advisory board.

“We share a mutual goal of making the University of Missouri fraternity and sorority system the best in the country,” McCune said.

“The safety of our students is our top priority, and we must ensure we are doing everything in our power to support their safety, social and emotional development and academic success.”

McCune said there are currently no investigations of fraternities underway.

The disciplinary report on fraternity conduct for this semester will not be available until the end of the 2017-18 academic year.

“Fraternities and sororities are a tremendous asset to Mizzou,” McCune said.

“These young men and women contribute countless volunteer hours, support each other and, as alumni, maintain active relationships with the university. Mizzou’s Greek roots go back nearly 150 years, and our university’s leaders are determined to strengthen this system so that fraternities and sororities will thrive here for another 150 years.”

Edited by Caitlyn Rosen crosen@themaneater.com

THE MANEATER The Student Voice of MU since 1955

Vol. 84, Issue 27 G210 Student Center • Columbia, MO 65211 573.882.5500 (phone) • 573.882.5550 (fax) editors@themaneater.com www.themaneater.com

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

“I still think it counts as being a virgin if it’s bad.”

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: MSA presidential election results will be announced on Traditions Plaza following the polls closing April 18 at 6 p.m.

Read about the election and more at themaneater.com.

3

WORK-STUDY

Missouri Senate hears bill to expand work-study opportunities After passing through the House this week, the Senate held a second reading on Rep. Kip Kendrick’s Allan Purdy Work-Study Program bill.

NATASHA VYHOVSKY

Staff Writer

The Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill Monday, currently awaiting a final hearing in the Senate, that would expand work-study opportunities for in-state college students to include paid internships at off-campus businesses, nonprofits or government agencies in their chosen field.

The Allan Purdy Work-Study Program, introduced by Rep. Kip Kendrick in House Bill 1275, would allow colleges and universities to contract with off-campus organizations to provide careerrelevant positions for students.

Schools would subsidize student wages to incentivize businesses and organizations across the state to

offer more paid internships while expanding eligibility for the federal work-study award to include students who hold off-campus positions.

“It provides employers the opportunity to provide some training and also identify potential workers for the future,” Kendrick said at Monday’s House debate. “It gives students a foot in the door while also helping them pay down their student debt bills as they’re incurred.”

At MU, approximately 1,200 students currently participate in work-study, all of whom hold on-campus positions and meet a standard of demonstrated financial need. Kendrick said providing offcampus, paid internships would not only provide job training to more students, but it would also allow more students the opportunity to discover if they want to change their career path, sooner rather than later.

“I think it’s going to hopefully smooth the transition from school to work,” Kendrick said at the debate.

The program would be funded from general revenue, an estimated cost of around $100,000 per year as

it stands now. The bill outlines 60 percent of the funds must go toward supporting program participants who demonstrate financial need, like campus work-study requires now.

Unlike the current federal work-study program, Allan Purdy would allow each school’s financial aid office to use the remaining 40 percent for non-need-based students.

“It gives the financial aid professionals some flexibility,” Kendrick said at the debate. “So financial aid professionals at the school can put 100 percent of it towards students with need, but if they want to, they can also use some of it for people who don’t necessarily show demonstrated need through the FAFSA, but maybe people they’ve identified as maybe needing some additional assistance.”

The Associated Students of the University of Missouri has worked with Kendrick and supported the bill throughout the session. Executive Director Steven Chaffin said ASUM saw the bill as a relevant response to consistent threats of cuts to highereducation funding.

Kathleen Unrath receives Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

ALLISON CHO

Staff Writer

In Townsend Hall, Kathleen Unrath works surrounded by souvenirs from former students. What began as postcards from traveling students evolved into a multitude of art pieces and presents, representing love and respect from students.

Her impact does not go unnoticed. On April 5, she received the 2018 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, an accolade given to one faculty member at each participating Missouri university.

Unrath was nominated by her fellow faculty members in 2017 and was required to submit nomination letters from colleagues, students and professors from other

bill | Page 5

MEETING

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

“The award is significant to me because my faculty nominated me, the Department of Learning, Teaching & Curriculum,” Unrath, an associate professor of art education at the College of Education, said.

“This year, we saw that [Kendrick] was making a really big push for [HB 1275], and so we decided to help out, and we were very excited to see when it passed out of the House last week,” Chaffin said.

Chaffin said the bill is just one of a “package of bills that would help offset the negative things” higher education has seen in the context of funding over the last couple of years.

“We saw this as a way, with college costs rising [and] with tuition rising to help offset those costs,” Chaffin said. “ASUM, broadly speaking, supports anything that will make

universities, as well as a personal statement.

“The award is significant to me because my faculty nominated me, the Department of Learning, Teaching & Curriculum,” said Unrath, an associate professor of art education at the College of Education. “It is also where the meaning is for me: to know that my peers felt that I was worthy to even be nominated.

To win was crazy wonderful.”

To the faculty, her nomination came as no surprise. James Tarr, the department chair of Learning, Teaching & Curriculum, said Unrath was an obvious choice.

“Dr. Unrath is a recipient of several high-profile awards at many different levels — college campus and system,” he said. “Putting her up for the governor’s award seemed like the next frontier, if you will, for recognition.”

Unrath has been an MU faculty member for 16 years, but she began teaching at the university 20 years ago shortly after starting her Ph.D. Previously a middle school teacher in Maryland, she said that pursuing a doctorate degree at MU was not her initial plan.

“My husband was working as an architect, and he got a job here at MU,” she said. “I loved what I was teaching in Maryland. I was

teaching art and gifted and talented students in middle school. When I learned that MU has a doctorate in art education, which maybe 30 to 40 institutions in the country have, I said, ‘Okay, maybe this is meant to be.’”

Currently, her research centers on teacher identities and the effects of mentorship, particularly looking at younger teachers in their first five years of induction.

“Teacher success and teacher preparation are important to me,” Unrath said. “I look to see if young teachers, no matter what field they’re in, are supported, particularly art teachers.”

Jenny Ning Zhan, a master’s student at the MU College of Education, said that Unrath has made a major impact on her own career. Unrath noticed Zhan’s frustrations as an international student in her research class and reached out with a supportive email.

“When I received that email, I felt so surprised and so touched [and] moved,” Zhan said. “We have so many classmates in a classroom, so the professor needs to take care of everyone. But she could tell what I was feeling.”

Zhan said that Unrath’s empathy is what sets her apart

ART | Page 5

Board of Curators approves new program to share faculty knowledge with Missouri THE UNIVERSITY NEWS SECTION The UM System Board of Curators met April 12-13 at Missouri University of Science and Technology to discuss a new faculty outreach program, changes in enrollment, enforcing the “one university” rule and financial plans for the upcoming fiscal year.

President’s report On Friday, UM System President Mun Choi gave his president’s report.

Choi announced the commencement of the Presidential Engagement Fellows program that aims to share the wealth of knowledge UM System faculty have with the state of Missouri, according to the UM System’s website.

“We have fantastic faculty on every campus who want to help improve the lives of Missouri citizens, whether that is through better agriculture practices, new treatments in health care, technological discoveries or providing world-class artistic performances,” Choi said in a UM System press release.

Choi said selected faculty will speak at a number of events throughout the

upcoming year and assist the system in fulfilling it’s duty as a land-grant university.

“We owe it to every Missouri citizen to share with them what we have discovered that can improve their lives,” Choi said in the press release.

He also said that MU’s acceptance rate increased by 14.5 percent this school year, and partnerships with community colleges improved the acceptance rate of transfer students by 33.7 percent.

Choi’s report also highlighted MU professor Kathleen Unrath, who received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in early April.

Finally, Choi discussed the projected $160 million budget deficit in 2023 if current trends continue. He said that if campuses don’t take action to limit costs now, they will need to make “dramatic cuts” when the time comes. However, he said that campus leaders are already taking action with portfolio and performance reviews that will change the structure of their leadership.

NEW | Page 4

4

T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | APRIL 18, 2018

LAW continued from page 1

law students and lawyers led Chinnadurai to look for ways to make change. She joined the law school’s Student-Faculty Relations committee and helped create the American Bar Association’s Substance Abuse & Mental Health Toolkit.

The toolkit mentions the Missouri Lawyers’ Assistance Program, which provides free and confidential counseling and substance abuse recovery programs to lawyers and law students, and its student liaison position.

As the first MOLAP student liaison, Chinnadurai serves as a link between the program and the MU School of Law. She spreads the word about MOLAP’s services and encourages students to seek help when they need it.

“The primary purpose is to make

MSA continued from page 1

associate director of Student Auxiliary Services, said in an email that Student Unions is in the review process and has no information to share.

Stone said MSA is going to focus on student government, and MSA/ GPC Tech will continue to provide its

NEW

continued from page 3 Reducing costs also means making education more affordable for students. Choi recommended supporting the McGraw-Hill partnership for auto-access textbooks and creating efficient budgetary practices with the help of state leadership.

Enrollment updates Steve Graham, senior associate vice president for academic affairs, said the number of students enrolled in online courses has increased 159 percent at MU and 97 percent throughout the UM System since 2012.

He said the number of MU students taking at least one entirely online class has seen a 54 percent increase since 2012, while the UM System saw an 88 percent increase in the same area.

Graham provided an update on the course-sharing initiative that began in spring 2015, which allows students at one UM System campus to enroll in courses offered at another UM System campus if the course is not full.

“As of this past year we’re now offering 50 of those courses that are shared across campuses, and approximately 500 students are jumping into those open spots,” Graham said.

sure that people know that they have a resource that they can go to,” Chinnadurai said of the position.

“In the legal profession, I think it

can be pretty stigmatized, especially because lawyers are the people that others are coming to for help. I think it’s hard for a lot of lawyers to admit that they have those sorts of problems.”

Chinnadurai wants to use her experiences to better serve classmates and increase awareness of mental health issues and the resources available.

“I’ve always been really transparent and open with sharing [about mental health] with people,” she said. “I really hope that that can be a model for other students to feel comfortable.”

Cecil, chair of the Student-Faculty Relations committee, believes Chinnadurai has succeeded in being a model for fellow law students and enacting positive change with regard to mental health.

“She seems to have it all together, so coming from someone who seems to be on top of everything shows students that if she’s involved in [MOLAP], it must be a good

program,” Cecil said. “It’s started to become part of the culture of the law school. Jessica has been the face of all of that.”

Outside of her work with MOLAP, Chinnadurai spends time advocating for women in her field through the Women’s Law Association and provides hands-on guidance to clients starting businesses in Columbia with the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic.

Chinnadurai graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in political science. At MU, she has pursued her interests in employment law and intellectual property.

MOLAP will continue its services at MU even after Chinnadurai graduates in May. “It’s gotten people talking, and I think Jessica is a huge part of that,” Cecil said. “I wish we could fail her this semester and bring her back.”

Edited by Morgan Smith mosmith@themaneater.com

services to student events.

“In the past couple of years, everyone has been looking at their funding models and looking to see what they can do with the budget shortfalls,” Stone said. “There’s been talk of this move for quite a long time, so it isn’t a surprise to us.”

Evans and Okeson-Haberman said MSA is offering them a combined severance package.

OkesonHaberman said the severance should be about $90,000.

“This is a one-time amount,”

Okeson-Haberman said. “So, looking toward the future, one of our main goals is going to be making sure we’re more self-sustaining.”

Okeson-Haberman said one plan to raise funds is to hold a summer journalism camp for high school students with the rest of Mizzou Student Media. This idea would also maximize the use of their office spaces, which aren’t used much over the summer.

According to Evans, KCOU plans to work for more sponsorships,

particularly in sports, and to rent out their recording studio to organizations on campus.

“We’re all a little worried a little bit,” Evans said. “Everyone is worried when there’s change, but so far, it’s been going pretty well. It’s all been going smooth.”

Representatives from Student Legal Services and MSA/GPC Box Office were unavailable for comment.

Edited by Caitlyn Rosen crosen@themaneater.com

“I’VE ALWAYS BEEN REALLY TRANSPARENT AND OPEN WITH SHARING [ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH] WITH PEOPLE. I REALLY HOPE THAT THAT CAN BE A MODEL FOR OTHER STUDENTS TO FEEL COMFORTABLE.” - JESSICA CHINNADURAI

Graham also emphasized the importance of streamlining the process of cross-campus enrollment with a new method, available April 30.

“We will have that one-stop shop with all four campuses listing all the programs and all the information about the programs,” Graham said.

During his report on online education, Choi said that he hopes to use e-learning as a way to serve different student populations.

“It’s very important for us to have the objective that our online education must provide a high-quality learning experience,” Choi said. “It should be able to provide more flexible learning, especially when it comes to learning at any time.”

Choi expressed interest in looking to schools with renowned online education programs to explore different e-learning models, as well as looking into online education innovations such as early graduation, four-year double majors and stackable certificates to better suit students’ goals.

One university The Board of Curators discussed the “one university” rule established by the UM System during its critical issue discussion section. This rule requires that the four universities under the UM

GRAPHIC BY ELIZABETH USTINOV | DESIGNER

System act as one and enforce similar rules and regulations.

The UM System appointed Darryl Chatman as chairman to enforce this rule and ensure the university system acts as more of a single entity than separate ones.

He extensively researched the original one-university rule from 1967.

“This one-university concept requires a centrally directed operation,” Chatman said, reading from the UM System’s original CRR 20.010 document from 1967.

Chatman said that he will create a task force that will continue to connect the universities.

He also said that this is something the Board of Curators can do “right

away,” as it requires little restructuring of programs.

Chatman said the task force is aiming to increase student success and collaboration between the universities. In addition, Chatman said he wants to incorporate an emphasis on shared governance.

“The University of Missouri is not a federation of semiautonomous institutions,” Chatman said. “It is a single university with multiple locations.”

Financial plans Ryan Rapp, vice president for finance and chief financial officer at the UM System, noted that tuition fees have replaced state funding as the primary source of revenue.

Missouri ranks last among all 50 states for growth in tuition per student while it ranks 42nd in growth of state support. Missouri was one of only two states to see a drop in not only tuition but state support as well since the Great Recession.

Rapp said the system will develop a five-year capital financial plan with changes in supplemental fees for the College of Business, College of Engineering and School of Health Professions.

A state capital appropriations request was also proposed and passed to be carried out during the 2020 fiscal year.

Edited by Anna Sirianni asirianni@themaneater.com

5

T H E M A N E AT E R | N E W S | APRIL 18, 2018

BILL

continued from page 3 college more affordable, so we saw this as one thing that

ART

continued from page 3 from other faculty members.

Since the email from last spring, Zhan has felt inspired to incorporate the same sense of kindness into her teaching methods as well.

“I was inspired by this case,” Zhan said. “How can I feel [and] take care of my future students? Again, how can I empathize with my students?

And then, how can I support them? She’s the model. She will display and deliver these things, and I will deliver them

TECH continued from page 1

22 years at MU, Gaines said that the university has never had appropriate music rehearsal rooms for large groups.

“It’s important to get our musicians in real spaces,” Gaines said. “It would be like a scientist being in a makeshift lab. How are they supposed to do good research and do a good experiment with inappropriate facilities?”

Currently, large rehearsal groups such as Marching Mizzou, the jazz band and the orchestra use Loeb Hall, which is a renovated cafeteria that sits on the edge of campus, as a rehearsal area.

“It’s not the greatest space,” MU student Greg Johnson said.

“In Loeb, there’s a giant pillar in the center of the room that separates the trumpets from the trombones. There are curtains everywhere that eat up all of the sound.”

The new School of Music building will be diagonal to the current Fine Arts Building.

It will be more conducive for students who need to practice because they won’t be walking to Loeb, Gaines said.

“The thing that I am most excited for is that I won’t have to walk three quarters of a mile to the new rehearsal

would provide students with more opportunities to do so.”

Kendrick said at the debate he would work with the Missouri Department of Higher Education to implement the bill should it

pass Senate and be finalized.

He has based his model on similar bills passed in Colorado and Montana.

“I really do think that work is going to become more important in part

to my future students. This is education; she’s the model.”

Amy Ruopp, post doctoral fellow in the College of Education, expressed similar thoughts on Unrath’s empathetic nature. Ruopp previously worked as Unrath’s student teacher in a Maryland middle school, and the pair was reunited when Ruopp decided to pursue a doctorate degree at MU. “She starts every class with some kind of thing that she’s noticed in her day-today events that relate to what she’s teaching,” Ruopp said.

“She’s kind, caring, loving and embraces pretty much anyone

who comes into her presence.”

She and Unrath have established many academic traditions together, such as wearing tutus in class on Halloween. Last year, they affixed LED lights around their tams at Ruopp’s doctorate graduation ceremony.

“The hooding ceremony is very serious; you’ve worked so hard for so long,” Ruopp said.

“As soon as we stood up and lit up our tams, you could hear the whole audience go, ‘Ah!’ Any way we can spread a little bit of our creative happiness and celebrate and light things up is something that we like to do.”

For Unrath, moments like

these are important. She values the relationships she’s built over the years and still

keeps in contact with many of her students.

“Teaching is my complete and utter joy,” Unrath said.

“Unfortunately, the arts are not as privileged as other disciplines, so I think it’s extra important to be continuously there for the community of learners I’ve developed here at MU. They’re always a member of our art family, no matter how far back they go.”

Outside of teaching, Unrath is a fibers artist and curates an art exhibition every year where MU students can showcase their work.

Edited by Stephi Smith ssmith@themaneater.com

area,”Johnson said.

The new building will house large rehearsal spaces, a recital hall which will double as a classroom during the day, faculty offices and more classrooms. The classrooms will be acoustically designed, which is important to the both faculty and students. The building will allow for more learning and practicing to occur simultaneously.

“Teachers have to adjust their teaching schedules so you don’t have a French horn and a vocalist right next to each other because there is too much bleed,” Gaines said. “The vocalist can’t hear her music when the French horn player is playing a symphony. Things have had to be altered.”

Gaines is adamant about making a clear distinction between the quality of the School of Music’s current facilities and its faculty.

“I believe that our faculty offer a quality education right now, even in poor facilities, but I believe it will be enhanced with the new building,” Gaines said.

“They have quality education then they’re going to be able to rehearse in a space where they can actually hear each other.

It has nothing to do with the quality of the professors.”

The new facilities will only enhance the professors’ abilities, Gaines said.

“The fact that I will finally be able to give them the tools

they need to continue teaching excellently is going to be great,” Gaines said.

Even standard components of the current School of Music buildings, such as heat and air conditioning, hinder processes that are typical to musicians such as professional recordings.

If the heat turns on in one of the buildings, the musician must restart at a later time when the

conditions are suitable.

“It’s more critical in music to capture a live performance for potential grad school applications or YouTube to demonstrate what you can do,” Gaines said. “It takes the faculty a lot of extra work. They have to do more to overcome the inadequacies of the building so that the students can be successful.”

Students who are currently attending the School of Music will have the opportunity to see the transformation of the facilities. Following the completion of construction, students won’t just come to MU for the faculty, they will come to MU for the facilities as well, Gaines said.

Edited by Morgan Smith mosmith@themaneater.com

MU plans to finish construction on the new School of Music building by fall 2019. The construction is expected to cost $24 million. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

of addressing the issue of student debt because it’s a fairly conservative principle, but it’s also a policy where everybody can agree that getting them the practical experience along with the

Professor Kathleen Unrath speaks to a group of future art teachers.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MELISSA GRINDSTAFF VIA THE MU COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

theory is best,” Kendrick said at the debate.

Kendrick was unavailable for further comment.

Edited by Skyler Rossi srossi@themaneater.com

6

SUMMER

Make the most of summer in CoMo with these ideas Columbia has a lot to offer; here are four things that can enhance a summer spent in this college town.

KATIE HARFF

MOVE Columnist

Most students are firming up their summer plans to go home, travel, work or stay in Columbia.

There’s a variety of things that keep MU students in Columbia over the summer, whether it be an internship, to get in-state tuition or because CoMo has become home.

If you’re staying in Columbia without taking summer classes, then you will have even more free time because you won’t have to keep up with schoolwork, but don’t worry — there are things to occupy your time.

Here are some suggestions on how to make your summer in CoMo a good one: 1. Go to the pool at MizzouRec If one thing is for sure, summer in CoMo will be hot and humid.

Spending some time at the pool will make that a little more bearable.

Although the specific hours have not yet been released, the pool will be open seven days a week, so there will always be an opportunity to soak up some sun.

2. Take a trip to Kansas City or St. Louis If you are looking for a change of scenery this summer, hop in the car and drive just a couple hours to Kansas City or St. Louis. Both can be done as a weekend trip or even a day

The MKT Trail, a nine-mile path that connects to the Katy Trail, is one of the many places to hike or walk outside this summer. PHOTO BY TRISTEN ROUSE | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

trip. There is shopping, museums, fun restaurants and tourist attractions in both places that can make for a fun getaway.

3. Sign up for MoviePass and see as many movies as possible For rainy or lazy days, head to Regal Stadium 14 or Goodrich Forum 8 for a movie. Both locations accept MoviePass, which is a good investment if you’re a frequent moviegoer. It costs $9.95 a month, but you are able to see a movie

a day with no additional charge.

Say goodbye to feeling guilty for spending $10 on a movie ticket when you can pay that once for a month for all movie viewing.

4. Take a hike There are a variety of trails and scenic parks in Columbia and in surrounding areas. The Pinnacles is just one of many options. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s website, “about 250 million years ago Boone County was

covered by a shallow sea. This sea teemed with life and the fossilized remains of these ancient sea creatures are preserved in the Burlington limestone bedrock that composes the ‘Pinnacles’ rock formations here.”

There are many other things you can do, but if you are at a loss as to how you are going to spend your time, you now have four ideas to make the most of a summer in Columbia.

Edited by Claire Colby ccolby@themaneater.com

7

T H E M A N E AT E R | M OV E M AG A Z I N E | A P R I L 1 8, 2 0 1 8 COLUMN

‘Westworld’ comes back strong in season two premiere

LEO ROCHA

Reporter

This review contains spoilers.

Watch Westworld.

That’s a sentence I’ve been repeating to everyone the past week.

In preparation for writing this review, I watched the entire first season in four days.

The writing, storytelling and editing had me hooked — I never wanted to stop watching.

No one saw me during those four days. The show consumed my life.

Waiting a week for HBO’s media relations team to send me the season two premiere was excruciating. I had missed the show deeply — I can’t imagine having waited for over a year; Westworld finished its first season in December 2016.

Westworld started its first season with incredible storylines, and that hasn’t changed since the season ended.

The season two premiere of Westworld, “Journey Into Night,” picks up about two weeks after the massacre we saw in the season one finale.

Or so it seems at first.

With the big reveal that the first season of Westworld spanned decades, the writers have not stopped toying with the method of depicting multiple timelines. “Journey Into Night” makes a lot of time jumps between the night of the massacre and two weeks later, both from the perspective of Bernard.

To make a comparison: The season two premiere of Westworld is like Jurassic Park when all of the dinosaurs escape to wreak havoc on the humans — Michael Crichton, who wrote the Jurassic Park books, also wrote the original 1973 Westworld movie upon which the TV show is based.

The hosts are in control of the park now, and Maeve and Dolores seem to have switched roles. Dolores has grown into a more villainous character, which is conflicting since we saw much of the first season through her perspective. She and Teddy have teamed up Bonnie and Clyde style, going through the park and killing hosts and humans alike.

Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden in season two of Westworld. PHOTO COURTESY OF HBO

Maeve, on the other hand, is occupying the sympathetic role that Dolores had last season.

When we last saw her in the season finale, she obtained free will and made the decision to get off the train and look for her daughter. All she wants is to be reunited with her daughter. Maeve is a very interesting character and the best part of the show. Her lines are delightfully clever; Thandie Newton’s acting is incredible, and she is just an overall badass.

Because the gap between seasons is so long, writers had to include a lot of exposition in

the premiere. This is the only negative part of the episode; sometimes, the exposition drags on too long, lessening the emotional significance the events are meant to have.

One exciting new detail from the premiere is confirmation that the Delos company owns six parks. This was teased last season with the appearance of Samurai costumes in one of the company’s labs. It also seems like the show is going to start to explore these other parks very soon. There’s a chance that the hosts in these parks have become self-aware as well.

Ultimately, “Journey Into Night” is a great way for Westworld to come back. Despite the excessive exposition, the episode still manages to be fast paced and jaw dropping.

The writers take the man vs. machine trope to new levels, exploring what it means to truly be human. You’re going to be left questioning the nature of your reality.

Westworld season two premieres April 22 on HBO at 8 p.m.

Edited by Alexandra Sharp asharp@themaneater.com

REVIEW

Greenhouse Theatre Project’s ‘Frankenstein’ immerses audience

The poster for GreenHouse Theatre Project’s immersive production of Frankenstein. GRAPHIC COURTESY OF NO PROSCENIUM

“Do not sit back; do not relax,” House Manager Kristen Thackery said.

EMMA VEIDT

Staff Writer

More than a dozen people stood outside the open garage

of Columbia’s Hoot Design Co. on April 10’s dress rehearsal performance of Frankenstein.

Some drank wine, some snapped pictures, but every person wore a black mask. They faced the garage and watched Frankenstein’s creature get electrocuted and come to life.

After the creature, played by Jenny Hipscher, made eye

contact with several audience members, it grunted and crawled down from the stage to interact with them. Its stiff, staccato movements became smoother as it got more and more aware of its body.

Behind the audience members of Greenhouse Theatre Project’s Frankenstein, a disheveled man, Victor Frankenstein, shouted at his creation. The performance had officially begun.

GTP is a professional theater company that performs and produces both classical and experimental works. In May 2017, the company performed Dark Creation, which explored the psyche of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley. This year, GTP decided to honor the novel’s bicentennial anniversary with another Frankenstein-themed play. In this immersive adaptation, there is no ordinary stage; an entire three-story building is used for different scenes.

The audience is encouraged to follow the actors, pick up the props and wander around the set.

“Be involved, explore; we want you to take risks and go downstairs and split up from

the people you came with,” GTP’s house manager Kristen Thackery told the audience before the performance started.

“The experience is totally what you make up of it. Do not sit back, do not relax and immerse yourself in the world of Frankenstein.”

In a traditional theater with one stage and a stationary audience, people generally share the same experience.

However, in this immersive play, your experience is determined by which characters you follow or which room you explore. There are sometimes different scenes occurring at once. At one point, the creature wandered around downstairs and outlined its body on a chalkboard while Frankenstein assembled its bride upstairs.

To make sure the audience got the most out of the performance, Thackery worked on crowd control. She walked around with the audience and made sure people were in the right room during key scenes.

According to Thackery, GTP’s first immersive production was in 2016 and was a performance of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.

“It went really well; we

learned a lot from it,” Thackery said. “We received a lot of really great feedback from our audience, so we wanted to do another immersive production ever since then.”

Shelley published Frankenstein in 1818, but the 2018 play honoring the bestseller has a more modern tone.

The set furniture could come straight from an IKEA catalog.

Frankenstein’s creation had conversations with other characters via video as opposed to face-to-face, and some characters’ costumes were adapted to the 21st century.

To Thackery, local theater is important because it connects one community to the rest of the world.

“I think arts are really important in terms of expressing feelings about what’s happening in the world around you,” Thackery said.

“I think it’s a great way to get connected to the world around you. It’s a great way to process emotion and feel and explore.”

Edited by Alexandra Sharp asharp@themaneater.com

8

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

LGBTQ

LGBTQ community celebrates Pride Month with two drag performances QTPOC Vice President Jack Dae Han Miller: “Having drag be there for us, the way it has been for the LGBTQ people, is part of our history, is part of our present, is one of the things that will bring us to a better future.”

MARIANA LABBATE

Reporter

April is Pride Month for the LGBTQ Resource Center and the MU community.

To celebrate, the center’s organizations hold a series of events to promote acceptance and visibility.

The Black & Brown and Let’s Get Loud drag shows on April 9 and 11, respectively, were examples of Pride Month’s positive impact on the community, encouraging uniqueness and self-expression.

Although both shows have similar layouts, they presented slightly different goals. While Let’s Get Loud was organized by the Triangle Coalition and held auditions open to everyone, Black & Brown was presented by Queer/Trans People of Color and focused on performers of color.

“The reason we do it is because within the LGBTQ community, people of color are still treated worse and have worse outcomes in life than LGBTQ people who are white,” QTPOC Vice President Jack Dae Han Miller said. “Then of course there’s also the fact that drag came from communities of color, at least in the United States.

This is how they lived. This is how they survived. Drag was their family. Our show is honoring that history. It’s keeping that history alive and making sure that some people that didn’t know it before know about it now.”

This was the second annual Black & Brown Drag Show, while Let’s Get Loud Drag Show is in its sixth year, Triangle Coalition President Mark Boyd said.

Boyd performed in both drag shows as “Rhea Listic.”

“This is my fifth year, and I started doing drag the second semester of my freshman year, so I’ve done the show almost every semester,” Boyd said. “It’s a six-month process. We have to book the room and everything. Then skip to two months out and we open up the applications for performers. Anyone is allowed to perform, on or off campus, student or not. All that we ask is that their performances have no alcohol or drugs involved.”

The performers also need months in advance to craft their presentations.

As well as practicing for the performance itself, makeup

MU sophomore Max Farris was a first-time performer in the Let’s Get Loud Drag Show. Farris performed “Really Rich Italian Satanists” by Dirty Sanchez as Angel. PHOTO BY JACOB MOSCOVITCH | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

and outfit changes also take a lot of the drag queens’ and kings’ time on the day of the performance.

“I wanted to do drag when I came to the show last semester in October,” said the freshman who performed as “Aquafina” for the first time in Let’s Get Loud. “I felt like I could do it and have so much fun, so I just really worked on it, from October every single week practicing makeup and dancing. It’s an adrenaline rush, and I love it.

I feel so accomplished. It’s so important. It’s celebratory, it’s very fun and it’s open to more people. It gets people involved in the LGBTQ community that may not feel like they are.”

MU freshman Ryan Edwards applies makeup in preparation for the Let’s Get Loud Drag Show on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, in Stotler Lounge in Memorial Union. Edwards performed “Love Game” by Lady Gaga and “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus as Awkwafina. PHOTO BY JACOB MOSCOVITCH | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The performances’ significance goes beyond lipsyncing and cheering. Both performers and organizers recognize the safe space for self-expression that drag offers and emphasized the need for more visibility and acceptance, from people both in and out of the LGBTQ umbrella.

“Having drag be there for

us the way it has been for the LGBTQ people is part of our history, is part of our present, is one of the things that will bring us to a better future as people learn more about us, accept us more and accept us for who we are, including when we’re on the stage performing drag,” Miller said. “If people are only accepting us when

we’re dressed in genderconforming clothing and if we’re acting like straight and cis people, then that’s not acceptance. Acceptance is when you see queer and trans people acting as queer and trans as they want to be and still welcoming them.”

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 | A P R I L 1 8, 2 0 1 8 TV SHOWS

‘I Am Evidence’ brings untested rape kits to light The film educates viewers on the different challenges rape victims face in modern America.

SIENA DEBOLT

Staff Writer

I Am Evidence, an HBO documentary that aired April 16, focuses on the prevalent issue of untested rape kits in cities across America.

Mariska Hargitay, producer of the film and actress on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, said at the beginning of the documentary that she started advocating for the funding and testing of rape kits after receiving thousands of letters from viewers of SVU detailing their rape stories.

“I am evidence, literally,” Ericka, a rape victim whose kit had not been tested for 11 years, said in the documentary. “My name is on a box on a shelf. It has never been tested.”

The documentary starts in Detroit, where Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy

explains that in August 2009 an assistant of hers discovered 11,000 untested rape kits in an abandoned warehouse that the Detroit Police Department was using to store evidence.

Ever since, Worthy and a small team of investigators have been working through the kits and contacting victims in the hopes that they will help bring their cases to light.

Throughout the film, victims with untested kits in Ohio, Detroit and Los Angeles share their stories, including the way the police handled their accounts.

Several women explain that the police officers painted victims as if they deserved to be raped, which may be the reason their rape kits never made it off the shelves and into labs to be tested.

“All of the questions that I got from law enforcement were asked with the intention of finding out what I did to cause assault,” Helena, a victim from Los Angeles who was kidnapped and held by her abuser for 10 hours, said in the documentary.

Kym Worthy, left, and Mariska Hargitay in the HBO documentary I Am Evidence. PHOTO COURTESY OF IMDB

Now, prosecutors like Worthy are working with psychologists to train police officers to be empathetic when they discuss attacks with victims. They believe this will lead law enforcement to follow through with rape cases instead of putting the kits on a shelf and moving

past the story because they are skeptical of the victim.

While the movie ends on a high note — that they are in the process of bringing justice to abusers and recognizing patterns with serial rapists — they’re still a ways from making sure that rape kits don’t go untested like they

have been. The film inspires viewers to take action by donating to rape kit task forces on its website and shows the rewarding side of helping victims who assumed their cases would never be solved.

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

LIMITED SPACES

remaining for Fall 2018 Apply today and secure your space!

UCENTREONTURNER.COM

PROUD SPONSOR OF MIZZOU® ATHLETICS

Limited time only. See office for details.

10

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

IT’S ON US

It’s On Us Mizzou brings bill to state legislature The national movement to end sexual assault has led It’s On Us Mizzou to raise awareness and propose changes in the Missouri legislature.

EMMY LUCAS

Staff Writer

It’s On Us Mizzou has propelled the conversation about sexual assault on MU’s campus and across the state by proposing a bill to the Missouri legislature.

Starting conversations about sexual assault was not as easy as it was a few years ago. It’s On Us, the national movement to end sexual assault, launched in 2014 to raise awareness of sexual assault and its prevalence on college campuses.

It’s On Us started in the White House under former President Barack Obama’s administration. The national movement campaigns for the importance of engaging everyone in the conversation to end sexual assault. From students and parents to community leaders and organizations, It’s On Us asks everyone to step up and realize that the conversation starts with us.

“I think that two years ago this conversation was a lot more difficult to have,” said Tori Schafer, MU senior and It’s On Us Mizzou regional adviser.

Schafer began to look into how the relationship between student government and advocacy roles affects sexual assault during her time in the Missouri Students Association. Schafer joined It’s On Us at the national level under the student advisory committee.

Using her role in MSA, Schafer sought to bring It’s On Us to MU’s campus. She received support and funding from campus organizations such as the Office for Civil Rights & Title IX, the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center, MU Honors College and Mizzou Athletics.

It’s On Us Mizzou became an affiliate chapter of the national campaign in fall 2015.

Neeti Butala, MU senior and It’s On Us Mizzou communications coordinator, said It’s On Us is an important initiative to hold everyone accountable to intervene in bystander situations.

“It’s On Us is really a call to action to take it upon ourselves to end sexual assault on our own campus,” Butala said.

It’s On Us Mizzou has become a presence on campus and gained an abundance of members

It’s On Us Mizzou regional adviser Tori Schafer speaks in Leadership Auditorium in the MU Student Center. MANEATER FILE PHOTO

since 2015.

“It’s On Us Mizzou is the largest It’s On Us program,” Schafer said. “We have about 120 active members currently whereas on most campuses you will see around five or six active members. We are really proud to have such a large group of people, and that is what helps us put on such big events.”

The It’s On Us Week of Action takes place once a semester to take action against sexual assault.

From a social media campaign and tabling in the MU Student Center to professional panels, the spring It’s On Us Week of Action took place April 2-6. The teal-themed baseball game has been rescheduled to April 24.

“Week of Action is really just everyone coming together because we do have so many partners who support us,” Schafer said.

Schafer wants to get students involved, whether by joining the organization or partaking in the events.

“I want everyone to feel that they can be involved with It’s On Us,” Schafer said. “It’s so simple to change your profile picture in support or take the pledge that you promise to uphold the values of It’s On Us.” According to the It’s On Us website, almost 300,000 people have taken the It’s On Us pledge against sexual violence in the last two years. The It’s On Us Week of Action featured a table in the MU Student Center where students could sign their names to take the pledge.

In furthering action and awareness on college campuses, Schafer is also fighting for change on the legal level. Schafer, along with the Associated Students of the University of Missouri, has proposed a bill to expand Missouri’s sexual education curriculum.

“I think that Missouri really lacks in sex education and sex health, and I think that’s pretty obvious in the current requirements in the policy now standing,” Schafer said. “The bill actually started as a fellowship project for me two years ago when I was applying for a national scholarship and had to come up with a policy proposal, and this is a change I want to see.”

The proposed amendments to the current policy add a ninth regulation, stating students must be taught about consent, sexual harassment and sexual violence.

Currently, the bill waits to be put on the calendar to be voted on in the Missouri House of Representatives.

“It has gained so much bipartisan support, which is incredible, and it is a simple fix,” Schafer said. “Now we are in the waiting phase.”

Schafer said the fix to require sexual consent education in Missouri middle and high schools will help prevent sexual assaults when students reach a college campus. Starting the conversation is crucial to awareness and prevention.

“I think we bring awareness to this issue by really putting ownership over the issue,” Schafer said. “It’s in our title that it really is on each of us, and it doesn’t matter whether you are a social worker or a law student or whatever your background may be. You do not have to be studying this topic to start this conversation.”

Edited by Brooke Collier bcollier@themaneater.com

MOVIE REVIEW

‘Isle of Dogs’ is slight love letter from Wes Anderson to Japanese cinema By setting his canine search-and-rescue story in Japan, director Wes Anderson makes his homage to some of Japan’s great directors.

JESSE BAALMAN

MOVE Columnist

Isle of Dogs kicks off with a title card that reads: “The humans in this film speak only in their native tongue (occasionally translated by bilingual interpreter, foreign exchange student, and electronic device). The dogs’ barks are translated into English.”

In an analog near-future version of Japan, 12-year-old Atari (Koyu Rankin) is ward to his authoritarian uncle, Mayor Kobayashi of the fictional Megasaki City. After all dogs are exiled to Trash Island due to an illness outbreak, the boy sets out on a mission to find his guard dog, Spots

(Liev Schreiber). With help from a pack of alpha mongrels led by the only stray, Chief (Bryan Cranston), Atari journeys through a gorgeously grunge Japanese fantasy as imagined by director Wes Anderson.

The film is influenced by works from Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki, but mostly in a referential way instead of thematically like Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill and Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. Those films pay tribute to Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and Kar-Wai Wong’s In the Mood for Love, whereas Isle of Dogs is more like a catalogue of Japan in the director’s signature style. Inside there is sushi, cherry blossoms, sumo wrestling, yakuza tattoos, taiko drumming, samurai warriors, haiku poetry and mushroom clouds.

With such a commanding aesthetic, Anderson would have been a great choice to make a visual homage had he compromised on his trademark symmetrical mise-en-scènes. The film is one of the most beautiful works of

stop-motion animation, even when its presentation of Japanese imagery treads lightly. It should be noted that Kunichi Nomura served as the story’s cultural consultant while voicing Mayor Kobayashi.

One dicey part of this film is its youth-in-revolt subplot featuring Yoko Ono as a scientist. It centers around Tracy (Greta Gerwig), a foreign exchange student from Ohio who leads a rebellion of students in her own country. When she addresses the Japanese crowd in English while the rest of her group remains silent, Anderson seems to break his own linguistic rules.

The approach to dialogue is justified by telling the story from the dogs’ perspective, so the director casts American talent like Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. He intended to leave the native language unobstructed, but he doesn’t necessarily preserve it either by translating isolated bits of information instead of just subtitling

it all. The film quite literally gets lost in translation, and maybe that’s the point; there is no true translation because everything is interpreted one way or another. At one point, Chief even refers to this by joking, “I wish somebody spoke his language.”

Anderson is no stranger to claims of cultural tourism (The Darjeeling Limited), yet here he actually creates conversation by engaging with and poking fun at stereotypes. His intent is a lot less malicious than it is quirkily dedicated. He even uses Japan and “dog flu” as a mirror for American politics by packing in a nice little metaphor about the current administration’s anti-immigration stance. While Isle of Dogs shouldn’t be dismissed, I think some critics failed to discuss how Anderson’s approach could be problematic.

Edited by Claire Colby ccolby@themaneater.com

SPORTS

11

Online this week: Baseball gets swept by Florida, men’s basketball picks up two point guards and more at themaneater.com.

TRACK AND FIELD

World-ranked athletes headline track and field recruiting class

Stephen Mugeche, left, runs during the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on April 14, 2018. PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFF CURRY VIA MIZZOU ATHLETICS

This year’s class includes recruits from five different countries.

ANDY KIMBALL

Staff Writer

After the rush of the spring signing period, track and field head coach Brett Halter has finally finished his 2018 recruiting class.

In the spring signing period, Missouri added 12 athletes to bring its total for

the class of 2018 to 33.

The Tigers signed athletes from all over the world, as five different countries are represented in this year’s class. Missouri also has five recruits represented in either the world junior or world youth rankings, including a gold medalist in the U-20 European Championships.

Here is a look at the headliners of the class: Dzhois Koba Koba is one of the recruits with international experience and has

arguably the most impressive resume, with a U-20 European championship to her name.

The native of Vinnytsia, Ukraine, was a gold medalist in the 4x400 relay and is ranked 22nd in the world junior rankings in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.79.

She will bring big-time race experience to the sprint team. Her personal record of 52.79 is faster than any Tiger since 1982 and would be the third-fastest time in school history.

Roberto Vilches

Vilches hails from Mexico City and comes in with the highest world ranking of the incoming class of Tigers with a No. 5 junior world ranking in the high jump.

Vilches will be expected to be an immediate contributor. His international success includes a gold medal in the PanAmerican Junior World Championships. Vilches’ personal record leap of 2.25 meters would have placed fifth in the NCAA Indoor National

T&F | Page 13

BASEBALL

Missouri beats Chicago State despite shaky performances The Tigers drew seven walks and used eight pitchers on the afternoon.

JERRY DUGGAN

Staff Writer

Heading into Tuesday’s contest, Missouri baseball had dropped five of its last seven, including five of its last six Southeastern Conference matchups. The Tigers were swept last weekend at top-ranked Florida, dropping the three games by a

combined 20-5.

Returning home, the Tigers were in need of a win. On Tuesday, the Chicago State University Cougars came to town, ranked No. 261 in RPI with a 5-27 record. Despite not doing much on offense and struggling with command on the mound throughout, the Tigers held on to beat Chicago State, 5-3.

Brian Sharp got the starting nod for the Tigers for just the second time this season. He was able to keep his team in the game, getting through four innings while allowing two runs

on five hits and no walks. He struck out three and also earned the win.

Chicago State plated one in the top of the first. The Tigers were a little slow out of the gate offensively, but right fielder Trey Harris got things going with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third.

In the next inning, Chicago State scored another run, but freshman Cade Bormet reached on an error that put the Tigers ahead. Basesloaded walks by Zach Hanna in the fourth and Chris Cornelius in the fifth stretched the lead to 5-2.

Konnor Ash pitched a scoreless top of the fifth for the Tigers.

In the sixth, Giovanni Lopez was ineffective, retiring just two batters while allowing a walk and a hit.

Cody Siebenberger then came in and walked a batter. Finally, Nolan Gromacki was able to pitch out of the bases-loaded jam and preserve the three-run lead. He recorded the first two outs of the seventh before being replaced by Cameron Pferrer, who pitched 0.2 scoreless innings.

Beat | Page 13

12

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

BASKETBALL

Coaching tree comrades Matt Painter, Bruce Weber praise Cuonzo Martin’s start at Missouri

“The past is the best predictor of the future,” Martin’s former teammate and coaching-mate Matt Painter said. “I think he’s going to be very successful at Missouri in the coming years.”

BENNETT DURANDO

Assistant Sports Editor

With little more than a week left in the regular season, Bruce Weber got a text from an old friend.

“He texts me just, you know, ‘Hey, coach; what are you guys focusing on here down the stretch?’” Weber said. “‘And what are you doing [as a coach]?’”

Cuonzo Martin needed a little advice from a coaching mentor at that point.

His Missouri Tigers had lost three straight with March just around the corner, suddenly reintroducing the debate regarding their still tentative NCAA Tournament fate.

Needing to get his team back on track, he turned to Weber, the head coach of tournament-bound Kansas State and an assistant coach from Martin’s playing days.

“We talked about close games and details, and that stuff that really makes a difference, especially getting late in the season,” Weber said. “I just shared some thoughts with him about what we were doing at the time. I talked about the little things and paying attention to detail. You’ve got to keep them focused and paying attention to those details, concentrating on them, getting your guys to believe in them, just because there’s such a fine line.”

Missouri proceeded to string together two straight victories and cement the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth in five years, all one season after the Tigers finished 8-24. Ridden with injuries, suspensions and transfer losses, to do so was a feat of leadership that caught the attention of college basketball coaches around the country — especially a couple of those whose connections with Martin span 25 years back.

Weber and Purdue head coach Matt Painter hail from the same coaching tree as Martin. They weren’t surprised by what he did this year.

“Things change in time — you grow older, you grow wiser, you learn from your experience — but he’s always been a very determined, very disciplined, competitive guy,” Painter said. “What he did at Missouri in his first year is something he’s done before.”

Painter would know.

While assembling a staff after he took over the head coaching job at Purdue in 2005, he kept Martin on as an assistant coach.

Both had been on Gene Keady’s staff the season prior. More than a decade earlier, the two were teammates at Purdue under Keady in the 1990s. Weber was an assistant coach of those teams.

“When Cuonzo arrived at Purdue, the nurse told us he would never play more than 20 minutes a game because of his knee,” Weber said, referring to complications with an ACL surgery

Martin had coming out of high school.

“Sometimes when people tell him it can’t be done, that’s when he goes into high gear to prove people.”

Martin played 30 minutes or more per game in each of his last three college seasons.

“He rarely came out [of games]; he’d get mad at us,” Weber said with a laugh.

Dealing with adverse situations is what he and Painter pride Martin on most. The Purdue and Kansas State skippers, who together also coached Southern Illinois to success in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, both stress that Martin is one of college basketball’s greatest conquerors of hardship.

He showed it on the basketball court at Purdue after he went 0 for 7 on 3-point attempts across his freshman and sophomore seasons.

“Coach Keady said never shoot an expletive, buncha-word 3-pointer again,” Weber said. “He got in that gym, Mackey Arena, no air conditioning, shot the 3 ball, and after not making any his first two years, in two years he became, at that time, the all-time leading 3-point shooter in Purdue history.”

He showed it off the court after his college days were over, when cancer became his opponent.

“He’s playing overseas, has the cancer come up, and I still remember getting the call from him around Christmas time,” Weber said. “I was like ‘Hey; it’s great you got home for Christmas,’ and he said, ‘No Coach, not home for Christmas.’

“It was devastating to see that but just kind of typical of him. He overcomes things.”

And he showed it throughout his debut season at Missouri when the Tigers lost the No. 1 recruit in the country for three-plus months among a series of other backcourt-depleting losses.

“I think for a young coach, he’s dealt with so much adversity in his life, so when you look at the adverse situations he has had from a basketball standpoint, I don’t think he looks at it like it’s that big of a deal,” Painter said. “You lose a couple guys in your backcourt; you beat cancer — they really don’t compare.”

So when his remaining players had to find a way around all their lost teammates, all their demoralizing lastsecond losses, Martin was the perfect guy to guide them, Painter said.

“His mindset is great for things like that,” Painter said. “He just looks at it like, ‘Hey; knuckle up and do what you’re supposed to do and don’t feel sorry for yourself. Somebody else out there has it worse than you.’ I think that’s a great approach. You can still get the job done. I think that’s what he did this year even though he had one of the best players in the country who only played a couple games for him.”

Martin getting his team to the NCAA Tournament was something Weber fully expected when he looked at Missouri’s assets at the start of the season in November; by March, it was an accomplishment he was beyond impressed by.

Missouri’s run came to a halt in the first round at the hands of Florida State, but even in the midst of any shortcomings that contributed to their final downfall, Painter thought it was

Cuonzo Martin during his introduction as MU’s head basketball coach. MANEATER FILE PHOTO the resilience of the Tigers with so few players that stood out. Missouri sliced a 22-point deficit to 6 at one point in the loss.

“People sometimes forget there’s another team out there,” Painter said. “Did they have their best player [healthy]? Did they lose their secondleading scorer to a suspension and he couldn’t play in a game in the NCAA Tournament? What if they had to do those same things, and now you put them on an even playing field; how would that game end up?

“I’ve coached 14 years,” he continued, “and I’ve never dealt with what he had to deal with right there.”

Nor has he had to deal with the unique situation Martin is faced with this offseason. After reviving Missouri basketball in 2017-18 behind a recruiting gem, he’ll have to maintain and build on what he started with a primarily clean plate — no Michael Porter Jr., no Kassius Robertson, no Jordan Barnett, maybe no Jontay Porter. How will he do it?

“Obviously, recruiting becomes a major factor,” Weber said. “Cuonzo has the respect of coaches, and then when parents get to know him and see what he’s about as a person, I know that’s able to help him with the recruiting process.

He’s been able to find some guys, get some guys where no one else thought he could, and I’m sure that will continue as he moves forward at Missouri.”

But while Martin has made big strides in local St. Louis-area recruiting already, he won’t have a No. 1 overall prospect in an assistant coach’s backyard every year.

“I know from my experiences and even our team last year, getting little tastes of winning and getting in the tournament can be a really driving force, a motivational force,” Weber said.

Kansas State narrowly made the 2017 NCAA Tournament, winning a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio, before being eliminated. Last month, Weber’s Wildcats were back as a No. 9 seed. This time, they crashed the 2018 Dance with three wins that had them playing as one of the final eight teams in the country.

Painter had his fair share of success, too, frequenting the AP top five during the 2017-18 season and ultimately bringing Purdue to the Sweet 16 for a second straight season.

“You’ve got to go out there and mold a team together, piece a team together, go out there and fight; there’s no magic answer, and Cuonzo has always known that,” Painter said. “He’s been able to do it a couple different ways. He’s been able to develop guys; he’s been able to recruit high-level guys. That’s kind of the secret to success: There is no secret.”

As for Martin’s future teams, Painter and Weber have different opinions about wanting to face them. Painter prefers not to schedule his friends in coaching if he can avoid it.

“They’re your friend; you don’t want them to lose anything,” he said. “I have no problem with playing Missouri. I just don’t want to play Missouri if they’re coached by Cuonzo Martin.”

But Weber says he’s talked to Martin about the two scheduling each other and still hopes to make it happen in the near future.

“We were really looking at next year, but they’re in the same tournament as us, the Virgin Island tournament,” he said. “Because of that tournament we kind of put it off, but we definitely would like to do it. When that hurricane relief popped up, I called him right away, but he had already got it set with Kansas.”

Whether or not any of those matchups play out, Weber and Painter said they were both proud to see Martin get Missouri basketball back on the map in his first year.

“To be able to land a coach like Cuonzo Martin at Missouri, they should be really appreciative of what they have and be thankful for what they have,” Painter said. “The past is the best predictor of the future. I think he’s gonna be very successful at Missouri in the coming years.”

He and Weber both hope to see that success pan out, and Weber is always welcoming to a text for advice.

“That was my whole focus when I texted him,” Weber said. “You build your foundation of your team. Now they’ve got to stay determined, got to stay very focused. And all those little things make a big difference.”

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

13

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

T&F

continued from page 11 Championships this March and is higher than any Tiger athlete has jumped since 1982.

Mitch Weber Weber will come to Missouri after completing an impressive career that includes being a three-time state champion in Minnesota. Weber also has the top mark in the discus for the class of 2018, with a personal-best throw of 59.99 meters.

Weber will join the redshirt junior duo of Will Fife and Avery Carter to strengthen what is already a strong group of throwers on the men’s side.

Kieran Wood Wood is an experienced college runner who will come in next year with two years of eligibility remaining for the Tigers.

Wood tore up the track while competing in Cambridge, U.K. He will join Missouri after winning the 1,500-

BEAT continued from page 11

Luke Anderson then came in, allowed a run to score and struggled with control.

Finally, Andy Toelken came in and put an end to the madness, shutting down the Cougars for the final 1.1 innings.

Despite having to use eight pitchers

meter 2017 BUCS Championships with a personal record of 3:45.62 that would have been a top-20 time at the NCAA Division I championships last June in Eugene, Oregon.

Mirieli Santos Santos is another internationally experienced athlete and is from Mato Grosso, Brazil.

She has experience in the triple and long jump and her record leap of 13.21 meters in the triple jump is ranked 21st in the world junior rankings and is a half a meter longer than the school record of 12.71 meters set by Hedvig Glomsroed in 2007.

Arianna Fisher Fisher is another impressive jumper.

Hailing from San Jose, California, her longest jump of 12.68 meters ranks 23rd in the world youth rankings.

Fisher and Santos will provide a lethal one-two combination in the horizontal jumps for the Tigers over the next four years.

Suenomi Norinh Norinh could be the most wellrounded athlete in the incoming class,

showing prowess in both jumps and sprints. She has the sixth-highest mark in the high jump for the class of 2018 with 1.75 meters.

The native of Zeeland, Michigan, had a strong all-around showing at last year’s state championships, winning the high jump and finishing sixth in the 300-meter hurdles and finishing second in the long jump and the 100-meter hurdles.

Not surprisingly, Norinh has had the most success in the heptathlon.

Her record of 4,695 points ranks 23rd in the world in the junior youth rankings.

Morgan O’Neal O’Neal is an impressive hurdler who will also be able to contribute in the 400-meter dash next year for the Tigers. Her time of 59.91 in the 400meter hurdles ranks 10th nationally for the class of 2018.

The hurdler from Sylacauga, Alabama, is a six-time state champion who has won state titles in the 100meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles and the 400-meter dash. O’Neal will

on the afternoon, the bullpen allowed just one run in five innings.

After the over 3-hour sleeper, head coach Steve Bieser was not too pleased.

“We had a chance to really come out and swing the bats well today, but we didn’t do that,” he said.

“We’ve got to be better offensively.”

Up next, Missouri has a weekend series against the Vanderbilt Commodores starting Thursday at 7 p.m. at home. The series will

go a long way toward determining the Tigers’ NCAA Tournament fate, as the team aims to get back to a regional for the first time since 2012.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com Zach Hanna runs to first base during a game against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on March 4, 2018. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

be an instant contributor for the sprint team.

A 4x400 relay team with O’Neal and Koba could score a lot of points in the future for the Tigers.

Victor Mugeche and Tori Findley Mugeche and Findley are the top distance runners from the state of Missouri. The teammates from Blue Springs each won state titles in crosscountry in 2017, Mugeche on the men’s side and Findley for the women.

Mugeche will join his older brother, Stephen, on the distance team. Stephen is a redshirt sophomore for the Tigers who also runs crosscountry.

Findley is one of the top high school runners in the Midwest, finishing seventh at the 2017 Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regionals.

Findley and Mugeche might contribute more to the cross-country team, but they will both be important contributors to the distance team in track and field.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

14

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

SOFTBALL

Missouri softball picks up first Southeastern Conference series win over No. 11 Auburn A walk-off win and inclement weather highlighted the team’s second-to-last home series of the season.

HANNAH HOFFMEISTER

Staff Writer

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M M

w 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

Trenity Edwards prepares to bat against Drake University on March 4, 2018. Edwards scored a three-run home run against Auburn to tie the game. PHOTO BY MADI WINFIELD | VISUALS DIRECTOR

The Missouri softball team got its first Southeastern Conference series win this weekend with two wins over No. 11-ranked Auburn. But while things are looking up, the Tigers still stand at 24-21 overall and just 6-11 in SEC play.

With its first SEC series win of the season, Missouri softball’s RPI ranking moved up to No. 22 this week.

Interim head coach Gina Fogue called the wins “just a great all-around effort” in a press release.

The third game was cancelled “due to player safety concerns & low wind chill temps in the Mid-Missouri area,” according to Mizzou softball’s Twitter.

The Tigers got to the top of the fifth inning on Friday before a weather delay postponed the game until Saturday morning. Instead of one afternoon game on Saturday, the team finished its first game, starting where it left off on Friday, and then played the scheduled game.

Mizzou left Friday’s game with a 3-0 deficit and let Auburn tack on another run in the sixth before coming back and scoring five runs in the sixth and seventh innings to win in a 5-4 walk-off win.

After sophomore outfielder Cayla Kessinger put the

team on the board with a sixth-inning solo home run, freshman Trenity Edwards tied it up with a three-run home run. Kessinger slammed her eighth home run of the year — her second of the game — for the walk-off win.

In an interview posted on Twitter by Mizzou Network, Kessinger called the two wins on Saturday “a big confidence booster.”

“We continue to get big moments from so many people,” Fogue said in a press release. “How about Trenity [Edwards] stepping up in the first game with a huge pinch hit home run to tie it up? Then Cayla [Kessinger] continues to perform well in conference play and delivers that walk-off.”

The team’s second game was less dramatic — Missouri jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first and never trailed, winning 5-1. Freshman pitcher Lauren Rice got her ninth win of the season with a complete game. She walked two but struck out four.

“Lauren [Rice] struggled a bit early, but really locked down at the end and was real impressive,” Fogue said in the press release.

The team won’t play another home game until the first weekend in May. Mizzou will trade its Columbia, Missouri, location for Columbia, South Carolina, next weekend in its SEC series against South Carolina.

The Tigers have won four of their last five games and have 10 games remaining before the SEC Tournament, which is set to be hosted at Mizzou Softball Stadium this year.

Edited by Joe Noser jnoser@themaneater.com

OPINION

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

We want to hear your voice.

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

15

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

COLUMN

Every voice deserves to be heard after Parkland The media has an ethical responsibility to give every voice in a movement time to be heard.

TATYANA MONNAY

Opinion Columnist

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

The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have done a great job of garnering attention for the gun reform movement; however, minority students within the school have complained they are not getting the same level of attention as their white counterparts.

This is not surprising. Historically, minority communities have blamed the media for their lack of representation. When they do receive more coverage, they often feel they are misrepresented.

Since the Feb. 14 shooting, the media has essentially curated who will represent the gun control movement.

The voices of African-American students have been missing in Parkland — until now. Black students of MSD held a press conference in late March to discuss their lack of representation in the media since Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 people at MSD. At the press conference, MSD junior Tyah-Amoy Roberts said, “The media have neglected us. Our peers have neglected us, though they are doing great work, and we have neglected ourselves until this very moment by not using our voice to demand to be seen and acknowledged. Well, here we are; do you see us?”

Black students make up 11 percent of MSD’s student population. Even so, they have had little influence on the public due to a lack of visibility in media coverage.

One thing we should realize by now is that in large movements, the underrepresented will make themselves heard by the masses.

This was the case for Concerned Student 1950, a group of students who led the 2015 protests in

objection to the racial discrimination and harassment students of color experienced on MU’s campus, which often went ignored by the MU administration, even when these instances were reported.

These students, similarly to the student survivors of the shooting in Parkland, took charge and, rather than becoming victims of their situation, became strong figures in the public who dominated the news cycle for weeks.

The superstar students of the Parkland shooting have done a good job of checking their privilege and have attempted multiple times to share the spotlight, but the media will not take the bait.

The media has a tendency to go for the money. I live 25 minutes from Parkland; I know the type of people who live there. Parkland is an affluent city of about 25,000 people in the northwestern Broward County area with a median house sales price of about $622,000. Residents include CEOs, elected officials and corporate professionals who live in gated communities and drive their kids to school in the latest Porsche. When they grow old enough, some students drive themselves to school in the

year’s latest Lexus or BMW. I don’t think the media is purposely trying to ignore minority students in their coverage of the Parkland shooting and gun reform movement. However, the media generally has done a substandard job covering minority communities.

For example, minority groups are disproportionately portrayed as violent in news media.

“Numerous studies documented the high rate at which persons of color were typically portrayed as violent or dangerous in newspapers and television,” according to Journalist’s Resource, an organization that researches news as part of Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

Coverage should include minority voices in an accurate light, and there should be more of an effort to increase the intersectionality among the gun reform movement.

In every movement, there are always various perspectives that are affected in different ways. It is so important that in every movement these voices are heard. Only when we see the views of al can we truly come to societal consensus that takes all perspectives into account.

COLUMN

Special interests in Jefferson City threaten Tesla’s ability to operate State legislators should back Tesla against car dealerships’ toxic lobbying.

JON NIEMUTH

Opinion Columnist

Jon Niemuth is a freshman economics major at MU. He is an opinions columnist who writes about politics for The Maneater.

Normally when Americans think of lobbying, they imagine representatives of large multinationals bankrolling the campaigns of agreeable congressional candidates for favors down the line.

Such visible corruption unfortunately does have a place in Washington, but we shouldn’t forget that the practice is prevalent in state governments as well. Case in point: Tesla’s recent struggle in Missouri to sell its cars directly to consumers.

Tesla’s logic seems pretty clear. In its view, manufacturers have a right to use whatever business practices they consider best for customers.

Studies have shown that, when dealerships are skipped over for direct-to-consumers sales, consumers

save as much as 30 percent — in others words, Tesla’s argument holds weight.

And yet, organizations like the Missouri Automobile Dealers Association won’t have it. MADA represents Missouri’s dealerships and stands to lose profits if Tesla’s model gains steam. Last year, it sued Tesla, temporarily forcing it to close all stores in the state. The decision was eventually overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court, but the saga still shined a spotlight on MADA’s determination.

More recently, that determination has been exemplified by an intense lobbying effort in the Missouri Senate. MADA remains one of the most influential special interest groups in Jefferson City, having given over $146,000 in gifts to legislators and staff since 2004. With an annual salary of just $35,915, it seems, Missouri’s elected officials are all too comfortable with such donations.

In March, things came to a head when Missouri Sen. Dave Schatz introduced Senate Bill 872, which would give MADA the necessary standing to file another lawsuit.

Schatz defended his action on the grounds that he is merely requesting legal oversight over the controversy, but seeing as he has a history of opposing anti-lobbying reform, it’s fair to question his motives.

Tesla recently had to close all its stores in Missouri due to a lawsuit from the Missouri Automobile Dealers Association. PHOTO COURTESY OF PXHERE

Meanwhile, Tesla continues to rightly hammer MADA for promoting unfair and monopolistic practices.

The company has previously faced similar challenges in other states and has reason to be confident the courts will take its side again.

Nonetheless, the story here is still that the Missouri legislature, chosen by the people to govern in their interests, is torn between

perpetuating an unnecessary and unjust system — by which few benefit at the expense of many — and allowing Missourians to purchase cheaper cars. With a more honorable and well-meaning government, it’s unlikely any of this would have happened. The greater tragedy, of course, is that so few residents are even aware of the issue in the first place.