February 20, 2018

VOLUME 111, ISSUE 20 | THE-STANDARD.ORG The Standard/The Standard

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 TheStandard_MSU

@TheStandard_MSU/@Standard_Sports

MSUStandard

TURNED AWAY Why are sexually active gay men

Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity comes to MSU’s campus

not allowed to donate blood?

MEG ALEXANDER Staff Reporter

An investigation Story by SARAH TEAGUE When Danny Clover tells you about himself, he won’t share every detail. He won’t put his identities on a pedestal or brag about his attributes.

But he will be honest. Danny will tell you

he’s a college student, if you ask. And if the conversation goes deeper, he might share he identifies as cisgender — identifying as the gender assigned to him at birth — and his pronouns are “he, him and his.”

But these are just a few of the hundreds of characteristics that glue together Danny’s individuality.

And the identities mentioned above were not what kept Danny from donating blood at a school blood drive two years ago.

Danny holds another identity — he is gay, and sexually active.

Danny, a Missouri State senior studying human resources management, was confident as he spoke about his experience. He sat across the table, natural light splayed across his face, his eyes darting from the stained, fraying carpet of the newsroom to the window and back in focus.

As he spoke, he described his experience walking into a blood donation center’s truck on Missouri State University’s campus. It was early in the spring 2015 semester.

“I have no qualms about donating blood; it does nothing but help people,” Danny said. “I went in and (the blood donation center) had this questionnaire session where they were asking all sorts of things.

The question I knew was coming — because I had heard about it — (was about sexual orientation). I

The shape of blood tubes represents the gender symbol for male.

Graphics by Madisyn Oglesby.

said, ‘Yeah, I’m a homosexual man, and yes, I do have sex with other men.’ And that was pretty much like, ‘case closed.’”

Danny said the blood donation center worker was “sweet,” as she explained to him that he could not donate blood per FDA regulations, due to his sexual contact with men within the past year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s guidance the blood drive worker referenced to Danny started in the early ‘80s, though the guidance has changed over time. The reason Danny — or any man who has had sexual contact with men — cannot donate blood is due to FDA recommendations starting in 1983. This is referred to as “MSM deferral.”

These recommendations have been updated along the way, most recently in December 2015.

‘The blood ban’

issuu.com/TheStandard-MSU

From the early ‘80s to late 2015, men who have had sexual contact with men were deferred from donating blood for life. In 2015, this FDA recommendation was updated; now, a man who has been abstinent from sexual contact with another man for 12 months may donate.

In 1983, blood centers were not able to specifically identify the HIV virus, resulting in “thousands of recipients” infected with HIV before the virus was identified, and the first screening test was not approved until 1985. This is according to background in the FDA’s 2015 “Revised Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission by Blood and Blood Products” for blood centers. u See BLOODY TRUTH, page 4

Just past the staircase on the right side of the lobby in the newly renovated Glass Hall, Alpha Sigma Phi, the newest fraternity to Missouri State University’s campus, has a table set up with a bright red banner and information for those looking to join.

Sitting at the table are Mike Carlo, William Neilson and Corbin Flynn.

Carlo, coordinator of expansion growth for Alpha Sigma Phi International Fraternity Headquarters and overseer for the Alpha Sigma Phi expansion on Missouri State’s campus, is spending his time at Missouri State recruiting students like Neilson and Flynn to become founding fathers for the new fraternity coming to MSU spring 2018.

“The atmosphere has been nothing but welcoming,” Carlo said.

Carlo said the process to establish a fraternity at MSU starts with an application. After that, campus administrators, the fraternity council and student leaders at MSU vote on which fraternity to bring to campus.

After being asked to join, the fraternity will send an expansion overseer, like Carlo, who was sent to MSU Jan. 18, to “reach out to guys, get to know them and let them know what this experience is about,” Carlo said. If they fit Alpha Sigma Phi’s characteristics, Carlo will then extend membership to them and they will be founding members of MSU’s Iota Xi Chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi on Missouri State's campus.

Carlo said once he is finished recruiting the founding fathers and leaves Feb. 24, a development team will come to MSU from Alpha Sigma Phi and help coordinate officer elections, officer training, risk management and workshops until March 3.

“We (Alpha Sigma Phi International Headquarters) want to make sure the group here will know what they are doing when we leave campus and have the resources and tools they need to be successful,” Carlo said.

Carlo was a founding father of Alpha Sigma Phi, commonly referred to as Alpha Sig, at Illinois State University, where he studied insurance law and human resource management. He came on staff with Alpha Sigma Phi International Headquarters two years ago.

Founded at Yale University in 1845, Alpha Sigma Phi is the 10th oldest fraternity founded in the nation.

“I’m just excited to have a chance to do this (be a founding member) and get going,” Neilson, u See ALPHA, page 8

Business students get handson experience at the eFactory BATOOL ALZUBI Staff Reporter @Albatoolz The most effective ways of learning are applying concepts to real-world situations, engaging in active learning and communicating with people from the same field, according to the 2001 Stanford University “How People Learn” study.

Students can apply concepts they are learning during college by getting internships or working part-time jobs within their

areas of study.

Missouri State offers another new way for students to apply class material by working with eFactory and getting class credit hours at the same time.

Paige Oxendine, a business incubator program coordinator for eFactory, said eFactory is a Missouri State University program that helps small businesses and people with ideas to grow and start their business journey.

“We are the front door to entrepreneurship in Southwest u See LEARN, page 8

COLLIN HADLEY/THE STANDARD

The eFactory helps small business grow and uses students in the College of Business to help those businesses.

news

life

sports

Jessica Nabongo talks travel at MSU See page 2

Civil rights issues addressed in dance See page 5

The Mustafa Lawrence story See page 6

2 THE-STANDARD.ORG

THE STANDARD

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018

It’s Einstein’s,

Bro

Einstein Bros.

Bagels to be done by fall 2018 BILL SIOHOLM/THE STANDARD

Jessica Nabongo wants to be the first black woman and first black American to travel to every country in the world by 2019.

Jet Black founder travels to MSU CARISSA ALFORD Staff Reporter @carissabalford Jessica Nabongo, entrepreneur and founder of Jet Black, introduced a strong message of fearlessness and self love to students.

“Be yourself; love yourself; know that you are enough,” is one of her favorite sayings.

She visited Missouri State Tuesday, Feb. 13, for a Study Away event where she spoke of her life journey and recent travels.

Nabongo was born in America to Ugandan parents and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents took her on multiple trips to Uganda as a child, which she said showed her the world was accessible to her.

Elizabeth Strong, director of Missouri State’s Study Away program, said she chose Nabongo to speak because Study Away developed specific events to collaborate with Black History Month.

“Jessica’s work and experience is inspirational to all students, and her joint presentation with Joy Donnelly was intended to provide examples of successful black

women in the international arena,” Strong said.

Donnelly is a Missouri State student who lives in France through the Study Away program.

She Skyped in to the seminar after Nabongo’s speech and spoke about her experiences while abroad.

Nabongo’s travels began 10 years ago when she shaved her head and moved to Japan to teach English.

“It stretched me in ways I could never imagine,” Nabongo said.

After her time in Japan she decided to go to London for her master’s in English literature. When she finished her schooling, she moved to Rome to work for the United Nations.

“I quit my job at the U.N. four times, and each time they hired me back because I was a hard worker and did my best,” Nabongo said.

However, her last place of employment was not always so pleasant. In fall of 2014 she came back to the United States and worked in Washington, D.C., for a consulting firm. There she found constant discriminatory remarks and actions.

“I sued the company for racial tensions and won,” Nabongo said.

One year later her friend from college, rapper J. Cole, suggested she plan his trip to Africa — planning this trip is how Jet Black was founded.

Jet Black is a travel company that tours countries in Africa where people of color can feel safe and experience a new culture.

Nomachot Adiang, a senior sociology major, attended Nabongo’s seminar and said she believes it is important to travel.

“I would use Jet Black as my travel (agency),” Adiang said.

“The travel is focused on the African Diaspora. Being a black woman, that is important because I know I am safe to travel to those areas, but also I would be able to have a uniquely immersive experience.”

Adiang said her favorite part about the event were the pieces of advice Nabongo gave, especially the thought of “being unapologetically you.”

“It was great to see that her journey was filled with twists and turns that finally led her to (be) a more self-assured individual,” Adiang said.

Nabongo continues to travel in

a unique way. She does not use an itinerary on her trips and prefers to stay away from the tourist attractions.

“Recently when I was in Namibia, we stopped on the side of the road to meet and talk to Himba people,” Nabongo said. “Many people recognize them because they don’t wear tops. They just wear loin cloth and that is how they live today.”

Nabongo asked the Himba people to dress her in their traditional dress.

“It was a very interesting experience because I had never done anything that culturally immersive,” Nabongo said. “Especially being there topless in front of my friends.”

Nabongo said she wants to be the first black woman and first black American to travel to every country in the world by 2019. For Nabongo, traveling is more than what people originally think. She likes to meet the locals and listen to their stories. She said she finds herself not judging people as much.

“We’re all just people, no matter anything,” Nabongo said.

CARISSA ALFORD Staff Reporter @carissabalford Glass Hall is undergoing a renovation to include an Einstein Bros. Bagels that will be finished by the start of next semester, fall 2018.

Tony Hein, resident district manager of Chartwells, oversees the food service at Missouri State, excluding concessions and anything at the Q. “The build is a shared project,” Hein said.

“MSU is responsible for the actual shell of the space and the electrical, gas and sewer.

We, Chartwells, are responsible for everything on the interior of the shell that is Einstein’s related.”

Hein said this Einsteins will have a full menu and be about as big as Chick-fil-A and Grill Nation, staffing 25-40 people.

“This summer, we will have a team travel to Denver for one week for training,” Hein said.

Hein said since the project is not completed yet, there is not a set cost. “(It will cost) somewhere over $500,000 including building out the space, utility infrastructure and all the Einstein’s equipment,” Hein said.

Junior Sheena Speer, a hospitality leadership major, said that she will hardly go to the new dining addition to campus.

“I will go probably once to try it out and say I’ve done it but seldomly after,” Speer said.

Coral VanBecelaere, freshman administrative management major, said she will frequent the new bagel shop because her schedule brings her to Glass every day.

“I will definitely go there on a regular basis, maybe a few times a week,” VanBecelaere said.

VanBecelaere said she believes student money is being spent well because Einstein’s will be expanding the student’s dining options.

“Giving us more options to use our Boomer (Meals) besides in the PSU is super helpful, especially since students spend so much time in Glass studying,” VanBecelaere said.

The opening date of Einstein Bros. Bagels is set for the first day of the 2018 fall semester.

THE STANDARD

opinion

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

3

Data gathered from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Why the federal funds rate matters CONNER ALLER Guest Columnist We hear it on CNN, Fox News and The Tonight Show, “the Federal Reserve is targeting the federal funds rate.”

However, no matter how many times millions of Americans hear these words, they are still unaware of the meaning behind the phrase.

For context, the federal funds rate is the rate at which banking institutions lend money to other banking institutions.

Americans might be thinking, “Why should I care about the federal funds rate? I’m not a Wall Street guru, nor a billion-dollar bank.”

Great question.

The federal funds rate has a significant impact on the United States municipal bond market, which can impact the way your financial institution uses your funds to purchase

municipal instruments.

This federal fund rate is targeted by the Federal Open Market Committee, who sets the minimum amount of deposits a bank must have on hand.

If the FOMC decides that an economy needs stimulation, they might lower the amount of deposits required by the banks.

When the Federal Reserve decides to go forward with lowering the required deposits, they effectively influence the federal funds rate by reducing the need for banks to borrow from banks.

The FOMC lowered the required amount drastically during the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008.

They lowered the required holding amount to allow more cash to freely enter and exit the market.

When banks have a smaller reserve limits, they can put more deposited funds to work.

The federal funds rate is just one interest rate, but its movement has a significant impact on the others.

Those other interest rates are the three-month treasury bills rate, the 5-year treasury bills rate and the 10year treasury bills rate.

Federal funds rate and the threemonth treasury bill rate are shortterm interest rates, and the 5-year and 10-year treasury bill rates are long-term interest rates.

Now that we have established a decent understanding of the federal funds rate, we can begin to observe several facts using data gathered from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

There is a rather straightforward correlation between short-term and long-term interest rates.

As the federal funds rate decreases, we begin to observe the other interest rates follow suit.

The three-month treasury bill rate

often hovers around the same rate as the federal funds rate.

Short-term rates such as the threemonth treasury and the federal funds rate are rather volatile compared to the medium or long-term rates.

An example of this volatility can be seen within the data.

Prior to the 1980s, the federal funds rate exceeded the long-term interest rates several times.

However, after President Ronald Reagan’s Economic Recovery Act of 1981, the federal funds rate has rarely exceeded the 10-year treasury rate.

An additional observation can be seen during economic recessions.

During recessions, the federal funds rate target is set lower by the FOMC to increase economic expansion.

This example of monetary policy can most recently be observed during 2008.

Further data on interest rates can be discovered by visiting https://fred. stlouisfed.org/.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Warren Buffett said, “Everything in valuation gets down to interest rates.”

Even the Oracle of Omaha uses these rates to justify his value investing strategy.

The FOMC adjusts their target rate depending on what type of monetary policy they are trying to conduct.

Understanding these combined economic factors allows us as citizens to understand where the economy is heading when rates begin to increase or decrease.

The next time we read that “the federal reserve is targeting the federal funds rate,” I hope we can take some time to appreciate this newly acquired knowledge.

It’s here to stay, wanted or not

New Snapchat update might seem terrible, but you’ll get used to it JONATHAN PETESCH Columnist @thepeach1999 I have never heard such unanimous hatred of an app update before Snapchat rolled out version 10.25.2.

Snapchat announced this update in late November 2017 but waited a while to finally release it to users.

I’ve personally had the update since early January, as I have been testing it through the Snapchat Beta for Android. From my experience, you get used to it after a while and eventually think nothing about it.

Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel has recently confirmed that the update is unlikely to be taken down.

In the same interview, Spiegel said, “The tech is an important piece, but I think the harder part you can’t get around is the time it takes to learn.”

Again, I can vouch for this after

having the update for more than a month, which is plenty of time to get used to the change.

I wouldn’t say I’ve come to love the update, but it could always be worse.

Imagine if Snapchat removed Snap Streaks instead. If they did that, we’d all love this update.

In Snap Inc.’s original update announcement, it explained the changes by saying it was trying to separate social and media. It sort of accomplished that by putting the discover tab by itself and by condensing stories into the personal messages side of the app.

This is wrong though, as the app still incorporates some of your most popular stories into the discover section, not completely creating separation between the two.

This should be addressed going forward if this update is here to stay, despite the harsh backlash from

users.

Spiegel said this backlash has only validated that this update has made a significant change and fulfilled its purpose of separating social and media. Though I agree with his philosophy that it does validate they’ve made a change, I don’t agree with his conclusion that this immediately makes it a good update.

In business terms, I hardly think this is a good update for Snap Inc. financially.

Many users have been driven off by the change to other competitor’s platforms, most notably Instagram through Instagram stories.

In the future, Snap Inc. is likely going to see dramatic drops in revenue.

In a column I wrote last year when an update was announced but details weren’t released, I said that this update could make or break the already hurting company depending

on its content.

Now, in the early aftermath of this update, I can honestly say this might break the company if enough users have been turned away from the platform. Even if Snapchat reverted to how it used to be, it would only soften the blow. Some users might return to the platform, but not all who have been turned away.

For some, it would be a bigger change to simply switch back to Snapchat, having already moved on to Instagram or another platform.

The old update wasn’t broken, so they didn’t need to fix it, but they tried and didn’t completely succeed.

If I had to give Snapchat any advice right now, it would be to just keep going how it is and wait for everything to settle down.

Changing anything else at this time would only hurt more, and that’s far from what Snapchat needs right now.

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THE STANDARD

life

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

The bloody truth

“We’re not bad guys — blood bankers and even the FDA. ...

I remember when HIV entered the blood supply … and that’s what the FDA remembers.

continued from page one This 2015 guidance gives insight to the history of deferral for men who have had sexual contact with men and want to donate. The original deferral guidance was “due to the strong clustering of AIDS illness and the subsequent discovery of high rates of HIV infection in that (MSM) population.”

The above statement from the FDA’s 2015 guidance referenced an article printed in 1985 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which states: “Interviews with the small number of blood donors found infected with HTLV-III, (a former name for HIV) … have shown that most have a risk factor for HTLV-III infection; homosexual contact was the most common risk factor identified.”

Since 1985, the FDA has leaned on research from the CDC (among other independent researchers) to update blood donation centers on protocol for blood donor eligibility, and it still does today.

The 2015 one-year deferral revised recommendations from the FDA to blood establishments includes the section: “Current Risk of HIV Infection Associated with Specific Behaviors.”

This section explains which individuals may be at “high risk” for HIV infection based on certain behaviors researched by the CDC included in its 2012 “HIV Surveillance Report.” The report cautions its readers to be aware not all individuals living with HIV may be represented in the data, as some have not been tested, or were tested at a time when the infection could not be detected.

Chris Pilgrim is the media relations representative for Community Blood Center of the Ozarks. He said CBCO

Alex Durbin, junior psychology major, stands outside Glass Hall on Missouri State’s campus. Alex was deferred from donating blood before he came to college for his sexual contact with other men.

“If nothing else, (deferral) is a little bit invalidating. You get all these questions ... ‘Did you do x,y and z, and by the way, do you like men?’”

does defer those not eligible for donation per FDA guidelines.

“While testing has greatly improved, it is not 100 percent effective at detecting infectious diseases in donors with very early infection,” Pilgrim said. “The FDA selected the 12-month deferral to provide adequate time for the detection of infected individuals.”

Pilgrim’s quote is a line taken straight from a joint statement published on Dec. 12, 2016, by the American Association of Blood Banks, America’s Blood Centers and the American Red Cross.

Joe Zydlo, external communications manager with the American Red Cross for the Missouri-Illinois Blood Services Region, referred The Standard to the same joint statement that Pilgrim from CBCO quoted in regard to its view on 12-month deferral.

The 2012 HIV Surveillance Report provides data on the number of HIV diagnoses from 2011-2016 and includes data from “selected characteristics” or “transmission categories.” The rate of HIV diagnoses in each category are listed for male-to-male contact, injection drug use, male-to-male contact paired with injection drug use, heterosexual contact and “other,” which “includes hemophilia, blood transfusion, perinatal exposure and risk factor not reported or not identified,” according to the report.

The CDC released a 2016 HIV Surveillance Report, but the one-year deferral guidance was not based on this data, since it was released in December 2015.

Danny heard rumors about sexually active gay men not being able to donate, but he said he wanted to go through

the questionnaire process and witness deferral for himself.

And since then, he hasn’t attempted to donate blood again.

Alex Durbin, junior psychology major at MSU, donated blood as often as he could. Since the age of 16, he would find a blood center every eight weeks and do what he says is his “civic duty.”

Originally from Lee’s Summit, Alex remembers being deferred in the fall of 2014.

He said that for a while, even after he came out to his friends and family, he continued to give blood because he had no reason not to. But this changed when he turned 17 and became sexually active.

Alex said in June 2014 he got a boyfriend.

Just like Danny, Alex knew he was ineligible. But he wanted to witness deferral for himself. So that’s what he did, in September 2014.

“If nothing else, (deferral) is a little bit invalidating,” Alex said. “You get all these questions about going overseas — did you go on vacation to (certain countries) lately. And being gay is not a vacation — like, it’s not a choice. ...‘Did you do x,y and z, and by the way, do you like men?’”

The price for clean blood Dr. Louis Katz is the chief medical officer of America’s Blood Centers. He said while it’s important to be sensitive to donors, there is a lot of blood to wade through every year.

“Before I went to work for ABC in Washington, I spent 30-plus years … as the medical director of a medium to large blood center in the upper Midwest,” Katz said. “And we had to get through 200,000 donors a year.

“So that means you have to be able to do your work with deliberate speed. … So the easy way out has been the way we took since, literally, 1983. ...We have to be able to move people through blood centers at a pace that is acceptable to the donors, and that allows us to collect what we need.”

Katz said that at this point, knowing there are some MSM who are not at a high risk versus others who may be, it becomes a question of how blood donation centers can predict risk levels of contracting and spreading HIV for each individual in an efficient way.

“We know very, very well that there are MSM who are at higher risk than others, and there are heterosexuals that are at higher risk than some MSM,” Katz said.

Not only was an efficient “operational reality” needed, Katz said, but the FDA’s guidance must be fulfilled.

“They’re not recommendations,” Katz said. “I mean, they are, but they’re not. They are the law. They come out in ‘guidances,’ and guidances are different than rules and regulations. But it’s the law.

Essentially, these are FDA requirements. Whether you’re

“We really thought, ‘We’re the good guys, man. We’re getting these donors in and we’re getting blood and saving lives.

And all of the sudden, we’re killing people.”

-Dr. Louis Katz, chief medical officer for America’s Blood Centers.

an ABC center or an American Red Cross Center or a small hospital-based program, you have to follow them. The qualifications for an acceptable blood donor are very much determined by FDA rules and guidances.”

When The Standard reached out to the FDA, FDA press officer Megan McSeveney referred The Standard to a statement on its website detailing whether blood centers must follow this 2015 guidance.

The answer states: “Blood establishments typically revise their existing standard operating procedures regarding donor deferral following issuance of final FDA guidance on the matter. However, establishments may voluntarily elect more stringent donor deferral criteria than those required or recommended by the FDA.” When pressed for further explanation, McSeveney referred The Standard back to the above statement.

“There is an enormous amount of regulation, and it’s designed — in FDA language — so that the blood component that gets distributed to the hospital is safe, potent and pure,” Katz said.

Katz is quoting directly from the FDA’s Code of Regulations, from Part 606 of Subchapter F. Katz recounted his memories from the early days of the HIV epidemic of the ‘80s.

“We’re not bad guys — blood bankers and even the FDA,” Katz said. “This is hard, this is really hard. … I remember when HIV entered the blood supply … and that’s what the FDA remembers.

And they’re not going to do things to make the blood supply less safe.

“We really thought, ‘We’re the good guys, man. We’re getting these donors in and we’re getting blood and saving lives. And all of the sudden, we’re killing people. But there is a way forward now.”

a heterosexual individual may be as active, if not more active, than a gay man, they can still give blood.

“My personal feeling on this is that (the FDA) is singling out a group based on sexual behaviors, but they’re really not paying any attention to the sexual behaviors of non-MSMs,” Adams said.

“So if you’re a woman who’s had sex with 14 guys in the last six months, your risk of having HIV is not insignificant, but you can still give blood.”

Both Adams and Katz spoke about a specific example of two monogamous gay men coming into a blood center wanting to donate, but being deferred solely because they are gay, sexually active men.With no individual assessments that provide exceptions to the one-year deferral, these men will not be allowed to donate, though they are HIV-free and monogamous.

“If I’m a gay man in a monogamous relationship and have been for the past 20 years, my risk of getting HIV and giving it to someone else in a blood transfusion is zero,” Adams said. “And to not allow me to give blood is a disservice to the community, as well as it is disrespectful of who I am as a person.”

Katz echoed this frustration.

“So I have a (gay, male) couple in front of me that are mutually monogamous and The risk of HIV uninfected,” Katz said.

“And they’ve been together contraction for 20 years. Why shouldn’t Dr. Stephen Adams, med- they be allowed to be a blood ical director for AIDS Project donor, right? … So it’s been of the Ozarks, said that while a very difficult process.” a deferral has been placed on gay, sexually active men for over three decades now, they ‘My blood isn’t are not the only population at good enough’ risk for contracting HIV. “The most common new Alex said he never wanted diagnoses in this clinic (are to lie about his sexual behavgiven) to gay men,” Adams ior to donate blood, like some said. “Nationally, the people of his peers have. He said he that are most at-risk (for con- was most upset by the onetracting HIV), are women of year deferral after the Pulse color and men of color who Nightclub shooting in Orlanhave sex with men. The inci- do on June 12, 2016. Fifty dence of HIV among gay people died, including the white males is actually going shooter. down, and we think that’s re“It was specifically queer lated to treatment as preven- people that were targeted (in tion.” the Orlando shooting) and ...

Adams explained though (sexually active men) in the

RESOURCES:

Danny Clover, senior human resources management major, was deferred from donating blood in spring 2015 because of his sexual contact with other men. He has not tried to donate since.

His words to the FDA and to blood donation centers: “Thank you for the work that you do, because it is incredible and it is lifesaving. But also, be willing to listen ... to the opinions and ideas of the LGBTQ community.”

LGBTQ community couldn’t help (through blood donation),” Alex said. “It was already such a powerless situation, and losing a pint of blood was going to make me feel a little bit better. But I couldn’t do that without lying.

“My mentality after that basically became, ‘If my blood isn’t good enough just because of who I am, it’s not worth breaking the rules and lying to donate.’”

Katz said the 2015 revised guidance has opened the door for a gay men to donate, but he doesn’t see someone sacrificing their sex life to donate one time.

“If you were an MSM, would you quit being sexually active to be a blood donor?” Katz asked.

He answered his own question with a laugh.

“So, is the one-year deferral realistic for a large proportion of MSM? It’s still a permanent deferral, right?

And is that fair? A year is better than life, but it’s not an answer to more than a few guys who came through my clinic. They’re friends of mine; these guys are my pals.

So you can imagine how many times I’ve had this discussion.”

For more information on blood guidance, MSM deferral, HIV/AIDS resources or LGBTQ resources, check below:

• For more information about the considerations made by the FDA in deciding to implement a one-year deferral, or all other questions regarding the 2015 guidance, see the recommendations at this link: https://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/ GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/Blood/UCM446580.pdf • For questions directly for the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research (CBER), call 1-800-835-4709 or 1-240-402-8010 or email ocod@fda.hhs.gov.

• To view a list of FDA blood guidances, visit: https://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/Blood/default.htm • Contact the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks by calling 417-227-5000 or 800280-5337.

• Contact the American Red Cross Springfield Center at 417-823-4000.

• Contact the AIDS Project of the Ozarks at 417-881-1900 or visit its website at https:// apo-ozarks.org/ to view resources offered in the community.

• Contact the GLO Center, a local LGBTQ resource center, by calling 417-869-3978 or by walking in at 518 E. Commercial St. in Springfield.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018

THE STANDARD

THE-STANDARD.ORG 5

HOW DID I GET HERE? Professional dance company visits campus Finnish student on Fulbright exchange program from University of Jyvaskyla using MSU lab and collaborating for doctoral research.

Story by EMILY COLE Photos by NINA TODEA In Springfield, two inches of ice and snow is enough to cancel school and cause panic. Temperatures in the single digits or the negatives are rare and unbearable. To Lauri Kivijarvi, this is a mild winter.

He laughs at the thought of such little snow causing problems.

Kivijarvi, 29, grew up in Finland, where winter temperatures in the northern part of the country can often drop to around minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit, and the ground is covered in several feet of snow all season long.

Kivijarvi spent this winter at Missouri State University, walking across campus in a short sleeve shirt in the middle of December.

His hometown of Ryttyla is a small village around 50 miles from the capital city of Helsinki in southern Finland.

Less than 2,000 people live there.

“We had the elementary school there, a few shops and one factory,” Kivijarvi said.

“It’s very small, surrounded by forests and fields — a quiet place.”

Kivijarvi may be almost 5,000 miles from home, but thanks to technology, he’s never more than a text message away from his parents and two younger siblings back in Finland.

Kivijarvi’s research involves growing crystals and then testing them for electrical conductivity. The goal is to find new conducting materials to use in things like solar cells.

Package by BAILEY VASSALLI

Before he arrived in August, he’d never been to America. There are a few things about living in the U.S. he has had to get used to.

“The most interesting things are the fact that here you have to calculate the sales tax when you go shopping, and, of course, the traffic signs are different compared to Europe,” Kivijarvi said. “I actually know all the traffic signs in the United States thanks to all of video games I have been playing since I was a kid.”

He doesn’t drive. Instead, he relies on friends to give him rides and he rides a bicycle.

Another thing Kivijarvi says is very different from his home in Finland are American religious practices.

“Religion is a big thing here,” Kivijarvi said. “Here you see churches at … every crossroad. And … every week, when I go through the plaza, I see a preacher there. In Finland, that’s very abnormal.”

He says in Finland, Jehovah's Witnesses will occasionally go door to door, or set up roadside booths at intersections in the larger cities but don’t often stand in a public space and preach out loud like MSU students are used to seeing.

Kivijarvi is here doing research for his doctoral thesis for his doctorate in chemistry.

Lauri Kivijarvi poses in Temple Hall 431, the lab he most frequently uses to research electrical conductivity for his (doctoral) thesis. He works with inorganic chemistry professor Dr. Nikolay Gerasimchuk.

He arrived in August 2017, and after his research is complete, he will return home to Finland in July 2018.

Kivijarvi earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry in Finland and is now pursuing his doctorate at the University of Jyvaskyla.

Kivijarvi’s research involves growing crystals and then testing them for electrical conductivity. The goal is to find new conducting materials to use in things like solar cells.

He spends up to eight hours a day in the lab, Temple Hall 431, working with the crystals and reading data.

The crystal samples and other equipment sit inside a metal cage, called a Faraday cage. The cage prevents interference with the data from nearby electrical devices like computers and lights. u See FINLAND, page 8

Weekly Crossword © 2018 King Features Syndicate

ACROSS 1 See 12-Across 5 Scoundrel 8 Mine entrance 12 With 1-Across, have trouble 13 Bullring cheer 14 Pianist Peter 15 Fermi’s bit 16 Time on Earth 18 Summerhouse 20 Deviating off course 21 Albacore, e.g.

23 -- Aviv 24 Help on “...

Millionaire” 28 Pealed 31 Commotion 32 Nuptial announcement 34 Dead heat 35 Legal wrong 37 Shipwreck aid 39 Bill and -41 Sea eagle 42 Cover the cost up front 45 Adjective modifier 49 Organism 51 Concept 52 Finished 53 Regret 54 Whirlpool 55 Marries 56 Conclude 57 Back talk DOWN 1 Carpet style 2 Silents actress Naldi 3 The gamut 4 Reproductive cell

5 House style 6 Boxer Muhammad 7 Challenge 8 Reply 9 Remove hair 10 Persia, now 11 Chinatown gang 17 Dine 19 Closed-up tulip 22 Sandy’s mistress 24 Long. crosser 25 “What can -for you?”

26 Made to consume 27 Put in a border, as a photo 29 Zero 30 Obtain 33 Remit 36 Drunkards

38 Groups of quail 40 Lummox 42 Winter truck attachment 43 Split 44 Bygone times

46 Icelandic epic 47 Cincinnati team 48 Chesapeake et al.

50 Scoot

MADCO is the professional dance company in residence at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Its main goal is to make an impact.

On Thursday, Feb. 15, MADCO visited Missouri State and performed for dozens of students in the Art Annex. The dance company performed three separate dances throughout the evening — each introduced to the audience by Nicole Whitesell, MADCO’s artistic director and a Missouri State graduate.

The performances were largely based off of civil rights issues.

“It’s really just about finding these topics that need awareness brought about,” Whitesell said. “They need conversation, people need to know about these things. They need to know, and people need to find ways to commu-

nicate that are non-violent.

“Not everybody has to agree, not everybody has to get along all of the time. But, there needs to be a way that people can learn they can communicate their differences without it turning violent.”

“The significance (of the dances) is really just using art to, hopefully, create change.”

-Nicole Whitesell

Darrell Hyche, Daryon Kent, Claire Hilleren, Taylor Nash, Natalie Williams, Belicia Beck, Jeff Mitchell and Elyse Guttman performed on Thursday, Feb. 15, and the passion with which they performed brought some audience members to tears.

6

THE STANDARD

sports

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

From Newark to Springfield

MEGAN BURKE/THE STANDARD

Mustafa Lawrence finds his man and gears up to launch a one handed bounce pass.

BLAINE WHEELER Senior Reporter @blainewheeler21 In the heart of Newark, New Jersey, in Grace West Manor, full of violence and drug activity, a young Mustafa Lawrence experienced a different life than he would have had in Springfield, Missouri.

His father called him an “adrenaline junkie” since he was a little boy.

He was the first kid in his neighborhood with a dirt bike.

His high school coach still called him a “legend.”

He is one of the first to have three state basketball championships to his name.

Some of Mustafa’s friends and neighbors have been down the wrong path, but his father, Mustafa Lawrence Sr., who works as a corrections officer and to this day works two jobs, didn’t see life in the typical Newark way.

“I was kind of a, I wouldn’t say strict, but I was a father that didn’t play any games when it came to academics and being away from the negativity in the city of Newark because of my background. I was someone like a mentor, worked in the halfway house as a correctional officer,” Mustafa Lawrence Sr. said. “My grandfather was a pioneer of helping people with drugs and alcohol, and that was somewhat of my backbone. I knew the ins and outs of what was going on in the streets and me being in the streets and I didnt want my son to be that way.”

At a young age Mustafa had an advantage: he was special in terms of wanting to be athletic.

“My dad used to tell me just don’t be satisfied,” Lawrence said.

He saw the light through the people he looked up to. His father said he was special in terms of wanting to be athletic and knew he was different.

“My other friends didn’t have anybody to look up to. The people they were looking up to was people on the corners and wearing Jordans two weeks before they came out, nice cars.

So it wasn’t their fault they had to make that choice or made that choice it just is what they grew up around and what they saw,” Lawrence said.

One of Mustafa’s greatest influences was his brother Mubarak, who played college prep football in Pennsylvania.

Mustafa described traveling an hour and watching with his father to hear fans yell his brothers name, “Muuuuuuuu.” As he said, he turned to his dad and said, “this is what I want to do.”

Like his brother, Mustafa’s first sport was football, and he dominated at a young age. His dad described him as a lockdown corner.

He succeeded football through high school as an All-State player.

At 10, he said he wanted to play basketball as he was following his older sister to the gym.

He then credited some of his character and want to play basketball to names like, former Missouri guard Keon Lawrence, and former Rutgers guard Corey Chandler.

“I saw Corey Chandler on the ESPN Rise magazine, I saw him walking into the Boys and Girls Club taking pictures and

MEGAN BURKE/THE STANDARD

Mustafa Lawrence, after finding an opening, drives to the basket hungry for a goal.

Mustafa won yet another state championship.

“He has three state championships. I don’t think anyone has two,” Johnson said.“They can say anything and all he has to do is put up three fingers and say, ‘I got three.’ This is a basketball community and they will say ‘all right, yeah you’re right. You have three we can’t mess with you.’ He is a legend in this community because no one has three.”

Johnson explained the players that have been through the county including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kyrie Irving for a short time and there was even a time Mustafa scored 26 points against Wade Baldwin and Karl Anthony Towns.

Jordan’s greatest story is about Mustafa “lighting up” Rucker Park, the most famous outdoor basketball arena in the US. “When you play at the Rucker you have two guys that walk up and down the court that give the play by play on the court while you are playing,” Jordan said. “So, Mustafa, they would call him lights out. They give everybody nicknames and they would say, “It’s lights out! It’s lights out!” So he would have the ball doing his thing, pull up for a jumper and they’d say “It’s lights out!”

“He is just a good kid that cares about his family and cares about people. If you show him love he will give you his best.

He is not going to leave anything on the court.”

In Mustafa’s senior season, Newark Tech wasn’t nearly as good as the years before.

However, he scored multiple 30-point games including a 50-point outburst, but Lawrence’s 28.6 points per game weren’t enough.

“Younger kids would get a couple points and the parents in the crowd would be so proud,” Mustafa said. But during his junior season, as Lawrence was at Newark Tech, he saw Williams committed to Missouri State.

“I was like, Missouri State, man, I saw USC, Michigan, everything come in the gym and he is going here. I told my dad I don’t know what is going on at that school but I have to check something out,” Mustafa said.

After Lawrence’s senior season he took his talents to Kernersville, North Carolina to play at Forest Trail Academy to be academically eligible because of a low SAT score.

At Forest Trail, Lawrence averaged 16.2 points per game and Missouri State assistant coach Corey Gipson walked in with a Bear on his chest and Mustafa asked him, “Oh that is where Greg goes?” and after practice talked to him.

A couple of days later, Missouri State offered Mustafa to visit.

His dad, after arriving, said he teared up. Mustafa said he felt it was the right place.

“Everything that went on with Greg and they stayed on his side, that is what really drew me here because I told my dad, ‘I’d rather be somewhere where they actually care about you and that was really big for me and my family.’ So after that there was no way someone else would score me after that,” Mustafa said.

Now, at Missouri State, Mustafa takes visits back to Newark and gives back. Jordan talked about him coming into practice and teaching younger kids how to play the game.

After finally achieving the starting role, “lights out” is tearing up the court for Missouri State.

I was like, man ... I want to be like this one day,” Lawrence said.

In eighth grade, Mustafa watched his cousin Aliyyah Handford, who went on to be St. John’s University’s all-time leading scorer and play in the WNBA, win a state championship and he told his dad, “I gotta get me one of these.”

He was very outgoing. According to his father, he would always take it upon himself to go the extra mile. He was found basketball teams where he would fit in with their play stlye and “the rest was history,” said his father. He started playing for all of these AAU teams, “I stayed on a different AAU team, traveling every weekend.

Everybody in the neighborhood, if they seen me with a bookbag, they know I’m headed somewhere, going to play somewhere,” Lawrence said.

“It was like, I always wondered, where is this kid at?”, Lawrence Sr. joked.

Mustafa searched for teams himself, finding the right system for him, with his family supporting him every step of the way.

Mustafa played for many AAU teams including some from New York and the Newark area, but the highlight of his career came when he played on the Adidas Nationals team.

Searching for a high school was different in his early career.

After not wanting to enroll in a public school, Mustafa searched schools like Roselle Catholic, but he wanted a place he could to get away from trouble.

“We tried to find him a high school and we didn’t want him to go to public schools ... Coach Jordan took him and and he liked his skillset,” Lawrence Sr said.

“He lived across the street from Shabazz High School, but his father wanted him to be in a safe environment,” Lawrence’s high school coach, Joe Jordan, said.

“He was a gym rat. He always liked to watch film and he always liked to get better,” Johnson said.

Both Lawrence Sr. and Jordan said Mustafa needed 10 games to get him ready and familiarized with high school basketball.

Just about 10 games into the season, Mustafa entered the starting lineup, similar to his early Missouri State career.

At the end of the season, Mustafa helped win his first state championship.

His sophomore year, Mustafa won another state championship. with guard R. J. Cole before Cole left to St. Anthony’s High School.

“Going into my junior year I transferred down to Genesis Academy to get a different feel of high school basketball and me playing it’s not that highly recruited because of the things that go on there,” Mustafa said. So I wanted just to get away and experience the different aspect of basketball.”

To Mustafa, “it was a different world.”

Mustafa’s good friend at Genesis Academy was Greg Williams, Missouri State shooting guard, who is currently sidelined with an injury.

MEGAN BURKE/THE STANDARD “We were up five in the morning working out with power Freshman guard Mustafa Lawrence talks over the five conference schools at open gym, it was just a different world down there for me and building a connection with Greg gameplan with senior forward Alize Johnson.

BRADLEY BALSTERS/THE STANDARD and everything.,” Mustafa Lawrence, Jarrid Rhodes and J. T. Miller Then according to Mustafa “things happened” and he endhead to the sidline together. ed back home to finish out at Newark Tech.

When he got back, Mustafa won yet another state championship. Mustafa took on a larger leadership role and averaged 19 points per game, and, according to Jordan, hit about five game winning shots that season.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018

THE STANDARD

THE-STANDARD.ORG 7

Meet the Browns

BRENNER MOORE and SAM GRUS Families are competitive, no matter how big or small. Families that are athletic make things even more competitive. For brothers Matt and Chris Brown, this is the case, but they make it work.

It’s not strange to have siblings succeed in athletics, but Missouri State features two highly talented players on its baseball and hockey teams.

Sophomore Chris Brown of the Missouri State Ice Bears and senior Matt Brown of the baseball team are almost two years apart. Being that close in age made things pretty fun for the two growing up.

Going to the same college, however, was never the plan.

Knowing he would pursue baseball in college, Matt set his sights on the University of Arkansas.

After a year as a Razorback, Matt transferred to Jefferson College for two years, then ultimately ended up at Missouri State.

Out of happenstance, Chris and Matt started at Missouri State the same year.

After that, the Browns never wanted it to change.

“Matt chose Missouri State first … it was a school that had always shown interest in him,” father Scott Brown said. “Seeing his older brother choose a school that he had an offer from made the decision easier for Chris.”

“We try to get together at least once a week to have dinner. He

comes to a lot of my games, and I go to a lot of his,” Matt said.

“As a parent it’s great to see the support that Matt and Chris give each other,” Scott said.

While Chris and Matt saw their relationship improve in college, it was never bad.

“Growing up, we fought a lot, but we had each others back’s,” Matt said. “We had a really good relationship.”

The two played baseball and hockey together for the same organizations, and when they got to high school, they both played football.

Chris never got to play hockey with his older brother, but he did play baseball with Matt in three of the four years they were in high school together.

Chris really saw himself playing hockey more than baseball when Matt stopped playing hockey due to injury.

“Being on varsity my freshman year and Matt not playing helped me kind of mature and come into my own,” Chris said.

Chris and Matt’s father heavily influenced Matt’s decision to play baseball. Growing up, their father coached a high school baseball team.

Spending time around the team, Matt grew to respect his father’s players and knew he would be just like them one day.

As the two come into their own athletically, the end of most hockey seasons is at the very beginning of baseball season, but there was quite a bit of overlap for the Browns.

“There was a lot of overlap,”

Starting clockwise: Matt Brown steps into a pitch, making contract (BAILEY VASSALLI), Matt, left, and Chris, right, (BILL SIOHOLM), Chris Brown keeps pace with his opponent as they both chase down the puck, (BAILEY VASSALLI) Scott said. “There were weekends where my wife or myself would have Chris in Chicago for hockey, and the other would have Matt in Indianapolis for baseball.”

“When playing with the Junior Blues and my dad was our baseball coach,” Chris said, “I had a really good relationship with the other coaches as well, but it was great going from cold rinks to warm weather with my brother and dad.

It was great.”

When it comes to pure athleti-

cism, Chris feels that Matt is ahead of him. Chris thinks that he is ahead of Matt intellectually.

When asked who would come out victorious if Matt and Chris were to drop the gloves out on the ice, Chris answered pretty honestly.

“I would like to think myself,” Chris said. “I consider myself a scrappy person with a bit of a temper. With some of the fights we got into when we were younger, I would take my advantages, but when (Matt) realized how much bigger

and stronger he was … I feel like he would come out on top.”

Scott played the father card and wouldn’t comment on who would win.

That isn’t to say that the two don’t support each other. Chris is at almost every home Bears baseball, game whether with friends or by himself.

“It’s really been a dream come true, especially being a senior and having your little brother cheer you on,” Matt said.

Sara Jones, the walk-on wonder

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did not have a soccer team. She continued with softball and added track, as well as basketball.

“I played basketball all four years of high school,” Sara said “It was my outlet to be aggressive. I also ran track for two

U

SI

t-shirt and jean shorts for games, and I still ask why she did that,” Sara laughed.

However, Sara played multiple sports growing up. She played soccer and softball in middle school, then gave up soccer because her high school

dom to the team that keeps them stable, steady and passionate about softball. Velasquez-Zimmer said Jones is very competitive and fiesty.

“She’s got a little spark in her,” Velasquez-Zimmer said.

“She’s a competitor, that’s for sure. Whether it is grades, sports or anything like that, Sara is going to be that person to be at the top of her game.”

Jones’ coach thinks highly of Sara as well. Holly Hesse has been head coach of the softball team for 30 years and said she has made remarkable progress from year one to year four.

“Sara is the kind of young woman that will excel in anything she does,” Hesse said.

Hesse said Jones sets high expectations for herself and will do anything she sets her mind to. She believes there is something special about Jones.

“She is the kind of person who lifts everybody up because of what she expects from herself as well as what she u See JONES, page 8

RI

ER

BRADLEY BALSTERS/THE STANDARD

Sara Jones came to Missouri State with the intention of leaving softball in her past. But, the love of the game pulled her back.

ulars, Facetiming their mom.

“When it is all said and done, we’re back in our dorm room when she gets the call saying she made the team,” Alyson said. “We celebrated, and it was an awesome moment.”

As well as her sister supporting her, Jones has made friends on the field.

“She could make friends with a wall,” senior center fielder Erika Velasquez-Zimmer said. She thinks of Sara as the perfect teammate.

“She is willing to put herself out there to help people and help all of her teammates,” Velasquez-Zimmer said. “She is always encouraging us consistently.”

Velasquez-Zimmer said she cannot imagine the team if Jones did not decide to walking on.

“Our team dynamic would be completely different without her voice on and off the field,” Velasquez-Zimmer said.

She said Jones brings a wis-

E

When Sara Jones was a senior in high school, her mom, Kelli, told her to choose a school where she could be happy without playing softball. As Sara toured Missouri State, she fell in love with the spirit of the campus; which led her to choose Missouri State, where she could attend college with her best friend and twin sister, Alyson.

One day while hanging out in the dorm, Alyson said Sara looked at her and said she decided she wanted to walk on for the softball team.

Now, four years later, Sara is starting in right field after making the team as a walk-on in 2014.

“It’s been a whirlwind, but such a beautiful journey,” Sara said.

Sara began her softball days when she was in preschool.

“My mom had me in a red

years in high school, so I’ve done it all.”

Sara has not been alone in her journey; her twin sister, Missouri State graduate student Alyson Jones, has been with her almost every step of the way. In high school, the sisters played basketball, softball and ran track together.

“She has been my twin, my teammate and my roommate,” Alyson said.

Alyson says her sister is very passionate about whatever she does and tries to bring the best out in people. She says what Jones has done on the team has been courageous.

“I am very proud of her, and I really admire her,” Alyson said.

Alyson describes her sister as a natural-born leader who brings energy wherever she goes. She remembers her sister getting the call saying that she made the softball team.

During her sister’s tryout, Alyson says she snuck in and sat in the outfield with binoc-

TH

CARISSA ALFORD Staff Reproter @carissabalford

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Missouri,” Oxendine said.

“The front door really for anyone at any stage in small business (is) exploration.” eFactory works with more than 600 hundred businesses, like Incent. Current Naturals and K12 Marketplace, and it allows students from the College of Business to offer their services, Oxendine said.

Josh Coleman, an assistant professor in the marketing department, said the services students offer to businesses at the startup phase are projects they are assigned to do for different classes like Principles of Advertising, Management and Marketing Research.

Coleman requires his students to do an advertising campaign for some companies in eFactory. The advertising campaign is a semester-long project for his Principles of Advertisement class. eFactory contacts MSU departments with the needs they have for their clients and companies, and MSU looks for classes that offer these needs through their students, Coleman said.

Coleman said students have to attend classes, read required chapters, take tests and apply the material by providing services for eFactory.

By the end of the semester, each group of students is expected to present their advertising campaign to different

ALPHA Continued from page 1

a freshman criminal justice major, said.

Sitting next to Neilson was Flynn who praised the fraternity for giving him a community, especially because his hometown is located 20 hours away in Stafford, Virginia.

“I mean, I play on the university lacrosse team, but I still felt disconnected and through this (Alpha Sigma Phi) and the opportunity that

THE STANDARD clients and companies, Coleman said.

“I do not want them to only learn material from the textbook,” Coleman said. “I want them to learn how to actually do the work.”

Experiences like this make students more qualified to work with bigger companies later on, Coleman said.

Students are involved in different types of work with eFactory depending on the class they are taking. Some students do technical writing, advertisement, management, feasibility and marketing studies, Oxendine said.

“It is a great learning experience for a student to work on a real world project.” Oxendine said.

Erin Mershon, a senior majoring in marketing research, is currently conducting research for Self Interactive, a web, mobile, virtual and augmented reality programming company in the eFactory. Mershon said this project is for her research issues and problems marketing class.

Mershon said it is very beneficial for students to be able to work with real companies, especially companies in the startup phase. It benefits the companies’ costs and the student’s resume, Mershon said.

“I’ll be able to put that I have actual experience with a company on my resume,” Mershon said, “Which is awesome for a graduating student.”

Mershon said this class experience is “experiential, independent and hands-on.” it held, I was able to get to know 10 guys the first week and 20 guys the next week and it just kept building and building,” Flynn, a freshman political science major, said.

Carlo said what differentiates Alpha Sig from other fraternities on MSU campus is that all the leadership positions are open and available for guys to run.

“It’s really allowing guys to have a hands-on experience and allows them to create something they want and envision on campus,” Carlo said.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 NINA TODEA/THE STANDARD Lauri Kivijarvi demonstrates how to use a Faraday cage, a metal cage where he grows crystal samples. The research is part of his thesis for his doctorate in chemistry.

FINLAND Kivijarvi is an exchange student who came to Missouri State for one specific reason — to work with inorganic chemistry professor Dr. Nikolay Gerasimchuk.

“The idea slowly grew up around 2014,” Kivijarvi said.

“I was doing my (doctoral) thesis and we had been making crystals in Finland, but we didn’t have the technology and knowledge how to measure the conductivities from them.”

Kivijarvi’s professor in Finland Dr. Matti Haukka was sending the samples here for Gerasimchuk to measure, but decided they should send Kivijarvi here to learn how to do the measurements instead.

So in August, Gerasimchuk met Kivijarvi for the first time when he picked him up from the airport.

Kivijarvi is part of the Fulbright Program, an international student exchange program that sends students

to more than 160 countries.

It was founded in 1945 by J. William Fulbright, a former Arkansas senator.

Just a few days ago, Kivijarvi was in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and he had the chance to visit the grave site of Fulbright.

Being part of the Fulbright exchange program allowed Kivijarvi to come to Missouri State to work with Gerasimchuk.

“Lauri was persistent to get into Fulbright because I didn’t have enough support for him,” Gerasimchuk said.

“He needed a full year’s support, and I could only guarantee a few months.”

However, being part of the Fulbright program didn’t automatically make the process of coming to MSU any easier for Kivijarvi.

“It was quite challenging and frustrating to get all the documentary for visa and housing and so forth,” Kivijarvi said. “I’m officially a

scholar here even though I’m doing my (doctoral) thesis here, and it is because we had quite a hurry to get me accepted to this university so I could get the visa.”

So while Kivijarvi doesn’t attend any classes at MSU, he is technically a student.

He even lives on campus in Monroe Apartments.

He enjoys living in Monroe because he has no roommates, something he says is a luxury compared to his previous experiences of always sharing with other students.

When he isn’t in the lab, Kivijarvi likes to photograph trains and spends time working with model trains.

He is also part of the Ozark Scandinavian Society of Springfield Missouri, a group that’s mostly people of Scandinavian descent.

Kivijarvi said they like having him there because he’s “a real Scandinavian.”

Kivijarvi isn’t the only international presence in Temple 431. Gerasimchuk was born in Kiev, Ukraine and earned his first doctorate in 1985 from Kiev State University.

He moved to the U.S. in

JONES

expects from everybody else,’ Hesse said.

The coach said she loves everything about Jones because of her work ethic and attitude. Jones memorized the diamond of success, an ideol-

ogy Hesse instills in the team.

“She has really bought into the philosophy of the program and lives and breathes it every day,” Hesse said. “She probably knows the diamond of success better than I do at this

Continued from page 5

Continued from page 7

1992 and earned his second doctorate in 1996 from the University of Kansas.

“I’m the only one on campus who has two Ph.D.’s,” Gerasimchuk said.

Gerasimchuk sees the benefits of having people of many backgrounds in his lab.

“Each country has a different scientific curriculum, different traditions (and) level of preparation,” Gerasimchuk said. “Europeans have generally broader knowledge, better background. That’s why if I have money and opportunity to attract someone, I always do.”

Gerasimchuk has worked with students from Hungary and Ukraine, and now Kivijarvi from Finland. “(Kivijarvi) is very thorough and meticulous,” Gerasimchuk said. “Five times he thinks before he does, which is a good characteristic for a scientist.”

Kivijarvi will return to Finland in July of this year, but before he returns, he said he’s looking forward to witnessing Fourth of July celebrations.

“I’m interested to see how Americans celebrate their point.”

To almost no one’s surprise, Sara has high expectations for this season. Going forward, Sara expects big wins and a conference championship title.