Madison Williams shines
statenews.com | 1/28/14 | @thesnews
Junior center plays all-star game against Ohio State
Weather outside is frightful Despite below-zero temperatures, school still in session
Silk Road Chinese Orchestra
campus+city, pG. 3
sports, pG. 6
Michigan State University’s independent voice
Danyelle Morrow/The State News
General management freshman Jingting Lin plays the guzheng
COURT
Food industry management junior Magally Briseno shares her opinion about a beauty topic with a group of women Monday at the MSU Union during the “Beauty Inside and Out” event hosted by Kappa Delta Chi Sorority.
Casteel testifies in trial, provides details of crimes By Geoff Preston gpreston@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
HOWELL, Mich. – For fans across Michigan, the voice and imagery that accompany the Detroit Tigers baseball game broadcasts adds to t he ex per ience. But for alleged I-96 shooter Raulie Casteel, the Casteel broadcasts fulfilled a much darker purpose. During his testimony on Monday in Livingston County Circuit Court, 44-year-old Casteel cast blame on baseball broadcasts for his impulse to allegedly shoot at 24 people in October of 2012 on the I-96 corridor, leaving one person injured. “The way they would describe the ball shooting at the shadows... I thought they were talking about shooting at cars,” Casteel testified Monday. To the MSU alumnus, the cars following him on the freeway were “demons.” Shooting at the cars, in his mind, was the only way to get rid of them. Casteel is facing charges in at least three counties. The incidents occurred in four counties, including Ingham. In Livingston County alone, Casteel faces nine counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, nine firearms-related charges and one terrorism charge. The MSU alumnus was the only witness the defense called to the stand. Although Casteel never hid his involvement in the shootings, he
maintained that he was not a terrorist and never had the intent to end anyone’s life. Casteel described a particular day in October 2012 when he was being passed on the right side by Jennifer Kupiec, who testified earlier in the trial that Casteel shot and hit her vehicle. He said the tailgating driver brought back a lot of anxiety, but he insisted he never meant to shoot at or injure Kupiec. “My intent was not to shoot at her (Kupiec) or my other victims, but at their vehicles,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t have any thoughts about murder. ... Now I deeply regret that it ever happened.” Throughout his testimony, Casteel said he felt he was being targeted and watched by the federal government at the time of the shootings. He claimed his mental instability began when his family moved to Kentucky in 2007, and said he has a history on his mother’s side of mental illness, including paranoia and delusional thoughts. Casteel testified that he didn’t seek treatment for any mental illness or condition until 2010 because he was overcome with the paranoia that he was being watched. “I felt my telephone calls were being monitored, and I didn’t want my medical treatment to be compromised,” he said. He said he bought a handgun and began noticing odd behavior from his neighbors. Thoughts of being monitored apparently continued for Casteel even after he sought treatment for his conditions. He claimed that at least 20
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FEATURES, PAGE 5
photos by Erin Hampton/The State News
Spring recruitment begins Fraternities, sororities host events and open houses for spring rush week By Olivia Dimmer odimmer@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
This week, many university sororities and fraternities will be opening their doors to prospective new members for spring recruitment. Unlike fall recruitment, spring recruitment for greek life is much more laid back, less structured and smaller for both fraternities and the few sororities that choose to participate. Although spring recruitment for most sororities has already wrapped up, a few are still holding events and open houses into this week. Spring rush for fraternities
MEN’S BASKETBALL
began Monday. In general, spring recruitment can be a less intimidating experience for women looking to explore sorority life, vice president of recruitment logistics for National Panhellenic Council Camaryn Self said.
Spring recruitment for most sororities is wrapping up this week, while fraternities began their rushes Monday “Sometimes (in the fall) women weren’t ready to make a commitment,” Self said. “Fall rush is so close to the begin-
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Finance senior and Kappa Delta Chi sorority member Juana Lopez reads her beauty tip card to the group of women Monday at the Union. Each woman read beauty tip cards out loud and then discussed how they felt about it.
POLITICS
msu preps for state of union By Kary Askew Garcia kaskew@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
A lt hou g h t he W h ite House blog hinted at President Obama’s anticipated State of the Union address focusing on “opportunity, action and optimism,” MSU students and faculty members are hoping to hear solid plans for the future. Social relations and policy junior Curtis Audette said he hopes income inequality and issues concerning students are addressed. “A lot of us are asking, as students, is it really worth
Julia Nagy/The State News
Senior center Adreian Payne reacts to the game against Michigan on Saturday at Breslin Center. The Spartans lost to the Wolverines, 80-75.
Loss triggers sense of urgency By Matt Sheehan
msheehan@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
Two days after sitting in the locker room with tears in his eyes after losing to Michigan, senior guard Keith Appling was nearly all smiles at Monday’s press conference. But just because he was wearing a smile doesn’t mean the pain of MSU’s 80-75 loss has gone away. “That ’s a game not only myself, but my teammates wanted that win very badly,” Appling said. “Not only for the team and the Big Ten season, but for all the guys that came back to support us. It is just one game ... the way I felt after
that game I never want to feel again. We just have to use it for motivation.” The display of emotion after Saturday’s win produced more than tears — it also showed head coach Tom Izzo that his senior guard understands his time as a Spartan is almost up. Izzo went as far to say that Appling’s reaction to the hardfought loss reminded him of former Spartan guard Mateen Cleaves. “You know Keith, he’s not a real emotional guy, he’s kind of quiet, and when he walked into that locker room, the first thing I said in my mind is ‘Keith is growing up, he’s starting to get it,’” Izzo said. “He’s starting to realize the 3,817 times I’ve said
that the window is very small, and there is a lot of things in life you get a second chance on, and there are some things you don’t.” Beating U-M at home is a second chance Appling will never get, but Izzo went on to say the sense of urgency by the players is the reason teams and programs grow. Unfortunately for Izzo, something that inevitably seems to grow is the list of injuries. Although he hasn’t missed a game this season, Appling’s w rist has been noticeably bothering him for the last few weeks. Izzo said keeping him out of
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it?” said Audette, who is the communications director for the Michigan Federation of College Democrats and a member of MSU College Democrats. Audette said the main reason recent graduates are finding it difficult to obtain a job and buy a house or car is because of surmounting debt. He hopes that Obama will take on the topics of tackling student debt and cutting the costs of rising tuition, which would help students create futures for themselves and stay in-state after graduation. Will Staal, chair of MSU College Republicans, said he expects the president to try and
convince Americans to “come back and follow his agenda.” Staa l, a n interdisciplinary studies in social science senior, said 65 percent of Americans think the country is on the wrong track and that the healthcare initiative was handled the wrong way. He said in the future, he hopes for a leader that can put Americans’ best interests ahead of his or her party’s agenda. Staal said he believes Gov. Rick Snyder and the state legislature can take most of the credit for Michigan’s economic uptick.
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CRIME
$2K OF $20K REWARD FUND DISTRIBUTED BY POLICE By Katie Abdilla kabdilla@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
Although $20,000 was set aside as a reward for any information regarding December’s civ il disturbances in Cedar Village, only about $2,000 of the fund has been shelled out to informants, according to East Lansing police. Following December’s Big Ten championship, thousands of students flocked to Cedar Village, chanting and burning furniture and nearly anything in their path. By the time the disturbance was dispersed at about 3 a.m. on Dec. 8,
police responded to 57 fires and arrested 15 people, 12 of whom were MSU students. DTN Vice President Colin Cronin previously told The State News that the revelries in Cedar Village caused between $5,000 and $10,000 in property damage. Investigators continued to make arrests and solicit information about potential suspects in the following weeks. The pretrial hearings for many of those arrested are scheduled for early February. East Lansing police released photos later in December, asking anyone with information regarding the identities of those who were photographed during the disturbance.
Half of the money was fronted by MSU, and the other half coming out of East Lansing police funding. After announcing their intention to disburse reward money to anyone with information leading to a suspect’s arrest, East Lansing police Capt. Jeff Murphy said not many have taken the bait. “Not much has happened with this one,” Murphy said. “No sooner had we gotten (the reward money) when MSU went closed for Christmas break. There wasn’t a whole lot of interest in paying people for tips for valuable information.” The pretrial hearings for
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