04/07/2016 by Michigan Tech Lode

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A path to debtfree college

APRil 7, 2016

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The inability to teach

Relay for Life

Sudden spring flurry Photo by Peter Nouhan

NEWS

Thursday, April 7

Michigan Tech Lode

Tech’s Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity at a build site in New Mexico during spring break.

Evan Mayer News Writer A home to return to every night is something that can be taken easily for granted. For many in bad financial situations, however, the prospect of buying a house is infeasible. Fortunately, Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to offering affordable housing for families and individuals below the poverty line. The model that would become Habitat for Humanity International began in Koinonia Farms located outside of Americus, Georgia. This small community, founded by Clarence Jordan, was visited in 1965 by a successful businessman and his wife, Millard and Linda Fuller, who were looking to begin a new life of Christian service. Together Fuller and Jordan developed a concept of “partnership housing,” which centered on those in need of adequate shelter working side by side with volunteers to build simple, decent houses. The two men began a non-profit fund called the “The Fund for Humanity.”

The fund’s money came from new homeowners’ house payments, nointerest loans provided by supporters and money earned by fundraising. In 1968, the community laid out 42 half-acre house sites with capital donated from people and organizations across the United States to start the construction of the homes. Following the success of Koinonia Farms, the Fullers decided to apply the Fund for Humanity concept in developing countries. In 1973, the couple successfully began a program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They returned to the United States in 1976 where they pitched their idea to a group of supporters to discuss the future of their dream of instituting their program around the world. From this meeting Habitat for Humanity International was born. The organization has since spread across the United States and even all the way up to the Keweenaw Peninsula. There are two chapters located in the area, the Copper Country chapter and the Michigan Tech chapter. The university’s chapter is currently

Courtesy of Cody Rietveld of Habitat for Humanity

comprised of about ten members that do all the coordinating and organizing to get more than forty student volunteers to the build sites. Due to the Upper Peninsula winters, the organization can only do one yearly build, which is done in the fall. Many students from the university, mostly from fraternities and sororities, volunteer every year in constructing the house for a local family. “Habitat for Humanity is a great experience that allows you to meet a lot of students from other backgrounds,” the organization’s president Cody Rietveld said. “Plus the skills and knowledge learned can be used throughout your life.” The spring semester is not the best time to build, but the members of Habitat for Humanity are still busy. Their main order of business is organizing their alternative spring break trip. This year twenty students went to North Carolina where they spent the week helping a chapter there with their house’s construction. In the past the group has been to Florida, Louisiana and New Mexico during their alternative spring break.

The group also volunteers at ReStore, organizing rooms and furniture that people donate. ReStore is Habitat for Humanity’s home improvement, home goods and resale store, where each purchase helps the organization raise money. Currently the group is looking for more partnerships with other organizations to increase the number of volunteers they have in the fall. If you or your group is interested, contact Rietveld and he will put you on the contact list. “It is awesome when you get to go to bed with a good feeling knowing you helped someone less fortunate out,” Rietvald said. That is probably why Habitat for Humanity International remains one of the top non-profit service organizations in the world. To join Michigan Tech’s Habitat for Humanity there are no dues. However, some money is required if you choose to go on the spring break trip with them. The organization meets bi-monthly on Tuesdays, usually in Fisher 125 at 6 p.m. Contact Rietveld at cjrietve@mtu. edu for more details.

NEWS

Michigan Tech Lode

USG’s New Look

Samuel Casey (Left) and Joseph Heltsley (Right)

Jon Jaehnig News Writer The elections for Undergraduate Student Government were held last month, and the new E-Board Members have been chosen. Samuel Casey is now the USG President, with Joseph Heltsley as new Vice President. Josh Davis is the new Treasurer, though he has interned with Student Activities, the parent organization of USG, and has worked with USG previously in that capacity. Braeton Ardell, the former Treasurer, now holds the position of Secretary.

“USG definitely needs to do more outreach to students to understand how it can better advocate for them.” - Samuel Casey Concern exists that the intended purpose of USG is somewhat misunderstood by a large portion of the student body. “USG’s primary role is to represent, advocate for, and serve the student body. Unfortunately, USG’s role has become solely to allocate money to organizations,” explains Casey. “My primary goals are to increase accountability among USG members, increase transparency and increase representation of the student body.” Casey will begin meetings with the rest of the new executive board over the remaining weeks of the semester. The reduced effective role of USG in recent years has meant that most of the press associated with them has been negative, or

Courtesy of USG

negatively received, as when a struggling student org gets a budget cut, or gets into trouble. This, in turn, negatively affects the spirit and participation of some USG members. “Each year, a few students would give their all to try to make a difference and would fail due to others’ utter apathy. Over my four years at Tech, I’ve seen the student body’s view of USG go from bad to worse,” said Casey. Casey believes that this cycle can be interrupted, leading to a better USG, and a better represented student body. “USG definitely needs to do more outreach to students to understand how it can better advocate for them. I think we can do this through social media, open forums and personal inquiry. On the other hand, it would be impossible for me to talk to each of the 7,000 students on our campus. Students need to come to USG too.” Casey and his executive board all seem to have similar goals and good qualifications, meaning that next year could see a very positive change in USG and its relationship with the student body. “Build a Better Tech 2016,” Casey’s running platform, is a five page document detailing strategies for more effective representation and increased involvement. Students with inquiries, ideas or comments are always encouraged to stop by the USG offices on the first floor of the Memorial Union Building. When asked about the relationship between USG and the Daily Bull, Casey explained that he was on co-op while the satirical magazine was put on probation for an article that some deemed offensive. “The Daily Bull should have had the right to due process, and the USG’s purpose is to represent the student body, so it should make decisions that reflect such,” Casey commented. Casey was unaware that he had been endorsed in an anonymously submitted Daily Bull article that ran on the March 18, and that he is “not sure if they published it because they thought it was a funny article or if they actually believe in our cause.”

Thursday, April 7

NEWS

Michigan Tech Lode

Lahore suicide bombing World Report Daniel Stockard News Writer

Pakistani rescue workers remove a dead body rom the site of bomb explosion in a park in Lahore, Pakistan.

Sumit Pant News Writer It was a horrendous sight on March 26, 2016 at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore, Pakistan, where the city’s population had gathered to celebrate Easter. Little did they knew that their festive happiness would soon be interrupted by a suicide bomber who tore through the park killing 75 indiscriminately and injuring another 341. While the attack was targeted at Christian families, most victims were Muslims, and about 36 children were killed. It was a crisp spring Easter Sunday, and Christians along with neighboring Muslims had assembled in a neighborhood park, taking their kids on rides or pushing them on swings. Pakistan is in a state of shock and dismay as eye witnesses on television recalled scattering body parts and pools of blood across the park. In a dire need of blood, the entire nation united with major cab operating companies like Careem and Uber offering free rides to anyone wishing to donate blood to the victims. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a militant Sunni Islamic group and a breakaway faction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have claimed responsibility for the attack. Ahsanullah Ahsan, the spokesman for the group said, “It was our people who attacked the Christians in Lahore, celebrating Easter. It’s our message to the government that we will carry out such attacks again until sharia [Islamic law] is imposed in the country.” It comes at a difficult time for Pakistan’s Christians who have been constantly targeted by the hardline Muslim core, ambitious for a strict interpretation

of Islamic law in Pakistan’s legal system. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorists. Gen. Asim Bajwa, Director General of InterServices Public Relation of Pakistan, tweeted “COAS [Chief of the Army Staff ] chaired a high-level security meeting. COAS resolved that we must bring the killers of our innocent brothers, sisters and children to justice and will never allow these inhuman savages to run over our life and liberty.”

“Growing up in Pakistan, we were taught to love each of our countrymen as our brother or sister regardless of their faith.” - Tayyab Rahim

Tayyab Rahim, a Pakistani graduate student at Michigan Tech, was very doleful while talking to us on this matter saying, “I am deeply saddened by this tragic news. Growing up in Pakistan, we were taught to love each of our countrymen as our brother or sister regardless of their faith. I was grateful to my Pakistani countrymen who were quick to act at the time of need and conducted a massive blood donation

Courtesy of Associated Press

drive to save lives of any survivor. The whole country united against this hellish crime and tried their best to keep the negative factions of society at bay. These extremist groups are a disgrace to Islam as well as Pakistan.” The Pakistani authorities have reacted swiftly to the Easter attack and launched a series of raids throughout the Punjab province, netting hundreds of suspects. Initial reports indicate that the government has given paramilitary forces enhanced powers to conduct raids and interrogations, a practice that has helped improve the law-and-order situation in Karachi over the last year. Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah proclaimed in 1947 that his countrymen “may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the state.” But the modern reality is very different. Most people in Pakistan are Muslims and Jinnah’s imagined secular state has become increasingly theocratic after decades of dictatorships and official Islamism. Christians, particularly the poor belonging to the agricultural center and north of the country, are considered outcasts by many and find themselves pushed to the edge of society. It’s not the first time such attacks based on religion have taken place in Pakistan. In March 2013, Muslims set fire to more than 100 houses in a Christian neighborhood in Lahore. September 2013 marked another blow to a Christian community at Peshawar where 75 were killed during a Sunday meet at the historic All Saints Church. On March 2015, Pakistani Taliban detonated two bombs in Lahore, killing 15 and wounding more than 70 in the attack.

Huge tax haven records leak An undisclosed individual leaked over eleven million documents from a secretive Panamanian law firm called Mossack Fonseca. The leaks indicate that the firm helped elite clients launder money, dodge trade restrictions and avoid taxes. Panama has long been known as a so-called tax haven, and these papers validate that perception. Among those implicated are 12 current or former heads of state and over 60 people linked to them, including Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugson and individuals linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leak resulted in the largest-ever journalism collaboration, with 109 different media outlets in 76 countries analyzing the data. Greece begins deporting migrants Following an immigration deal, Greece deported a group of 136 Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan and Moroccan migrants back to Turkey. The deal allows the E.U. to return “irregular migrants” who traveled into Greece any time after March 20. For each Syrian refugee they return, they must admit another, but this doesn’t apply to other nationalities. This doesn’t bode well for migrants who are sent back to Turkey, as they often face poor living conditions. Amnesty International has even accused Turkey of sending Syrians back into their wartorn homeland. No matter the case, the migrant crisis is escalating and governing bodies need to find a more lasting solution to it. Drug smugglers caught on film jumping border fence Mexican journalist Carolina Rocha caught two drug smugglers easily scaling the border fence from Mexico into the Arizona city of Nogales. The two individuals were wearing huge backpacks, likely containing drugs, and scaled the wall back into Mexico once they realized they were being recorded. Three US Border Patrol trucks were parked within yards of the incident, but nobody approached the smugglers. The journalist did not know why they weren’t confronted. This comes at a time when Republican front-runner Donald Trump has incessantly boasted that he wants to expand the border wall if he’s elected president, and it demonstrates how ineffectual that would be.

NEWS

Michigan Tech Lode

Thursday, April 7 5

A win for unions A path to debt-

free college Debbie Stabenow U.S. Senator of Michigan

Senator Mark Kirk, R-Ill., right, meets with Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama’s choice to replace the late Justice Scalia. Courtesy of Associated Press

Amanda Charboneau News Writer On March 29 the Supreme Court ruled to allow Unions to continue collecting fees from non-union members. The fee is used to compensate the Union for the work they are doing to help all of the workers, including those workers who aren’t a part of the union. These non-members are actually reimbursed for any political contributions that the Union makes. The final vote was 4-4, a deadlock that resulted in the union’s victory, since the vote could not overturn the lower court’s ruling. This outcome was expected, but only because Justice Scalia, who had passed away earlier this year, was not able to vote in it. Over the past few years the supreme court has appeared to be 4-5 liberal/conservative. There have been exceptions to this general rule such as the famous same-sex marriage verdict, but for the most part it has been a struggle for the more liberal cases to be passed through the court, until now. The union victory is not nation-wide. The hearing only affected states that already had such a policy in place and were

challenged in the original hearing: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and California. This hearing is not the first and certainly will not be the last of its kind. Until the ninth seat is filled again there is the ever present possibility of a 4-4 deadlock. Of course, the Union hearing was appealed by its challengers so it will be brought back once the seat is filled. Previously, on March 23 we saw a case of religious companies wishing to opt out of covering contraceptives for their female employees. If it too receives a 4-4 it’ll automatically align with the original decision. The court tried to negotiate with both sides in an attempt to finagle a deal that all sides could be satisfied with, but without a fifth decisive vote it very well may see another auto rule by deadlock. The Supreme Court goes in recess in June. If cases like this persist, we could see some very interesting policies result from the apparent split in the supreme court. It’s all up to the Obama administration and the Senate to fill the seat before the next presidential election, otherwise it’s going to be a long time before ties like this can be broken.

Michigan Tech Lode

America should always be a place where a person who is willing to work hard has a fair shot to get ahead and have success in life, no matter his or her background. People like Tina Reyes, from Flint, who earned the grades that got her accepted into one of our top Michigan universities. When she graduates this summer she will be the first person from her family to achieve that important milestone. Unfortunately, this accomplishment came at a heavy cost. Tina’s family couldn’t afford to pay for her tuition, housing and all the other costs that come with college, so she had to take out a lot of student loans, and by the time she accepts her diploma she will have roughly $100,000 in debt. It will be incredibly difficult for Tina to find an entry level job that pays enough for her to cover her costs of daily life and keep pace with her loan payments. Tina told me that having debt like this is like having “monsters under my bed.” And Tina is not alone. Last month I talked to students via Google “Hangout,” and I visited campuses around the state of Michigan so I could hear directly from students about how we can reduce student debt, which is currently $1.3 trillion – and growing. The average college graduate in Michigan graduates with $30,000 in debt. As a result of this debt, people like Tina will have difficulty buying the car they need to get to work, putting a down payment on a home or starting a new business. Our policies should make it easier for Americans who work hard to join the Middle Class, not harder. That is the purpose of a

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new piece of legislation I am co-authoring called the In The Red Act. Introduced in Congress in March, the In The Red Act would ease the burden of debt for recent graduates at the same time as it makes college affordable to low-income students. If passed, the In The Red Act will allow student borrowers – with either private or federal loans – to refinance those loans at lower rates offered to new borrowers in the 2013-2014 school year. That means rates of 3.86 percent for undergraduates, 5.4 percent for graduate students and 6.4 percent for parents. The Pell Grant makes it possible for millions of students from low- and moderate-income families to go to college. But as the costs of college have gone up, more and more of those students have had to go into debt to finish college. The In The Red Act would increase Pell Grant awards by tying future Pell Grant increases to inflation. In 10 years, the maximum Pell Grant Award to a Michigan student would be $1,300 larger than under current law. Getting a degree or job training from a community college opens the door to a lifetime of higher earnings, but for many, the tuition costs make it impossible to enroll. The In The Red Act would provide federal matching funds to states so they can waive tuition fees for two years of community and technical college programs. In other words, two years of tuition free college! The In The Red Act is based on the belief that the American Dream should be available to every person and that a degree from a community college or a university is the most effective way to achieve that dream. Massive student debt makes no sense! It’s time for our country to get on the path to debt-free college!

Opinions expressed in the Lode are not necessarily those of the student body, faculty, staff or administration of Michigan Technological University or the Michigan Tech Lode. The Lode is designed, written and edited by Michigan Tech students. The paper is printed every Tuesday during fall and spring semesters. The Lode is available free of charge at drop-off sites around campus and in the surrounding community. To the best of its ability, The Lode subscribes to the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional

Journalists. The Lode is funded in part by the Michigan Tech Student Activity Fee. 1. lodeads@mtu.edu for submitting ads to the Lode. 2. lodesubmit@mtu.edu for submitting articles and letters to the editor. Work submitted to the Lode should be submitted with the understanding that it may be printed by the Lode and/or posted to the Online Lode, www. mtulode.com. The Lode reserves the right to edit submissions for length, clarity and potentially libelous material. Submissions should not exceed 500 words.

Thursday, April 7

NEWS

Michigan Tech Lode

Presidential New Competitor to Macbook Race Update Shveta Dhamankar News Writer The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada this year showed signs that the prime focus of the tech world is now veering towards how a thing looks and what it feels like. This change in trend has been evident in the number of fashionable wearables and stylish phones that have hit the market. HP (HewlettPackard), which has made a habit of emulating Apple’s slim laptop designs over the past years, has been the latest beneficiary. HP’s new EliteBook Folio is thin and robust with an aluminum body. HP believes its latest laptops will be the newly crowned leaders in laptop design, thereby knocking Apple from its pedestal. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal ahead of unveiling a new premium laptop on Tuesday, HP’s PC chief Ron Coughlin said that “for years, Apple has been seen as the innovator and the driver of innovation,” but now “HP is really taking over that mantle.” And it has not stopped there. With the launch

on Tues. April 5, HP is expected to go even thinner. What a major difference a few millimeters will make to the overall feel of the laptop, only time will tell.

HP believes its EliteBook Folio series will be the newly crowned leaders in laptop design, thereby knocking Apple from its pedestal.

HP’s combative talk is drawing a lot of attention from the likes of Lenovo to Microsoft. The changes that HP is making is encouraging new innovations and improvement in laptop design in the market overall. While Microsoft and

Apple are creating convertible designs, Dell has stuck to the classic design and has garnered a lot of popularity with its XPS 13 line of ‘simple’ laptops. HP, too, is sticking to the old school design and innovating right in that area of a ‘simple laptop’ design. Apple followed suit after it observed that there aren’t enough buyers for convertibles and promptly introduced the simplified MacBook last year. The UltraBook, however, does not seem like a mass-market machine; muchlike Apple’s products. The sleek laptop is meant for business professionals. It is meant for basics and is far from being the most powerful computer. Future generations of the model will render it a lot more powerful and of course, more capable. No one yet knows how well its processors will handle its 4K display. The bare minimum of ports, two USB Type-C ports and a headphone jack, make it evident that one cannot possibly do complex computational acrobats. Battery life is expected to be 10 hours. Reiterating on the fact that the ‘new MacBook,’ as Utkarsh Mishra, a student here at Tech calls it, is dropdead gorgeous, the selling point is not the processing speed but the overall package. The laptop is under 0.5 inches thick and is supposed to weigh less than 2.2 pounds. Like most Windows laptops, it can be configured to be inclusive of a touchscreen. Folio, however, isn’t as flexible or detachable as ts hybrid counterparts. It can still be tilted back until its display is flat against the table. The sound system is aimed at better voice quality rather than music. Consequently, The sound system is meant more for better Skype calls rather than music or movies. The relatively average Core M processor is not in the same league as its more powerful rivals, but the fanless design of the processor, the very design that makes it one of the thinnest laptops, might be what many are looking for in a classic laptop design. It is, after all, not meant for computational or coding blizzards. Another plus point for these laptops is that several operating systems are available. There’s Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, FreeDOS 2.0 or NeoKylin 64.The elitist MacBook, on the other hand, has just iOS. Starting at $1,099 (about £737, AU$1,540), the EliteBook Folio G1 is more affordable than its Apple counterparts. The trouble with creating something thinner than a regular sized pencil is that the next step in innovative design is something a whole lot...thinner. For HP, however it will will be worth the effort to stake its claim as the new leader in classic laptop design and technology.

Aaron Kostrzewa News Writer

The 2016 Presidential race is down to five candidates, one of whom may be the first female president, the first Democratic Socialist president, or the wealthiest president of all time. The field is down to Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich. The presidential hopefuls still have two months left of trying to rally delegates from all fifty states. Republican Update The Republican candidates need 1,237 delegates out of 2,285 possible, which is different from the number required of the Democrats. Donald Trump has steadily maintained his lead as the head of the Republican Party, followed by Cruz and Kasich. However, recently he has been under attack for his change in stance on abortion. During this point of the election news outlets fight to point out the flaws in candidates, so little is said about any good a candidate is doing. Former candidate Scott Walker has pledged his support for Ted Cruz. Being that the media primarily focuses on the successful candidates, Kasich isn’t making many headlines. With only 143 delegates, he is far behind Cruz who has 475, and Trump with 737. Democratic Update The Democrats have a different system than the Republicans during the primaries. Judging whether a Republican or Democrat is doing best based on delegate count is not a fair comparison. The Democrats have 4,265 delegates available, and accordingly 2,042 are needed to win the nomination. Additionally, 714 superdelegates vote, who have the ability to change their votes at the Democratic National Convention July. Due to the very interesting candidate selection, the primaries have had record voter turn outs. Up until now, 17.3 percent of eligible Republican voters and 11.7 percent of eligible Democrat voters have attended the polls, which are some of the highest percentages of all time during the primaries. The Democratic candidates have also been under a lot of scrutiny. Recently, Sanders has been under fire for not releasing his tax returns to the public. His response to the matter was, “My wife does our tax returns. We have been a little bit busy lately.” Meanwhile, Clinton is facing an email controversy regarding her use of a private server while she was secretary of state.

PULSE

Michigan Tech Lode

Thursday, April 7

Spring Fling Dance Saurabh Phatak Lode Writer Finals are also approaching in a few weeks. Adding to all the coursework is the unpredictable weather which seems to be getting the better of us. We just had the April Fool’s Day storm, and with it the mercury dropped down. But don’t worry, amidst all these classes and weather, there is a silver lining on the cloud. The temperatures will be warm soon and with the warm weather comes the Spring Fling. Yes, you read it right, the Michigan Tech Spring Fling is here. Spring Fling is an opportunity for the Michigan Tech community to come together, relax and have fun before the end of the semester. Spring Fling is a unique tradition of Michigan Tech, something the Huskies are and should be proud of. It is organized by the Memorial Union Board (MUB) and is held on Friday

of the 13th week of the spring semester. This year’s Spring Fling is on April 15. The main attraction of the event is that all student organizations get a chance to set up their own booths accompanied by the free food and giveaways that people can get. An average of 55 student organizations are about to participate in the Spring Fling. Each organization has their own booth which does something different. Some serve food, some sell merchandise, a few others organize some games, etc. The Indian Student’s Association had some classic Indian delicacies on their menu last year. They served a stuffed potato dumpling called as samosa, in local Indian terms, along with gaajar halwa, a dessert made out of shredded carrot. This year too, they plan to come up with some delicacies along similar lines. Other organizations like Engineers without Borders (EWB) and Society of Women Engineers (SWE) are also well known for their food. This for

sure will give a kick to the tastebuds. “A best booth competition will be held wherein student organizations will have an opportunity to compete to win money for their organization. This year, the top three booths will be awarded prizes,” said Magann Dykema, the current special events committee chair of the Memorial Union Building (MUB) Board. The Spring Fling has organizations from many different countries, different work cultures, different departments and so on. In spite of such diversity, they all come together to support the theme of the Spring Fling. Every year there’s a particular theme for the Spring Fling. This year’s theme is classic cartoons. It’s something which the millennials grew up watching. So it’ll be great to have them visit again in the form of an event theme. It would be interesting to see if the likes of Scooby Doo or the Simpsons show up in stalls.

What’s

Hot

Box Office Holding its place at the top of the box office for another week, Warner Brother’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” brought in a cool $51 million. This comes as a massive drop of nearly 70% from its opening weekend, one of the largest first to second weekend drop offs in the box office. Critics aren’t surprised, as the negative reviews of the movie start to take their toll. Still holding on in its fifth week, “Zootopia” managed to maintain its number two placement. This weekend brought in another nineteen million dollars for Disney, not shabby at all for a family film in this more adult-centric marketplace. Managing to hold its own in spite of new arrivals in the box office, Universal Studio’s comedy film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” has stayed in place regardless of the poor and lackluster reviews that have been given by viewers, managing to eke out $11 million.

New York Times Best Sellers Gold medal goes to Harlan Coben’s latest hit, “Fool Me Once.” The novel tells the story of former special ops pilot Maya, as she sees something utterly impossible in her time at home. Her journey as she tries to understand and find the answers to this mystery. Coming just behind is James Patterson’s novel “Private Paris.” This gripping mystery follows Jack Morgan tracking down the culprits of a mysterious set of almost ritualized killings. Religious and ethnic tensions provide a backdrop to this thrilling drama as Jack must race against time. Finally, “The Nest” is Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s hit novel that tells a story of family and friendship. A deeply personal tale of relationships, this is a book that’s definitely worth picking up for a read.

HOW do you think we did? WHAT did we miss? ANYTHING you think we need to cover? Know that you could do it better? An example of a classic cartoon is Charlie Brown.

Courtesy of MUB Board.

E-mail: ajpatter@mtu.edu

Thursday, April 7

PULSE

Michigan Tech Lode

Short Story: Father and Son ALESSANDRO FITZSIMMONS 2nd Place Contest Winner Gabriel, It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry about that. I wanted to make sure you got this one when you were ready. At this point of your life, you’ve probably graduated university by now. Maybe you decided to follow your old man’s footsteps and go to St. Homobonus for some business degree. But even if you didn’t, that’s ok. If you’re happy with doing underwater basket weaving for the rest of your life, that’s all you need. I’d be proud of you either way. I am proud of you. I’m sorry for not being able to make the ceremony; I’ll bet it had a great reception, considering how many must have been dancing. Now, if you’re anything like your old man, you’d be afraid to dance, right? Then your friends would drag you out to the dance floor against your will and encourage you to do at least something that looked like dancing, like shuffling your feet back and forth, right? Then you look at how much fun your friends are having, and then you relax and have fun. The friends you make, the things you do with them, both good and bad; they sort of become your second family, right? And then there’s the excitement of moving on to the next stages of your life, wondering what will be in store, who will be in store. It’s daunting… isn’t it? You know, I proposed to your mother at our graduation ceremony. It was one of the best moments of my life. There’s something magical about knowing when the rest of your life is right in front

“You’re not a failure. You’re a Fitzsimmons, for crying out loud!”

of you. There’s a sort of peace about it, but it’s more than that. It becomes a sort of mutual understanding of companionship. The odd thing about relationships is that it isn’t actually a pair of people that spends an extended amount of time with each other, but instead is two halves of the same person. Perhaps there’s a woman in your life that makes you feel that way, hmm? I learned very quickly that many of the world’s problems couldn’t be solved by adding numbers together. Sometimes it takes less logic and more heart to get where you want to be. You know, I was

scared shitless about proposing to your mother, and if you ask any of my college friends, they’d tell you that I spent weeks stressing about whether or not your mom would say “Yes”. Looking back on it now, it’s funny; I honestly had nothing to worry about. Your mom didn’t even let me finish asking the question. I’ll give two guesses as to what the answer was. The heart is a fickle thing. Sometimes it agrees with your brain, and real progress is made. You do your best, you get your work done, you get the girl, and you make other people happy. Everything in the world aligns, and you are capable of things thought impossible. Other times, that agreement is lost. And it’s awful. I know. I myself have had those moments: moments where nothing made sense, and it was difficult to care about my surroundings. I estranged myself from my friends and family, and just wallowed in self-pity. And you know what? Your mom went through that too. And Uncle Jimmy, and Zia Stefania, and Aunty Kira, and even steel-willed Rand. And you either have or will go through that too. I hope to high heaven that you are already beyond that phase in life, because it sucks. A lot. So, there’s something I want you to keep in mind. Regardless of where you are, what you’re doing, or whom you’re with, remember who you are. Don’t define yourself by your failures; they’re there as a learning tool, not a reminder for something you’re not. Because you’re not a failure. You’re a Fitzsimmons, for crying out loud! Failure doesn’t exist in the Fitzsimmons Dictionary! We just trip, and lose our footing. We just think we fall. When we “fall”, we don’t become paraplegics the moment we hit the ground. We realize we scraped our knees, ask for a bandage, and we note the stupid rock we tripped on to prevent it from happening again. We note our mistakes, and we forgive ourselves and move on. If you keep a clear head, and a pure heart, the rest will fall into place. Hell, you might notice your heart and mind agreeing far more frequently, too. And with that, maybe you can avoid pulling your hair out unnecessarily over whether or not she’ll say yes. There’s so much I want to say. So much I want to do. So many ways I want to help. I wanted to watch you grow up. To see you succeed, to support you when you fall. But what matters now is what you do from here. Your life is now in your hands. You are the master of your destiny. You always have been. Picking the kitchen island was the wrong place to write this. Your mom

decided to wash the dishes at the worst time. She’s splashing all over the page, so I should wrap this up before she blurs my writing anymore than she already has. Do well. I know you can. Love, Papa Alessandro *** Hey Dad, I know you probably won’t be getting this anytime soon, but I think it needs to be said anyway. I’ve been through a lot over the course of the past few years. As far as my life is concerned, you’ve hit the nail on the head on a lot of what’s been going on. I did indeed graduate from St. Homobonus, majoring in business administration, and minoring in macroeconomics. I even somehow managed to scrape by with the Valedictorian title. I barely believe it myself. And, yeah, you were also correct about the reception. I still can’t dance, not even to save my life. That didn’t stop any of my friends, least of all Victoria. I was hesitant, but somehow they managed to make me dance like the goon I am anyway. She’s…something else. This coming Sunday will mark our 3rd anniversary our relationship. Maybe I’ll finally pop the question. She likes Italian food. I’ll probably make something along the lines of rack of lamb with Nonna’s famous gnocchi. Or maybe I’ll make Nonno’s lamb cognac sauce. Yeah, that sounds pretty good. What red would go with that, do you think? I think the local winery has some good Merlot that’ll do the trick. I’m sorry. I’m rambling. She does that to me, you know? I’m sure Mom caused you to do that too when you first met her. Life has had its ups and downs, more so over the past six years than anything else. There have been times where I gave up. There were times where very little meant anything. I’ve been so lost. There are times when you lose all sense of identity, and you don’t know what you mean anymore. How do we define ourselves? How do we grow up? What do we attach ourselves to? What does it mean to be “Gabriel”? Those questions have haunted me for the better portion of my college career. And, I can’t claim I have all the answers. But, I’ve made progress, I think. Finding a balance between heart and mind was difficult. I know, now, that my values

define me, not my successes and failures. I am Gabriel, one who understands people, one who can make the best of any situation, one who can be anything I wish to be. I am kind, thoughtful, funny, intelligent, compassionate, empathetic, and ultimately proud to be a Fitzsimmons. Victoria also says I’m good-looking, but I’m still not quite convinced on that one. I think I know who I am, and who I want to be. And I’m trying - as hard as I can – to keep a clear head, and a pure heart. I know I can be that man. I know you have a reason to be proud. And I know that your reasons, whatever they may be, are sound. You say you wish there was some way you could help. To be there to egg me on when I succeed, and to carry me when I fail trip. To an extent, you are. Be living under the same roof, or in my heart, you have always been able to help me. Take solace in the fact that you, as well as Mom, have shaped me into a man that can find balance between heart and mind. Know that that balance has helped me find happiness within myself, and enabling me to fully enjoy my relationships with others. Thank you, Dad. I miss you so much. Tell God I say hi. Gabriel

A father and son enjoy an afternoon. Courtesy of Wikimedia Corporation.

Michigan Tech Lode

PULSE

Thursday, April 7

Relay For Life Nanocon Aniket Chaphalkar Lode Writer

The innovative human mind is constantly striving towards betterment. We see new technologies constantly surfacing in the market. Everyday, better versions of products make the news. Research is the key for the implementation of such new ideas and is constantly encouraged by dedicated research funds. Technology in the medical world has also changed and the percentage of lives saved has increased greatly. Newer medicines are more effective, surgery procedures and tools have improved and interestingly a few diseases are almost eradicated. One of the few diseases that is still fighting with our brave patients and has no cure is cancer. There are over 100 types of cancer affecting people and the number of people affected by it is alarming, which is why the work of the American Cancer Society is so vital. The American Cancer Society (ACS) is one of the largest voluntary health organizations that is dedicated towards eradication of cancer by spreading awareness with their activities that take place throughout the year. Initially, ACS was known as the American Society for Control of Cancer when it was formed on May 23, 1913 in New York City. ACS, in its initial years, spread awareness about cancer by educating doctors, family members and patients. The number of cancer-aware people increased and hence the funding for the research to find the cure for cancer started increasing. Today, ACS funds projects related to curing cancer and organizes many fundraising events across the nation. Few of the activities of the ACS includes the Great American Smokeout, participating in the Hopkins 4K and Relay For Life. Community-based events are often successful and are dedicated towards the cause and so is Relay For Life. Relay For Life has its origins in Washington in the year 1985 where a surgeon organized a marathon for raising funds. $27,000 was raised and given

An example of a Relay For Life Event.

to the ACS for research. 5,000 Relay For Life events are held every year across the globe. The event is initiated by local communities, universities and even virtually through the net. The motive behind this event is to improve the quality of life for patients and caretakers by engaging them in fun activities, decreasing the cancer incidences and raising funds for a cause to improve cancer survival. The event is organized by volunteers and is mostly a multi-day event comprising of outdoor camping, games and other fun-filled activities. There are more than 5,000 communities in the United States and almost 4 million people attend these events regularly every year. So far, these events have raised nearly $5 billion in total. Some common events seen in almost every Relay For Life function include the Survivor Lap, Opening Lap, Fight Back Ceremony and Survivor Dinner. All the funds raised from the events gets utilized in research grants, construction of Hope Lodges, prevention programs and support programs. One of the recently established student organizations at Michigan Technological University (MTU) is Relay For Life. Volunteers of this event work throughout the year to lead this organization to success. This year, the Relay For Life event will be held at the Wood Gym in the Student Development Complex (SDC) from 11 am to 11 pm and the events will include survivor and caregiver ceremony, pie-in-the-face and various artists will showcase their talent and entertain people. Dining services will donate food and student organizations will sell food throughout the day to raise funds for the organization. Various faculty members will be taking part in the events during the day. The pie-in-the-face ceremony will be scheduled from 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm and artists like Nick Thomas, balloon animals and jugglers will perform from 4 pm to 6 pm. This is an opportunity to contribute for the cause and help finish the fight against cancer, raise funds, honor the survivors and support this mighty event.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Corporation.

Amanda McCuistion Lode Writer

Last week, we mentioned in an article that there would be a Pokkén Tournament showcase happening on-campus over the course of this Saturday afternoon. We regret to inform you that this tidbit of information may have been the slightest bit misleading, as not only was the Pokémon League hosting events, but multiple oncampus organizations had banded together in the twice-annual tradition known as the Michigan Tech Nanocon. Nanocon, named quite literally because it’s a rather small on-campus convention, is what we get when nearly a dozen of the student organizations at our university collaborate to host one giant, all-weekend-long event. Between Film Board’s Star Wars showings, Smash Club’s inevitable tournamenthosting, and the combined efforts of other gaming and animation appreciation clubs, the group that calls themselves Nanocon pulled off a quite successful 27th spring event in the entire building of Fisher Hall. Unlike many larger conventions, admission to Nanocon is always free. This may seem counterintuitive to some, as this can sometimes make it difficult to fundraise for the two conventions of the following year, but it’s easily remedied by the sales

of food, drink, and of course raffle tickets. Every student organization that helps host Nanocon also donates to the raffle pool of prizes, resulting in an interesting variety of merchandise. With everything from small plush Pokémon, to popular sets of manga, to figurines of little ponies and all sorts of other prizes in between, the Saturday evening Nanocon raffle is always quite the spectacular event — and tickets to enter are always only $1 apiece. It’s definitely worth noting that the big raffle and video game tournaments, while they are core aspects of this on-campus convention, are not the only draws that the event has. Aside from the stunningly contrasting showings of fan-favorite Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens and fanboy-favorite Lazer Team, Nanocon also offered fun trivia games like Stump The Baka, which was designed as always to incorporate questions with themes relating to every participating organization in the area. In summary? Nanocon, much like this article, may not be expertly organized, nor can it be easily explained as a whole. Despite this, however, it’s still easy to see that when enough student organizations unite it’s possible to create a schedule of events exciting enough to keep us entertained all weekend long.

Thursday, April 7

COMICS

Michigan Tech Lode

Jill and Jack / began to frack. / The oil boosts their town. / But fractures make / the bedrock shake / and Jack came tumbling down. Comic courtesy of XKCD

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please feel free to learn all history from this comic; i promise you will at least be interesting at parties

PUZZLES

Puzzles Edited by Will Shortz

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS By Natan Last

38 Come-____ 39 ____-surfing (sobriquet in many 40 Show wear a Kanye West song) 41 Arcade game

4 “To Kill a

88 Nutritional figs. 90 Roman statesman

sound

43 Nicknames 46 Indignant reply

when someone withholds information 49 Contract part 53 P.M. after and before Churchill 54 Carson who won the 2001 T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry 55 “Come on … be daring” 57 Increases, with “to” 59 “No worries” 62 Look from Scrooge 63 Sally 66 Tell 68 Bubbling 70 24-note tune 71 Quattros and TTs 73 “I had nothing to do with it” 75 Olympic sprinting champion Devers 77 “Oh, boo-hoo!” 79 Overly ingratiating 81 Senior project 85 Some Ivy Leaguers 86 “Would you consider this suggestion?”

Puzzles Online: Today’s puzzle and more than 9,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year) Mobile crosswords: nytimes.com/mxword

known as “the Censor” 91 Given the signal 92 Label for a suit? 93 Some Johnny Hart panels 96 Not true? 98 Outlaws 99 Out of control 100 Comment to the not-yet-convinced 105 Mountain goat 106 Politico with the autobiography “An American Son” 107 The Engineers of the N.C.A.A. 108 Disneyland’s Main Street, ____ 109 ____ rima (meter of Dante’s “Divine Comedy”) 111 Former name for Syracuse athletes 113 See 23-Across 117 Rustic backyard plaything 118 Subject of 1972 negotiations with China 119 Part of a bloodline 120 Coins with fleurs-de-lis 121 Remnants 122 Famed Six Flags Great Adventure roller coaster 123 Talking-____

Rules: A) You must fill in the boxes in each row and column with the numbers 1 to 6. Do not repeat a number in any row or column. B) The areas of the grid with dark outlines around them are called cages. At the top left of each cage is a target number and operation. This means that the numbers in the cage must use that operation 1 to total that number. Hint: Look for cages that are around just one box. The target number will have no operation symbol.

35 39 46 53

63 71 77 85

93 100 106 111 117 120

4 5 6

1 ____ Pets (1980s fad) 2 “Just hold on”

4 19

DOWN

9 1

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7 2

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4 8 5 8

Sunday, March 27, 2016 21

4/5/2016

Last week’s solutions:

Patrick Blindauer / Edited by Will Shortz

ACROSS 25 after a bull's1 Comment eye 27 28 9 Distress 16 When Hamlet says "Alas, poor Yorick! I 34 30 31 32 33 knew him, Horatio" 20 37 Sponsor of classic 36 radio's "Little Orphan Annie" 40 41 42 43 21 Lindbergh, e.g. 22 Japanese noodle 47 48 23 Warren Buffett's rule 49 about hugging? 54 26 Toymaker 55 Rubik56 27 Cone head? 28 60 57 58 59 Actor61Stephen 29 Like some prose 30 You are, in español 69 64 65 66 67 68 33 Math ordinal 35 Tiger Stadium sch. 72 73 74 75 38 Skyscraping 39 Encouraging words from 78 79 80 81 slug enthusiasts? 45 Word said with right or 86 87 rise 46 Nothing: Fr. 88 89 90 91 the lead 47 Grp. that gets out? 48 Bust 98 supporter 94 95 96 97 51 Fifth-to-last word in the Lord's Prayer 101 102 103 104 53 "Sharp" fashion 56 Creature on the 107 108 Australian coat of arms 57 Mozart's "___ kleine 112 113 114 115 116 Nachtmusik" 58 Tiny powerhouse 11859 Rap's Dr. ___ 60 Hayek of "Frida" 121 12262 Longtime soap actress Hall 64 Shout to one about to be knighted? 6942One sideseers of a quad, say 2009 Grammy 7 “Moments from Sight 71 of stage andas screen now” 44Milo Makes dim, the nominee with the 72 Voice from a phone 42-Down lyric “But this ain’t 8 More grounded 73 Take a clothing slogan 45too Fifth-century pope 9 June and July SeaWorld, this is seriously? who wasand theXavier first 78 Like Loyola 10 Feminist issue in real as it gets” universities to be called “the the workplace Singer Carly ____ 82 Clobbers Great” 11 Israeli leaders? Jepsen 83 Fish eggs waiting in 12 Helped the cause, 84471 One + 2, in Germany Nabokov heroine “Waiting for 86 Prefix with -scope say Heart: Lat. Godot” 13 Foe of Saruman, in 87 Investment sometimes 48pronounced Sweaters,ase.g. a name Tolkien 8850Risky Layer of the 14 Hearty entree 92 Surmise 42-Down 15 Director Michael 93 Video game playing, e.g. 51 Slip (through) 96 ___ Day (Hawaiian 16 Company that 52holiday) Slips up

April 5, 2016

Sudoku - Puzzles and Games - NYTimes.com

Sudoku — Medium

Pitch Imperfect

passed Walmart in 2015 as the world’s largest retailer 17 Extends, in a way 19 Disinvites, e.g. 22 Mr. Noodle’s friend on “Sesame Street” 24 Tricky curve 31 Kapow! 32 2003 #1 hit for OutKast 33 Parts of Polynésie 34 Rig, e.g. 35 General of the Resistance in “The Force Awakens” 36 Doctrines 40 Awesome 41 Unlikely to be talked out of

4/5/2016

Rules: Fill in the grid so that each row, column and 3x3 block contains 1-9 exactly once.

KenKen

Sudoku

ACROSS 1 ____-Town

Mockingbird” theme 10 Get heavily (into) 14 Distinctive Harry Potter feature 18 Overactors 20 Hebrew for “my Lord” 21 Period for reflection and recharging 23 With 113-Across, heard but disregarded … or a hint to interpreting the Across answers with circled letters 25 Gallant type 26 “____ Dei” (prayer) 27 Baldwin’s “30 Rock” co-star 28 Clean air org. 29 Mayan food staple 30 Browser navigation aids 31 Common query from one about to leave the house 35 The left, informally 36 Meditate (on) 37 Modern surgical aid

Thursday, April 7 11

55 Duke Ellington’s

“All ____ Soon” 56 Sacha Baron Cohen persona 58 Aphorisms 60 El ____ Real 61 Symbols on old manuscripts 63 Not for prudes 64 Energy field, of sorts 65 Tennyson work 67 Jabber 69 Post-menorahlighting treats 72 Branded 74 Impeccably 76 “Rumor has it …” 78 Oscar ____, star of “Inside Llewyn Davis”

SEAL Team 6 mission Chinese calendar animal Tulle, to brides? Carriage Dundee turndown Messenger of biochemistry French38 film director Clair Gray matter? Have in view 45 ___-d'Oise (French department) 50 51 52 "American Greed" channel "After all that hard work, I'll order some cake"? Latin word on the back of a dollar bill Compact 70 People holding things up Bellyache Antarctic waters "Perfecto!"

97 99 100 29 104 105 106 107 108 110 44 112 115 118 124 62 125 126 127 76 128 129 1 2 3 4 5 6

105

7 8 109 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 80 17 18 19 24 82 25 31 32 83 34 36 37 84 39 86 40 41 87 42 43 44

23 26

O 52

W A

Y 63

T 70

R M O

A C

100

109

21 24

N S

O M

118

108

104

W E

A Z

R M

E S

105

119 120

101

110 111

106

121

O 102

112 113 114

I 98

107

122 123

H M

H 90

E T

M U

I S

N 103

O R

115

116 117

DOWN 124 125 126 O R D O E N T E N T E I M P E D E R S Terminal in a computer 127 128 129 B E E F R O S S S E A N A I L E D I T network 3/29/2016 Sudoku - Puzzles and Games - NYTimes.com Composer Novello 92 49 What a bandoleer holds 90 Play Cylindrical pasta Sudoku — Medium March 29, 2016 91 One-named hitmaker of 50 Party with pu pu platters The matador's foe 99 52 Cotton candy additive the 1950s-'60s Peter and Francis: Abbr. 54 Mummy in "The Mummy" 92 Word with two Peg solitaire puzzle 55 Saverin who co-founded apostrophes brand 94 Leading Facebook Burden 58 95 Pasta whose name is Musical lead-in to -smith Member of Generation 110 Z 60 Like some losers Italian for "feathers" Looney Tunes devil, for 61 Up 98 Sale tag abbr. short 63 101 "Speed" star Rogers, Orbison and Possible reply to "Where 102 ___ bean Yamaguchi are you?" 119 103 Make secret 65 Magazine edition: Abbr. Confirmation, e.g. 104 "Where to Invade Next" 66 "Hey, I want to listen Thanks, in Hawaii 123 here!" filmmaker Juillet et août 108 Letters of invitation? 67 Roman gods Ibsen's homeland: Abbr. 109 1914 battle site 68 Country whose name is Hit the ground running? one letter different from a 111 Desires Indian retreats Facilities often 113 Comparable (to) mountain Hook, line and sinker 70 Gheorghe ___, former 114 Golf's Champagne Tony referred to by Game for little sluggers 116 City and province of 7'7" N.B.A. player their first letter Fan part 73 "Ooh, dat hurt!" southern Italy Huge spans 2010’s “California 117 Anatomical sac 74 1-5 on a cellphone Little darling Gurls” or 1996’s 119 screen Composer of the "Climb ___ Mountain" “Macarena” 75 Precision Windows 95 start-up Sicilian six 76 iRobot vacuum sound Goal of having Long race, in brief no 120 Some offensive linemen: 77 Cape Cod town Top-notchemails unread 79 Abbr. Cut ties with, in a way Like most trivia, in the Lake Oahe locale: 3/29/201680 Best Sudoku - Puzzles"___ and Games - NYTimes.com 121 sport!" real world Abbr. 122 New York engineering 81 Law school class Carried on Sudoku — Hard March 29, 2016 85 sch. Whom "I saw" on a Actress Blanchett Kemper of "The Office" 123 ___ Aviv seesaw, in a tongue ____ Try Viv, caretaker twister Stoned of the Fresh Prince 88 Peter Pan rival Derisive cry of Bel-Air 89 Ring master Mormons, for short

8 5 3

4 7 1

2 9 6

9 6 2

3 8 5

7 1 4

1 7 4

4/3/16

Michigan Tech Lode

2 8 6

3 9 1

7 4 5

6 2 7

5 3 8

4 1 9

89 Enter angrily 90 Glades 93 From memory 94 Former “CBS

9 2 6

8 5 3

1 4 3

9 7 5

8 6 9

1 3 2

2 5 7

5 9 4

7 1 2

6 3 8

6 4 8

3 8 1

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5 2 7

2 1 6

3 8 4

5 7 9

4 7 3

9 2 5

1 8 6

5 8 9

http://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/sudoku/medium Evening News” anchor 95 Outback maker 97 Loom 98 “Scram!” 99 Looks out for? 101 Dialogue 102 Calc figures 103 “And I ____ …” 104 Accustomed 105 “Were ____ hazard a guess …” 110 Lover of Aphrodite 112 Farm female 114 Brace 115 Laugh half 116 “Lux” composer

6 1 7

8 3 4

1 9 2

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5 7 3

7 9 5

3 6 8

1 5 2

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4 5 9

7 6 8

2 3 1

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1/1

2 1 3

4 9 8

7 2 1

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8 6 5

Sudoku - Puzzles and Games - NYTimes.com

Sudoku — Hard

April 5, 2016

7 3 1

9 2

3 1 8 7

7 4

http://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/sudoku/hard

4 2

6 5

Check us out on: Facebook & Twitter

1/1

Thursday, April 7

Debate:

OPINION

Michigan Tech Lode

Is Governor Rick Snyder responsible for poisoning Flint’s Water Supply?

Pro: Phillip Bourgeois Lode Writer

Con: Michael Rader Lode Writer

OPENING STATEMENT

ROUND 1

The Flint water crisis is arguably the biggest water crises to have happened in the past decade. The incident started when lead from aging pipes leached into the water supply after Flint changed its water source from Detroit city water to the Flint River. In Flint, between 6,000 and 12,000 children have been exposed to drinking water with high levels of lead and they may experience a range of serious health problems. Clearly, there the consequences are dire but should the Governor of Michigan take responsibility for all this?

Of course in any level of government the head figure is usually the first to be blamed, such as the president, the local city mayor or in this case the state governor. Most of these times the blame goes to the head because it is too soon to know who to blame, but in this case, it is as clear as water (minus Flint water) that it is his fault. The first thing to do in any situation is to realize there is a problem. There are reports that Rick Snyder, and his assistants, were informed of the potent drinking water, but did not declare a state of emergency until the situation became national news. While the citizens were told by the Department of Environmental Quality that the water was fine, the DEQ did what was right and argued with state officials about the poor quality of the water. Six months went by where Snyder’s administration fought the DEQ in saying it was fine, using 25-year-old water treatment documents to support their claim.

ROUND 3

In addition to knowledge of the plan to switch to the Flint River for the primary source of water, Howard Croft, the former Director of Public Works (Retired November 2015), stated in an interview with the ACLU that the switch was purely a financial decision. Croft also stated that the decision had gone all the way up through the government, and when specifically asked by the ACLU if it had been to the governor’s office, Croft stated yes. So to recap, Governor Snyder appointed a group of people that could overrule the locals who were opposed to the switch, he approved the switch, and then in an attempt to cover himself, he began an investigation. The Flint Water Advisory Task Force, appointed by Snyder, found that the DEQ was responsible. If the DEQ were the people who were saying “no”, then how are they to blame? This is the equivalent of a person on trial being their own judge, jury, and executioner… of course he will be innocent.

The DEQ is not to shoulder all the blame. Though they had the authority to enforce federal law, it was Ed Kurtz, the emergency manager of Flint, who made the decision to switch to river water to cut the city’s budget. He made that decision even given warnings from the engineers who tested the water. Snyder may have appointed him, but he is not directly responsible for Kurtz’s actions, thus he should not take the blame for Kurtz’s failures. Furthermore, Snyder had to appoint the city an emergency manager due to low revenue and a budget deficit. If he had not, the city could have gone bankrupt; something had to be done. Due to the shrinking wages of the lower-middle and middle class workers in Flint, the city simply did not have the tax revenue to run effectively. Was Snyder to sit by, and let a former Michigan auto industry powerhouse fall dead?

ROUND 2

In Snyder’s first year, he threw tax cuts left and right like they were peanuts at a baseball game. It then came to bite him in the back when the budget was running low. Now when Snyder was handed the budget issue, he appointed both Ed Kurtz and Darnell Easley, and as governor appointed emergency managers; they overruled the locals, a back door that Snyder found out about. When appointing the emergency managers, in court statements from Ambrose, it was in agreeance with locals that while the switch would save money, the water was not suitable for consumption. When appointing Kurtz and Easley, Snyder knew that the plan was to switch, and they would be able to overpower the locals, in order to get the switch done.

While Snyder is certainly taking most of the heat for this screw-up, he only delayed fixing the problem that the DEQ caused. Snyder did not cause Flint’s lead problem any more than he caused the city to run out of money. America’s aging water infrastructure is a problem, and the DEQ knew about it, but because of lack of enforcement from the EPA, they worked tirelessly to shut down and discredit engineers’ warnings about unsafe water. “Neither the Governor nor the Governor’s office took steps to reverse poor decisions by MDEQ... in spite of mounting problems… because of continued reassurances from MDEQ that the water was safe,” read the executive summary of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force’s final report. The blame lies not on the governor who was lied to by his staff, but on the DEQ officials who not only ignored the concerns of experts, but actively worked to silence them.

The cycle of devolution of power in Michigan reaches back to the days of the roaring auto industry. The state government has long given more power to companies and cities than it has kept for itself. Unfortunately, this causes cities to have to compete for lower taxes and higher population. And when, inevitably, the auto industry and mass suburbanization exiled the rich(er) from Flint, they were left with a poorer population and less tax revenue. Still, while the auto industry kept going, Flint had some revenue source. When it cracked and had to be bailed out by the government, they lost their income. Snyder went in against impossible odds, and was blamed when he didn’t come out on top.

Michigan Tech Lode

OPINION

Stop, meditate and listen James Wood Lode Writer

Statistics also support the claim that meditation is key to living a better life for any skeptics out there. According to a plethora of studies conducted over the past century, the consensus is that meditation improves overall health, both mental and physical, and can even extend one’s life by over a decade. The best part about meditation is that literally anyone can do it. It’s possibly the easiest thing in the world to do. It’s not without its drawbacks though. If one successfully meditates, then one wouldn’t be able to say things like “the stress is real” on a regular basis. Nor would they be able to stay awake at night with a blank, zombie-like stare fixed on their newsfeed. Possibly the worst of all, one wouldn’t be able to bond with similarly exhausted friends over how exhausted everyone is. Alas, life is not without its tradeoffs. To be miserable with company, or to not be miserable and not be with miserable company. It’s not an easy decision by any means, perhaps one could meditate on the situation and then decide.

Does college make us overeat? Aditya Joshi Lode Writer Most universities today require all freshmen to live in the residence halls for a year or two. This requirement brings along the issue of food which, in most cases, is provided by the dining hall. The infamous “Freshman 15”: the gain of approximately 15 pounds (or more, which happens most of the time) usually happens during the first year or two of college. Have we ever thought about what contributes to the fact that, in the first two years, most of us gain weight? One need to consider the unlimited plans in the dining halls. I had the same experience in my first year when I gained 20 pounds since I lost the fine line between “enough food on my tray” versus “my capacity to ingest food.” I think dining halls have become hubs that promote obesity instead of substitutes to home food. Unlimited plans unknowingly promote obesity since we lose track of the food we should limit ourselves to. Given the options provided, I accept it’s hard to stop yourself from trying out everything available. I’m sure all of us have experienced it as we go to a college where it’s required to live in the residence halls the first year or two. This is beginning to become a first world problem in places like the U.S.,

U.K., Australia and New Zealand where freedom to choose has disadvantaged rather than advantaged due to the dining halls being designed in a buffet style atmosphere. Research has shown that more than 60 percent of college students today commonly ingest sugary and fatty foods like chocolates and chips over fruits and vegetables. Presently, sugar accounts for 20 percent of an American youth’s diet which equates to 90 pounds of sugar per person per year. I believe dining halls are somewhat responsible for these terrifying figures in an indirect way. Dining halls introduce newer and more appealing options almost every year to catch the students’ eye, but in doing that they are indirectly promoting obesity, one of the most haunting problems in America which promotes many health problems. Dining halls today should go trayless; that might limit their customers in the amount of food they are able to carry and hence decrease overeating. The idea for going for a second round of food is usually dropped due one reason or another like laziness, exhaustion after the tiresome day at school, time limitations and so on. On our campus, McNair hall and Douglas-Houghton hall have already used this strategy and have been successful so far in the amount of food wastage recorded after going trayless and the amount of food being consumed has been decreased. This

strategy has not only helped the students but also the dining halls. Labeling all the foods with the amount of possible calories in each serving could help the students understand what they should consume and what they should limit themselves to. This might be a successful step towards sustainable development in the teenagers and young adults who might start calculating their calorie consumption. In my opinion, this strategy should be mandated by the government to promote healthy living in its budding successors to secure the nation’s future. I know as college students we always have time limitations and need to be well organized to be successful, but we shouldn’t ignore the nutrition requirements of our body. We need to try to eat a well-balanced diet which also includes fruits and vegetables as well as as keep food a well-organized priority just like academics. If our body doesn’t get what it needs most, it might just refuse to help us reach our goals which could negatively affect our chances of getting a good education and better future which is the reason we attend college today. We should all prioritize and organize what we eat and try not to overdo it.

Kassia Prystalski

LODE

ing

ZONE

The world is figuratively at our fingertips; news from around the globe is constantly being updated, friends are uploading photos and sharing posts on social media and Netflix and YouTube are always annoyingly available. There is a catch to this overly-connected life though: it never stops. Not for your lunchtime, not for your bed time, not for your exams, not even for your BMs! Humans can only take so much information before they need to wind down and refresh. Some people work well under stress, according to them, but that doesn’t make sense when you think about it. How can one possibly be more focused when their mind is in disarray than when their mind is at peace? Rather than thinking about how ridiculous that is, one would probably just drink more coffee and get back to cramming or whatever. Which presents the problem: people spend so much time stressing

about how much they have to do that they don’t think about what they should do, or the best way to do it. The solution to this problem lies in meditation. Meditation is essentially clearing the mind. Not letting the mind wander, but attaching it to a void and gently keeping it there for a while. It’s a true “hakuna matata” concept. No worries, no thoughts, no stress. The meditation itself isn’t productive of course, but it only takes a few minutes and a rejuvenated mind will have answers to the problems of the overloaded mind. It’s like napping without losing consciousness. It’s like being back in kindergarten when mandatory naps on the cityscape rug were commonplace. Don’t take my word for it, the next time you’re waiting for your lazy group members to show up for the study session you all agreed would start 10 minutes ago, instead of frantically texting them and tapping your foot impatiently just let the problems of life slip away. Wave goodbye to them pleasantly as they pass out of conscious thought.

Thursday, April 7 13

The women that I’ve met on campus are INCREDIBLY involved, in much higher percents than the men I’ve met on campus. I’m really obviously looking at a skewed sample, partially because I interact with fewer women than men on campus. Honestly, I’d love it if someone would respond to this and tell me any theories they have to explain this difference. Let’s start with me: I’m currently very involved with the newspaper, I’m a team leader in Advanced Metalworks Enterprise, I’ve got an on-campus and an off-campus job and I’m in some other clubs that I’m not nearly as involved with as I would like to be. For example, last weekend I had a team meeting for enterprise, and for some reason or another, I pulled up my calendar, and my male teammate said that looking at my calendar made him feel overwhelmed to just imagine. My female teammate seemed to think that my schedule was fairly normal. Another one of my friends was mentioning some of the ogranizations that she’s an active member of today, and our other friend seemed rather shocked at the staggering amount of time that that must take. Those are not the only examples, and it’s not that I think all women are overacheivers or that all men are lazy slackers, but I wonder why this sort of thing keeps coming up. One theory I have is that going to an engineering school (in the UP especially, maybe) leads to a self-selecting group of women who are already the type of people who have worked really hard to get where they are, or they have a vested interest in proving themselves. I know it’s kind of talked about a lot, and it’s changing every day, but a lot of us have been told that engineering isn’t really for women, or that women are less good at math. Perhaps being an engineer is a less daunting task for men, so they don’t self-select along the same lines. Another theory I have is just that the women I’ve come across are in many of the clubs that I’m in, and there are so many men around that I’m just comparing a small number of women to a large number of men, and this is just happenstance. Have any of you noticed this? I think it’s very interesting, and I’d love to hear your opinions on it.

Thursday, April 7

OPINION

Michigan Tech Lode

The inability to teach Daniel LaCroix Copy Editor

The professor I have for a class makes a huge difference in the difficulty of the class, and in whether or not I like the material. Having a professor that is enthusiastic about the subject and explains it well can make classes easier and more enjoyable. Conversely, having a professor that can’t teach well forces me to learn the material on my own, placing an undue burden on me. Lamentably, my experience has indicated that a disproportionate number of professors here at Michigan Tech fall into the category of “unable to teach”. I don’t want to focus too much on the personality and behavior of professors; while having a perpetually cranky professor can make a class unpleasant, it does not always affect the quality of the teaching. Instead, I want to focus on professors’ lack of qualifications to teach. Professors are often very well qualified in their field of study, but excelling in a technical field does not mean that they are able to explain the material to students. As a result, I often find myself leaving classes just as unsure of the material as when I went in. And this is the case when the professor does know what they’re talking about. It’s more rare, but there

are instructors who don’t seem to know what they’re doing. In one of my classes, the instructor—somebody who possesses a doctorate in his field—needed help figuring out a problem. When students explained the solution, he responded, “Can somebody explain that again? I’m still not convinced.” This wasn’t the first time he needed help, and I doubt it will be the last. If the one who is supposed to teach me the material does not even understand it himself, how I am supposed to be able to learn it? In order to do well in my classes, I must then rely almost totally on the book and other resources to learn. I know that college level classes require a significant effort on my part, but I should not be figuring it out all alone. As I think about my professors this semester, I would say that half of them are poor professors. One of them teaches almost exclusively off of PowerPoint slides which are in turn almost exclusively from the book; another spends almost no time teaching and justs asks students what they want to see examples of. Neither of these techniques works very well. The material must be taught, and in technical classes there must be examples of how to apply the material as well. While professors can be hit-or-miss in class, I have found that almost all of them are very helpful in office hours. This has made my life easier in some classes, but

has made it more complicated in others. In some classes, going to office hours is almost mandatory. Professors’ willingness to help is encouraging, but I believe that I should be able to learn the material in class, without relying on weekly office visits.

As much as I would like to lay the blame on professors for not teaching well, I think it’s unfair to expect them to know how to teach well without any help. I do think that the university should provide the resources and the professors should invest the time in learning to teach. The impression I have gotten from my professors in class, and especially in their office hours, is that they are more than

willing to help and want the students to learn. If they are so interested in our learning, then it would make sense for them to put more effort into learning to teach. The William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning provides resources for professors to learn to teach better, but either it’s not making a big effect on the professors, or the teaching would be truly abysmal without it. One of my best instructors at Tech was a graduate student who had previously been a high school teacher. He certainly wasn’t perfect, but the fact that he had actually learned how to teach made a big difference in his teaching. He explained the material very clearly, and I felt that I actually learned and understood the material, instead of just figuring out enough to pass the exams. This kind of instructor is what Tech should provide for every class. Each class I take at Tech costs about $1200. For that amount of money, I believe that the university should be able to provide professors capable of teaching. Having professors who are well qualified and conduct new research is important, but the primary function of the university is to educate students, not to pay for professors’ research at students’ expense. Don’t settle for inadequate professors; you’re the one paying their salary, after all.

class assigned to their desired major, hopefulness was in their voice when asked what they study, responding, “Well right now gen eds, but next year I’ll start my major in psychology.” It was if they were not sure if their dreams had come true of their college choices, because they are in college and still aren’t studying what they want. Here at Tech when students are asked their course of study, it is “I am in biomedical engineering.” The pride is evident, and their transcript is proof that they are achieving what they are paying so much for. Another benefit, and one that serves a few purposes, is classes within the major can be taught early on in the education path. This not only provides the student with interesting courses to start off college with, but also the opportunity for the student to test out the major. Many

students come into college not entirely knowing what classes are included in their degree, and by having classes early on, it is a great way for students to “test out” their degree before it becomes a waste of money and credits to change majors. By having a specific major in the first year, it is also accompanied by a specific advisor. These major specific advisors will be a lot more helpful, especially in the first year, because this is the year that all the questions come up, and it is essential to establish a good academic base for the years to come, and who else better to know that than the academic advisor. Of course this requires the advisor to keep track of more students, possibly taking away from the students who are graduating, but again, that is their job. However, this also brings the stress

during registration time for first year students who want to change majors or are contemplating it. Such students encounter major restrictions for classes that may interest them. With this comes emailing the advisor asking for an exemption so they can get into the class, or the student having to change their entire major so they can try out a class. Either way it would not be as simple as just being told to take a math class, a science class and some other general education class. In the end a college degree will come, and fingers crossed, knock on wood, everyone can walk out of college knowing that the 100,000 dollar investment in themselves was worth it. Even with choosing a college, a major and possibly a minor all before getting through the dorm room door, it could be worse. It could be Northern.

“I know that college level classes require a significant effort on my part, but I should not be figuring it out alone.”

A “major” decision Phillip Bourgeois Lode Writer

With class registration in season, and hopefully over with for the most of the students, it is hopefully, ended with X’s in the major’s flowchart. When people ask college students what they study, and they answer with electrical engineer, or teacher, or doctor, it is accompanied with a great sense of pride. By having the desired major choice printed on the transcript, and just as official as when it will be on a degree, colleges like Tech that make their students choose a major during their first year give the students the pride they need for their first year of college. Talking with students from other colleges that do not have a freshman

SPORTS

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Thursday, April 7 15

# the By

s r e b m nu

Cost of admission to the Annual Football Spring Game on April 16 in dollars, euros, pesos, yen, etc.

Home games lost by the Tech Football team last season.

Place earned by the Men’s Track team at the Viking Olympics last weekend.

Years that Dave Houston’s Tech record on the long jump stood until Nate Hood’s standout performance last weekend.

Tech hockey players who earned All-WHCA recognition this season.

Days until the Keweenaw Roller Girls take on the Midstate Sisters of Skate at the Houghton County Arena.

Michigan Tech Track and Field teams

Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech Athletics

Track teams battle tough conditions at Viking Olympics University Athletics Press Release The Michigan Tech track and field teams had a strong showing at the Viking Olympics despite challenging conditions this weekend (April 2-3), highlighted by a school record and numerous first-place finishes. On the men’s side, Nate Hood knocked off a 35-year Tech record by clearing 236.5, beating the previous mark of 23-6 set by Dave Houston in 1981. Tech dominated the 5,000-meter run, with Grant Brown (15:29.57), Daniel Kulas (15:41.41), Ryan Mattson (16:04.25) and Marcus Shamberg (16:19.57) all placing in the top-five at the event. Isaac Pringle won the 400-meter with a time of 49.84, finishing just ahead of teammate Jevon Maddox (49.88). Jason Saliga notched a 9:40.34 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to win the race

by nearly 20 seconds. The javelin duo of Matthew Palo and Casey Buckner finished first and second in the event, respectively. Palo registered a throw of 47.93 meters and Buckner’s best toss checked in at 45.34 meters. Jake Jurkowski earned the highest collegiate mark in the pole vault with a 4.45. Michigan Tech saw a pair of athletes earn top-three finishes in the decathlon, with Zach Klassen coming in second with 5,761 points while Brett Cousino placed third with 5,680 points. The Huskies also won the 4x800 relay with a time of 8:34.34. On the women’s side, Jamie Dompier won another 200-meter race with a time of 25.53. Liz Bloch took home a victory in the 1,500-meter competition by running the race in 4:59.30. Bloch also placed well in the 800-meter, finishing second with a time of 2:25.62. Ashley Veale earned a win in the

400-meter hurdles by posting a time of 1:06.34. In the heptathlon, Ashley Berton claimed first place after winning 4-of-7 events for an overall score of 3,890. Overall, the men’s team finished second out of four teams and the women’s group placed fourth out of six competing schools. “There are a lot of positives that we can take out of this weekend,” said Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller. “I was happy with how we competed and to have a school record fall and see numerous other strong showings is a real credit to the athletes. The conditions were very windy but we battled through it and worked extremely hard. This is another positive step for us as we continue to prepare for some of our big races later in the season” Michigan Tech returns to competition on April 9 when it travels to Collegeville, Minn., for the CSB-SJU Invitational.

US success in Formula One Tasauf Torzo Lode Writer From humble origins, Formula One racing was born, and over the years, it has grown to be one of the most popular sports in the world. It appeals to millions of fans, attracts a huge sponsorship and delivers champions who are as revered as Olympic medalists. Why? Because Formula One racing satisfies our fundamental need t o push technology to its limits and to enjoy, even if vicariously, the thrill

and excitement of high-speed travel. The U.S.-based teams who were not at at all noticeable in earlier Grand Prix tournaments (the Formula One World Championship is called the Grand Prix), have shown some phenomenal improvements in the Grand Prix this season. Haas is the name of the U.S. based team from Kannapolis, North Carolina, which takes part in the Grand Prix. Leaving behind the headlines of the new Formula One season, which stages its second race at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, the first American team in the series in

30 years had an unexpectedly successful debut, but one that is shrouded in controversy. Driving for the Haas team based in Kannapolis, Romain Grosjean finished sixth in the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago, scoring eight points. It was the first time a new team had scored points in its first race since Toyota entered the series in 2002. The controversy stems from concern among some of the other teams about Continued on page 19

Thursday, April 7

SPORTS

Intermural Men’s Rugby Team Davy McLeod Lode Writer Michigan Tech’s men’s rugby team has been hard at work without much support, and like some perpetual motion machine it keeps going and going unaided by others. Made up of about 20 players, they practice their sport dutifully in the SDC late nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They warmed up by passing the ball in a circle, quickly pitching it underhand to one another. Next they jogged around the gymnasium, exchanging the ball back and forth as they went and having the last person sprint to the front of the pack. They had complex passing drills involving many moving parts. After stretching out as a group, they began practicing fundamentals. One way they reinforced passing technique is with something they called the “goalie game,” which forces the carrier to stand still and look for open teammates rather than run to evade defenders. The difficulty is that one can only pass underhand, so outsmarting the defender becomes a game of cat and mouse. Every time the ball was dropped, the player that picked it up tapped it with their foot, an interesting loophole that exists in the real sport as well; a player can kick the ball to themselves entering the game. The second drill pitted three offenders against two defenders. The offenders receive a kick then return it across the court. Teammate awareness and communication becomes an obvious key to success, since the ball carrier usually must pass backwards without looking. They play wrap up, and different styles emerge. Some use their size to their advantage, whether that’s by using larger stature as defense, or lower weight for speed. Aaron Scheetz, the vice president of the team, has been playing for two years and despite not being the biggest player, he makes up for it with speed and cunning. Seamus Crame, one of the team captains, ran the following drills and lectured a bit between bouts. Crame played rugby all through high school and naturally played at Tech. “It’s great,” he said, smiling. “Definitely my favorite sport.” He instructed the team on the next drill, which started by throwing the ball to a player who is lifted by two others. This is how actual games start, so it’s important to practice. Then began a cycle of forming squads at one end of the court followed by passing the ball along to the other

to repeat. These squads are referred to as pods. “Pods are for gaining a little yardage at a time,” explained Derrick Smith, another captain. “Good for charging forward with the ball.” The pods form up with one player over the ball on the ground, then abruptly

“It’s great, definitely my favorite sport.” -Seamus Crame shovel the ball out to a standing layer to be moved. Without an official coach, the captains take up a lot of the responsibilities required for running a sports team. They manage the team well though, with the right mixture of

discipline and light-heartedness. Crame and another player played offense against the others, to teach the team about lane-watching on defense and calling out the ball. The wall of defenders had to keep their eyes forward at Crame’s insistence, even though there were only two offenders to keep an eye on. Lastly, the team did a final passing drill with conditioning and stretched out as a cooldown. They huddled up at the stroke of midnight and broke, sounding off together. They are a familiar group, and spend most weekends travelling to parts of Wisconsin to compete. Currently, they’re preparing for an enormous tournament taking place in Wayne, Nebraska called Battle on the Nebraskan Prairie. There are 80 teams that attend this tournament, from all parts of the United States and all experience levels, and it will be a test for the Tech Rugby team unlike any other.

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Sidelines This weekend in national sports news has been dominated by NCAA March Madness results. In all the coverage, there was one story that really spoke to me. Rebecca Gentry, an Indiana highschooler, didn’t predict Northern Iowa over Texas, Hawaii over California, or North Carolina over Syracuse. But she did make every single other pick. When interviewed for NCAA’s Bracket Beat, she said, among other things, “I’m not really a sports person, I think I might have went to [a basketball game] in middle school, if that counts,” and, “I thought they just kind of played basketball.” The hero I didn’t even know that I needed. The odds of creating a perfect bracket using only a nicely flippable coin is about one in 9.2 quintillion. An informed mathematician, able to complement their coin with win percentages, seeding information and so on, has a chance estimated by the Wall Street Journal at about one in 772 billion. In case anyone is wondering, there are quite a few things that are less likely than that. For instance, if you selected three random students on Michigan Tech’s campus and happened to come up with the Paladin, Magus and Psychic in my Friday night D&D group, and then managed to roll maximum damage on the Paladin’s greatsword, you’d be just about there. Or let’s say you need to get an A on your math final in order to pass the class. If your failure to study is so complete that you are reduced to random guessing and the final consists of 21 multiple choice questions, you’re still about three times more likely to move on to the next class than to fill out a perfect bracket, even taking advantage of all the math skills you apparently lack. But Gentry’s story gives us hope. Even when the odds against us are astronomical, even when we have absolutely no useful skills or experience, blind luck can still come through for us. So go for it. Apply for that dream job. Guess how many beans are in the jar. Show up for your exam. That said, you should have a backup plan. Apply for a range of jobs. Bribe the guy at the stand. Study for your exam. The odds aren’t in your favor. 318 million monkeys on 318 million brackets still aren’t anything close to likely to come up with a perfect bracket. But sometimes, sometimes, we can come close.

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SPORTS

Thursday, April 7 17

An American guide to cricket Utkarsh Mishra Lode Writer

Over the past few days, you might have heard the word cricket in some form, either from your friends or from the social media or in the news. Yes you heard it right, a hype of cricket is going on in the entire world because there is a Cricket World Cup going on in India. Wait, a

them off, the batter is out. Instead of four bases, cricket has just two wickets. The batsman’s other goal is hitting the ball into the field, which allows him and the other batsman (there are two at any given time) to score runs by running back and forth between the wickets until the ball is returned. There’s no foul territory: the batsman can hit the ball in any direction. If it goes past the boundary, he automatically gets four runs (if it bounced over) or six runs (if it flew over). There

(pitch). In terms of protection cricketers use a lot of things such as pads, gloves, helmet, elbow guard, thigh guard, a chest guard, etc. The reason behind using this much equipment is the unpredictability of ball placement; the bowler can bowl a bouncer or a Yorker or a beamer that can result in severe injuries. In baseball the placement of ball is quite predictable and the ball doesn’t bounce back from ground, so not as much equipment is used in it. The use of such equipment

While cricket may look like baseball to the untrained eye, it is a much longer game that involves much different strategy. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia,

World Cup? How many countries even play this game? Well the answer is “a lot”. Cricket is the second most popular game in the entire world with an estimated fan following of 3 billion people, just a half billion less than football (or soccer). So how does cricket work? Cricket is a game that seems a bit like baseball to people here in America, but it is far more than that. Cricket involves much more technique, strategy and most importantly time than any baseball game. Baseball and cricket are two well-known members of the “bat and ball” family of games. While the basic principle is the same, the two games differ in their rules, terminology, playing equipment, number of players and field size. The pitcher (called a bowler) sends the ball bouncing off the ground, rather than directly through the air. When it gets to the batter (called a batsman), his primary goal is blocking it from hitting a set of three stumps stuck in the ground behind him, called a wicket. These stumps (roughly analogous to home plate) have a pair of small sticks (called bails) balancing on top of them, and if the ball knocks

are no strikes, and the batsman doesn’t have to run after hitting the ball. In the form of cricket played in the World Cup, each batsman gets one atbat per game, but the at-bat can last a really long time — it goes until he gets out, either by hitting a ball up into the air that gets caught, or getting caught running between the wickets, or by allowing the ball to hit the wicket behind him, or by blocking a ball with his body that the umpire thinks would have otherwise hit the wicket. Now let’s talk about the equipment. The equipment in baseball is more towards the simpler side whereas complications increase in cricket. Baseball uses a bat which is round like a baton whereas in cricket a round handle on top with a flat wooden bottom is used as a bat. The ball used in baseball is a mixture of cork and rubber and is thrown at the batter directly whereas in cricket the ball is made of cork and string and covered with leather; there is a seam on the cricket ball which helps the ball to spin and make it difficult for the batsmen to play after the ball bounces from the turf

makes cricket a lot harder to play than baseball.

Another massive difference in these two games is the format. Cricket is played in three different formats these days: test match (the oldest version), one day internationals and T20 whereas baseball is just played in one format which makes baseball more quick and interesting than cricket. A test match in cricket last up to five days. 90 overs are bowled in each day and an over consists of 6 deliveries each. Test cricket surely is a boring format for non-cricket enthusiasts but there are shorter formats (not really short). The one-day international game also known as ODI lasts for six hours in which each team bowls 50 overs and each over consists of six deliveries. Now comes the most entertaining and popular version, T20. A T20 match stands for a TwentyTwenty Match which lasts only three hours in which each side bowls just 20 overs and is by far the most entertaining form of the game for anyone. Isn’t cricket boring? No! This is a misconception. On the surface, cricket might seem a bit slower than baseball. Batsmen are more conservative about running, and there are few slides or close plays at the plate — they just have to run into an area, rather than tag anything. And most cricket matches are much longer. But cricket does have some fast, exciting action, if you look closely enough. It involves balls bouncing at 80 miles per hour off the pitch, batsmen reacting to their curving paths in split-second intervals, and fielders standing in the path of these rock-hard balls to make an out. Continued on page 18

Former Australian Captain Michael Clarke playing a cut shot in a match against England Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

SPORTS

Thursday, April 7

Formula One Continued from page 17 the basis on which the team owned by 63-year-old Gene Haas was founded: It is a vast outsourcing operation in a series that prides itself on having every team design and manufacture its own racing car according to complex technical regulations. Haas was created thanks to evolving regulations that have allowed a team to use an ever-increasing number of car parts that do not have to be manufactured in-house. Haas relies on the Ferrari team for most of its car’s mechanical parts—including the engine, gearbox and suspension—and on the Dallara company of Italy for most of the chassis. The approach prompted the Mercedes team to query the International Automobile Federation, the series’ governing body, last year about the legality of the close cooperation between Ferrari- Mercedes’s main competitor and Haas, notably regarding Haas’ use of Ferrari’s wind tunnel. Formula One teams are limited in the number of hours they may use the wind tunnel to develop a car’s aerodynamics, and Mercedes suspected that Ferrari could gain an advantage by developing both its own car and the Haas, which many say is merely a carbon copy of the

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Ferrari, making it a Ferrari B team. Haas scored eight points in its first race; of the three teams that joined the series in 2010, only Manor scored any points at all, finishing ninth in the Monaco Grand Prix of 2014, with its driver, Jules Bianchi, a Frenchman who later died from injuries in an accident at the Japanese Grand Prix that same year. Haas is the founder of a leading machine tools company, Haas Automation, and co-owner of a team in NASCAR called Stewart-Haas racing. His team won drivers’ titles in NASCAR in 2011 and 2014. The Formula One team is based not only next to the NASCAR team in North Carolina, but in a factory in Banbury, England, and it has design offices in Italy, to be close to both Ferrari and Dallara. Grosjean’s sixth-place finish for Haas was also helped by the spectacular crash involving his teammate, Esteban Gutiérrez, and Fernando Alonso, driving for McLaren Honda. The collision and subsequent 20-minute delay allowed Grosjean to make just a single pit stop and tire change that enabled him finish the race ahead of other drivers who had to stop more frequently, so the team remains cautious about repeating the result. The way the Haas team is improving and evolving, experts tend to believe that they will be able to make some good drivers who would lead the team from the front towards victory in the near future.

Sporting events schedule: April 9-24 Saturday, April 9

Track and Field

Tennis

Football

Keweenaw Roller Girls Roller Derby

Sunday, April 10

CSB-SJU Invitational @ Collegeville, Minn.

@ Grand Valley

Friday, April 15

Saturday April 16

Saturday, April 23

vs. Lake Superior State Gates Tennis Center 10 a.m.

@ Ferris State

@ St. Norbert Twilight

@Ferris State

Spring Game Sherman Field 1 p.m.

vs. Midstate Sisters of Skate Houghton County Arena 5 p.m

Michigan Tech Lode

SPORTS

Thursday, April 7 19

Co-curricular Spotlight: Beginning Bowling Hannah Weeks Lode Writer Michigan Tech offers a plethora of physical education courses. Included in the array of courses offered is Beginning Bowling. This class teaches the fundamental skills of bowling as well as the rules and scoring of the game. Held at the Mine Shaft, this class offers a fun way to not only get a physical education credit, but also become more familiar with the act of bowling. Students agree that not only have their bowling skills improved over the duration of this course, but they have also met a range of people who enjoy the sport as well. “Beginner’s Bowling was a nice way to start learning a little bit more than just throwing the ball down the lane. Every day that we had class we bowled two games, and everyone saw improvement in their

skills by the end of the class. It was a great way to get credits while doing something fun and entertaining,” third year engineering major Maggie Fadoir said. “Beginning Bowling was a really fun class. It was great for a beginner like me. I was able to learn the basic skills of bowling. Those skills helped me improve my

“I would definitely recommend this class to others.” -Leah Meek score by almost 100. I met some awesome people and made new friends. I would definitely recommend this class to others,” second year geological engineering major Leah Meek said. This class is held at the Mine Shaft Bowling Alley on Razorback Drive. Students

agree this class was a great way to allow them to relax off campus while still fulfilling a physical education requirement. “Beginning Bowling was a fun relaxing time and I got to know some other classmates pretty well. Overall it was always a good time,” third year Business major Shelbie Koenitzer said. “Beginning Bowling was a great break from classes. I had a great time and I’m very glad the school offers interesting physical education courses such as these,” third year Jacob Wright said regarding the course. This class will be offered next fall at various times. The class is worth 0.5 physical education credits. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the bowling alley. A continuation of this class, Intermediate Bowling, is also offered. Intermediate Bowling focuses on similar material but at a more advanced level.

Cricket for Americans

Continued from page 17

Cricket also involves a lot more scoring than baseball — in World Cup matches, teams often score 200 runs or more — and a lot of intricate strategy. Because they use a broader, flatter bat than baseball players, batsmen can use different types of shots to put the ball in different areas of the field, prompting different fielding alignments. Teams play with a certain target score in mind, and have to decide what sorts of risks (in terms of batting, running and potentially sacrificing certain players) in order reach it. Like any sport, it takes a bit of time to appreciate the nuances of cricket and truly enjoy it. But hundreds of millions of people love it for a good reason. By the time I wrote this article West Indies already lifted the T20 World Cup 2016 by defeating England in final in the most dramatic match of this world cup. This was the second T20 World Cup for West Indies, the next big upcoming cricket tournament is the Indian76130 Premier League starting on April 9.

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Upcoming

Events april 7 - april 13 Tech Theatre Presents The Winter’s Tale

Thursday, April 7 - 10 7:30 p.m. Rosza Center

Published in 1623, The Winter’s Tale is one of Shakespeare’s later plays. Considered a comedy, it is also sometimes labled one of the Bard’s late romances.

LISTEN LIVE: SWS/Campus Concert Band Pageantry

Saturday, April 9 7 p.m. online

LISTEN LIVE and for free using only your web browser. Tune in to VPA LIVE to hear the performance.

Superior Wind Symphony/Campus Concert Band: Pageantry

Saturday, April 9 7:30 - 10 p.m. McArdle Theatre

The Superior Wind Symphony presents music made to accompany royal celebrations! Persichetti: Pageant, Brookmeyer: Ceremony, Hanson: Dies Natalis

Come Dance with NOSOTROS

Saturday, April 9

8 - 11:45 p.m. MUB

Enjoy dancing with your friends at the MUB Ballroom. It is absolutely FREE and FUN! So, bring all your friends along. All are welcome! 8-9 pm salsa lessons, 9-11 pm open floor.

Coffee Chat: Writing Good Letters of Recommendation

Tuesday, April 12 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, from 3:30-4:30 pm mtu.libcal.com/event/2355771

Place your ad here! Special rates on events page advertising. Contact us at lodeads@mtu.edu or for more information call:

(906) 487-2404.