September 13, 2016

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NEVADA SAGEBRUSH SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO SINCE 1893

THE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS EACH

VOLUME 123, ISSUE 3

THE

NEWS in REVIEW By Madeline Purdue

HIGH LIFE

INTERNATIONAL WOMAN CHARGED IN FOILED PARIS ATTACK A woman allegedly connected to the Islamic State was charged with terrorist criminal association and attempted assassination Saturday after plotting an attack on the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. The woman’s fingerprints were found Sunday, Sept. 4, in a car filled with five full gasoline tanks parked in front of the city’s famous cathedral. Authorities did not find a detonation device in the car. The woman has been identified only as Ornella G. She is on France’s “S” list of potential terrorists. She was arrested on Tuesday, Sept. 7, in Orange, France. Three other women were arrested in connection to the plot on Thursday near Paris. One of the women had a letter in her purse swearing her allegiance to IS and Abu Mohammad alAdnani, a high-ranking official that was killed in late August. The Notre Dame cathedral receives 13 million visitors per year and is located in the heart of Paris.

NATIONAL SCHOOL BUS CRASHES AT DENVER AIRPORT, KILLS ONE, INJURES 18 A school bus crashed into a concrete pillar at the Denver International Airport Sunday, killing the driver and injuring 18 others. The bus was carrying members of a Colorado high school football team. Fifteen of the students were transported to four area hospitals and treated for nonlife-threatening injuries. Most have been released, but those with more serious injuries are still being treated. Three coaches were also injured and are being treated for injuries sustained during the crash. It is unclear what caused the crash. Denver Police Sgt. Michael W. Farr called the path the driver had taken “curious,” noting that she should not have been driving the way she was. She was on the fourth floor heading toward passenger arrivals when she crashed. The driver’s name has not been released.

LOCAL UNR FRESHMAN HOSTS 9/11 CEREMONY OUTSIDE JCSU A University of Nevada, Reno, student took matters into his own hands when he found out the university did not have a planned ceremony for the anniversary of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Danny De Lange, a freshman at UNR, and his family set up a display of American flags on the outside lawn of the Joe Crowley Student Union on Sunday honoring the men, women and children who died 15 years ago. The display read “Remember 9/11” in flags, one for every person who died in the attacks. There were also flags surrounding the words. “I see it as each one of those [flags] was a person, and each person came from a family,” De Lange told News 4 reporters Sunday. “That day, someone’s son, daughter, mother or father didn’t come home from work.” Sunday marked the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania that killed 3,000 people and injured over 6,000 more. Madeline Purdue can be reached at jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @TheSagebrush.

Nevada residents decide fate of marijuana, vote on recreational cannabis By Madeline Purdue Nevada is known for promoting activities that other states in the country consider illegal. It is the mecca for gambling, is the home to excessive partying, and the state even has legal prostitution. Yet Nevada is not the most progressive state on the West Coast — let alone the country — when it comes to marijuana use. In November, Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada are voting on legalizing recreational marijuana use. As of now, marijuana is a Schedule I drug and use is heavily restricted by the federal government. Nevada is one of 25 states to legalize medical marijuana. The bill passed by popular vote in 2000, but it wasn’t until 2013 that the state created the system and regulations necessary for businesses to sell medical can-

nabis, and in 2015 Nevada’s first dispensary opened its doors. “It is a great feeling after two and a half years to have all of our businesses open and operating,” said Demetri Kouretas, CEO of The Grove, a medical cannabis dispensary in Las Vegas and Pahrump. The Grove is not only comprised of the two dispensaries but also a state-of-the-art cultivation and production facility. Nevada also decriminalized the possession and distribution of marijuana in 2001, giving lower sentences and fines to those guilty of committing these crimes.

WHAT QUESTION 2 IS ASKING Question 2 on Nevada’s ballot this November asks, “Shall the Nevada Revised Statutes ... allow a person, 21 years old or older, to purchase, cultivate, possess, or consume a certain

amount of marijuana ... impose a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale sales of marijuana; require the regulation and licensing of marijuana cultivators, testing facilities ... and provide for certain criminal penalties?” In layperson’s terms, if this passes anyone in Nevada over the age of 21 can buy 1 ounce of marijuana, have it on them at any given time and it is not considered a crime. The initiative allows for the state to only give out a certain number of dispensary licenses per county based on its population. Dispensaries are not allowed within 1,000 feet of any K-12 school or within 300 feet of a community center. There is still a criminal charge for possessing over the legal limit, distributing marijuana to people under 21 years of age and falsely claiming to be of legal age. This initiative does not stop the ability of employers to ban employees from marijuana use or business owners from restricting it from their properties. The initiative calls for a 15 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana sales, which will be returned to the state for funding the regulatory functions of this endeavor, and any

additional funds generated will be put toward Nevada’s education system.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA’S IMPACT ON NEVADA Medical marijuana was introduced to Nevada in 2000, but it took more than a decade for it to become a reality. Democratic Nevada Sen. Tick Segerblom, a longtime crusader of the marijuana fight and the legislator who shepherded the legislation through, has seen the economic benefits the medical marijuana industry has had in Nevada. Segerblom says more than $300 billion have been invested into Nevada’s economy just to get these dispensaries up and running, while more money has been streaming in from the actual sales revenue. Dr. Sue Sisley, a nationally recognized researcher of medical cannabis with ties to dispensaries in Nevada, agreed that the industry has boosted the state’s economy. “There were blighted areas that needed to be redeveloped, and the cannabis markets are breathing new life into these centers,” Sisley said. Dispensaries have seen more than just an economic benefit when it comes to their work.

“I originally got involved in the medical marijuana business for the business aspect of it,” Kouretas said. “As time has gone on, it has become more than just a business. On the medical side of it, I have been able to gain more awareness and understanding of what medical marijuana can do for patients and how it has helped them.” Sisley sees her patients improve with the help of cannabis. She does not see as many side effects as she does with pharmaceuticals, particularly the opiates that often are prescribed for various conditions, and some of her patients have switched to only using cannabis to treat their ailments. “I’m seeing it in my practice; disabled patients start using medical cannabis and they get off welfare, start working and holding down jobs,” Sisley said.

A POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY If Question 2 passes in November, a new study finds it will have even more of a benefit to Nevada’s economy. RCG Economics and the Marijuana Policy Group released a study last week illustrating

See MARIJUANA page A2

Bodies relocated Center changes name to increase student diversity By Rachel Spacek

Reno’s oldest cemetery is set to relocate its buried bodies in order to clear the land for potential development. The owner of Hillside Cemetery posted a notice earlier this month informing the public about the plans, a move that has triggered protest from community leaders and families of cemetery residents. Hillside Cemetery sits on the western side of the University of Nevada, Reno campus, surrounded by fraternity houses and offcampus student housing. The cemetery lacks a central water system and is covered with brown weeds and bushes. Despite the cemetery’s rundown appearance, a group of community volunteers has been preserving and cleaning the cemetery for almost five years. The volunteers are organized by Fran Tryon, a retired music teacher who has researched many of the families and individuals buried in Hillside Cemetery and decided their bodies must be protected. “I just think they are going about it wrong,” Tryon said. “There is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things, and what they’re doing right now is wrong.

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They caused the upheaval by putting up the signs and I think our community should be outraged.” The volunteers recently formed a nonprofit organization in an attempt to preserve the history of the classic cemetery. Tryon said the owners of Hillside Cemetery, Sierra Memorial Gardens, have not informed the families of people buried in the cemetery of their decision. She also said the families were disturbed after they saw the sign and do not want their relatives moved. Sierra Memorial Gardens plans to move the bodies to the northern half of the cemetery in order to clear the southern half for potential development. In 2001, a law passed in Nevada saying that a cemetery owner can declare the cemetery no longer “in accordance with the health, safety, comfort or welfare of the public” and that there is not enough funding to keep up the cemetery. The law passed at the request of Sierra Memorial Gardens’ lobbyists. “The restoration of Hillside Cemetery will fulfill a vision that has been shared by the State of Nevada, institutions and individuals dating back

See CEMETERY page A2

By Madeline Purdue The Center for Student Cultural Diversity is getting a new name this semester. The Center Every Student. Every Story’s new mission is to make the space more inclusive to people from every way of life. Blane Harding, the director of the newly renamed The Center Every Student. Every Story, has wanted to change the name and direction since coming to the

“There is a need for a space where we can bring students of all different identities together. ” Blane Harding

Director, Every Student. Every Story

university in June 2015. “There is a need for a space where we can bring students of

BEST AND WORST BARS IN RENO

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all different identities together,” Harding said. The majority of the students that come into The Center are students of color, and while the University of Nevada, Reno, has over 21,000 students enrolled, only 700 of them — a little more than 3 percent — are black. Harding wants to change The Center from a cultural center to an inclusive space for people of all different backgrounds. Whether they are white, involved in Greek life or disabled, it is a place for all students to be. Cultural centers started in the 1960s as an academic center for students of color on predominantly white campuses. While Harding believes that the need for a space like that exists, he wants The Center to be more. “When students eventually graduate from this institution or any other institution in the country, they are going to be out there working with people that are different than themselves,” Harding said. “They’re going to be out there working with people that have different identities, different backgrounds, different experiences, and what a better place to make yourself comfortable with that concept than on a college campus?” To accomplish this, Harding wants to bring all students together. One way The Center does this

is by hosting Diversity Dialogues. They have occurred once a month ever since December 2015. Students gather to talk about a variety of subjects, such as diversity in the classroom and faculty, Hispanic-Serving Institution status and more. Students, staff and anyone else who wants to join in on the conversation or learn more about diversity are welcome to attend. The Center celebrates each heritage month and encourages students of other backgrounds to join. They also hold events for gay awareness and Coming Out Day. Staff can help students fill out any financial aid forms they might need help with, such as the FAFSA. They offer academic and personal advising to anyone who may need it. They also provide help to undocumented students. The Center offers Safe Zone training for anyone who wants to learn more about the LGBTQ community. Students can sign up individually, as a group or as part of their club or organization. The Center Every Student. Every Story is open on Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Madeline Purdue can be reached at jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @TheSagebrush.

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