A cappella groups star in contest Larry Albert, tattoo artist at The Gallery Fine Arts & Tattoo Erin Hampton/The State News
statenews.com | 1/27/14 | @thesnews Michigan State University’s independent voice gove rn m e nt
Proposal could appropriate 50K work visas to immigrants
Tattoo artists auction art for charity campus+city, PAGE 3
MSU singers win competition features, pg. 5
BLACK & BLUE
Losing their drive Gymnastics team falls to Nittany Lions Freshman gymnast Holly Ryan Casey Hull/The State News
sports, pg. 6
Injuries, absence of several key Spartans contribute to devastating loss against U-M
By Michael Kransz mkransz@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
G o v. R i c k S n y d e r announced a proposal Thursday to revitalize Detroit by appropriating 50,000 work visas for skilled immigrants willing to work in the city. The visas would be doled out over five years, with an intended effect of reversing Detroit’s slumping economy and shrinking population, Snyder said in a statement. Immigrants who receive the proposed employment-based visas would be required to reside and work in Detroit. I m m ig r a nt s t a r ge te d by the proposal are those with “advanced academic degrees, or those with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business,” according to the statement. The qualifications are flexible, because each candidate is unique, Snyder spokesman Dave Murray said. More than 25,500 international students attend universities and colleges in Michigan, and they add more than $750 million to the state’s economy, Snyder said. Eight y-t wo percent of these students working in the U.S. after graduation earned advanced degrees, he added. But to many of MSU’s international residents, a bigger issue than staying in the U.S. is to find a job in the first place and to have the required skills necessary for the position. “With a work visa, (it’s) very difficult,” MSU Fulbright scholar Ahmed Alsuleimani said. A lsuleimani said he’s c omplet i ng a m a s te r ’s degree before he decides where to go and what to do. He said obtaining a visa through a government-sponsored program, such as Fulbright, seemed much easier than the prospect of acquiring a work visa. Mec ha n ica l eng i neering senior and international student Zhenyu Chen said he plans to stay in the U.S. after graduation, but is unsure whether to work or go to graduate school. Chen said some employers would rather hire a U.S. citizen than enter into visa procedures to hire a resident of a foreign country. Chen said Snyder’s proposal helps him consider Detroit as a place of residence, but his ultimate decision depends on the job. Office for International Students and Scholars
See SNYDER on page 2 u
Senior guard Keith Appling trips over Michigan guard Spike Albrecht on Saturday at Breslin Center. The Spartans lost to the Wolverines, 80-75. photos by Danyelle Morrow/The State News
By Zach Smith zsmith@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
K
eith Appling is tough, but he’s not Superman.
The senior guard fought his way through 37 minutes in the No. 3 MSU men’s basketball team’s 80-75 loss to arch rival Michigan Saturday night. “You wanted a rivalry and you wanted two good teams, so I guess you MSU 75 got what you U-M 80 were asking for,” head coach Tom Izzo said. “Don’t
basketball reporter
Matt Sheehan msheehan@statenews.com
Izzo right to be proud of MSU players
take anything away from them. They made some good shots. We had our chance.” The Spartans had a sixpoint lead at the half, but the Wolverines fought back by hitting 50 percent of their shots in the second half. They went 25-30 from the free throw line to seal the deal. Nik Stauskas scored 19 points for U-M, including going 5-of-6 from three-point land. Freshman Derrick Walton Jr. also added 19 for the Wolverines after going 9-of-10 from the charity stripe down the stretch. Sophomore guard Gary Harris kept MSU in the game with a career-high
27 points, while freshman guard Alvin Ellis also set a new personal best with 12 points of his own. Appling finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and dishing out 10 assists. Still, MSU wasn’t at 100 percent. The Spartans were without senior forward Adreian Payne and junior forward Branden Dawson, both of whom have injuries keeping them out of play. Sophomore guard Travis Trice is coming back from an illness. Appling is dealing with a whole host of injuries.
See B-BALL on page 2 u
Head coach Tom Izzo talks with senior guard Keith Appling on the sidelines Saturday during the U-M game.
When MSU fans were sulking after the 80-75 loss to No. 21 Michigan, Tom Izzo took the podium to address the heartbreaking game. “In the 30 years I’ve been here, I’ve never been more proud of a team,” he said. Wait, what? MSU just dropped a game against their rival to fall behind in the Big Ten title race, and he used the word “proud?” Well, as weird as it seems to say after losing such a marquee game,
he’s right on the money. There is no question the Wolverines deserved to win Saturday’s game — they hit all the shots when they needed to in front of the delirious Breslin Center crowd. Yet at the same time, the Spartans took a few steps in the right direction without two of their biggest players. Missing two starters in Adreian Payne and Branden Dawson, Izzo was forced to play some guys who usually only see the court during warmups.
Besides Gary Harris’s 27 points and Keith Appling’s double-double, freshman guard Alvin Ellis was the bright point during a loss at the hands of the Wolverines. To be honest, Ellis looked like anything but a first-year player. The maturity he had to be aggressive with the ball in place of Dawson and a hobbled Appling was remarkable for not just a freshman, but a player who only averaged 5.7 minutes in Big Ten games prior to Saturday. Instead of being shy with
the ball, Ellis slashed to the rim and hit a 3-pointer to take a 55-54 lead late in the second half en route to scoring a career-high 12 points. Heck, “proud” probably isn’t strong enough of a word to use after a seldom-used freshman plays like that during ESPN’s game of the week. His roommate, freshman forward Gavin Schilling, also stepped his game up to score his first Big Ten points to go along with three
See IZZO on page 2 u
To watch a video analyzing Saturday’s game against the Wolverines, visit statenews.com/multimedia.
Curtis Hertel Jr. sees little opposition in local Senate election By Simon Schuster sschuster@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
The office of East Lansing’s state senator is up for grabs this November as Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, is term-limited and unable to run again. Curtis Hertel Jr., a Democrat serving as Ingham County Register of Deeds, currently is the only candidate in the running to succeed Whitmer. Hertel is actively campaigning and accruing a list
of notable endorsements, even though he is running unopposed for the time being. “In every campaign I’ve ever been part of, even when people told me that there was no way we could lose, I’ve always knocked doors and gone out and asked people for their support,” Hertel said. “I just think that’s what you do if you run for office.” The MSU alumnus entered the public sphere a year after graduating from James Madison College by unseating a Republican incum-
“In every campaign I’ve ever been part of ... I’ve always knocked doors and gone out and asked people for their support.” Curtis Hertel Jr., Michigan Senate candidate
bent for a place on the Ingham County Board of Commissioners. In 2008, he was elected to Register of Deeds and won re-election to the post in 2012. He said his experience dealing with foreclosures that hit the state during the recession
and recent legislation, such as Right to Work policies and the abortion rider voter-initiated law, sparked his desire to run for Senate. “I just see a legislature that really doesn’t care about the average person, and cares more about
special interests than they do real people,” Hertel said. Hertel comes from a family with a long history in politics. His father, Curtis Hertel Sr., held office in the Michigan House of Representatives. One uncle, Dennis Hertel, served in Congress as a sixterm representative; another held three terms in the Michigan Senate. Hertel said his father had a large influence on his decision to seek public office.
Hertel Sr. was Co-Speaker of the House from 1997 to 1998. During his tenure, the House had a rare 55-55 split between the members of each party, meaning both Democrats and Republicans had a House Speaker. The period was marked by acts of bipartisanship where Hertel Sr. forged alliances across the aisle. “I think, in general, public service is a noble calling,” Hertel said. “There’s a long history
See HERTEL on page 2 u