Monday 1/30/17

State News The

WEST 2

55 (8%)

MIDW 2,381 EST (78% )

26 1 INTERNATIONAL 70 (2%)

4

1

29

1 1 7

4

Where 2015 MSU graduates ended up

14

24

3

10

13

81

0 16

2

1 36 9

26

1

64

4

26

17

17

4

1

23

53

292 44

1

54

1905

11 83

0

51 3

1

ST A HE T R %) NO 1 (4 1 13

4

9 24

2

SOUTHEAST 168 (6%)

SOUTH 49 (2%) 47

6

Where to go

AFTER GRADUATION?

Most MSU graduates stay in state after getting their degree SOURCE: MSU 2015 DESTINATION SURVEY REPORT ILLUSTRATION: MADELINE GUZZO

NEWS

S P OT L I G H T

SPORTS

MSU NOT RELEASING IMMIGRATION STATUS

“I think young people now want a more urban, walkable, vibrant downtown area.”

MSU DEFEATS U-M

After President Trump’s order, MSU is keeping with its procedures

George Lahanas, East Lansing city manager

PAGE 2

PAGES 4 AND 5

M ON DAY, JA N UA RY 30, 2 017

@THESNEWS

STAT ENEWS .COM

MSU men’s basketball defeated the University of Michigan Wolverines 70-62 at Breslin Center PAGE 3

News

Rachel Fradette Campus editor campus@statenews.com

MSU student group tutors Lansing students

BY MILA MURRAY MMURRAY@STATENEWS.COM

In the Lansing area, 20 percent of adults are functionally illiterate, according to data from a 2012 census survey gathered by thereadingpeople.org. Read to Succeed, a program run through MSU, is trying to find a way to combat the issue.

Student president of the MSU Student Literacy Corps Devin Simoncic said Read to Succeed’s mission is to recruit MSU student volunteers to tutor students in need in Lansing because they might not have access to the materials the volunteers can bring.

“The first goal is to raise awareness about the literacy rates in Michigan,” Simoncic said. “The second goal is to obviously go out there and try to do whatever we can to get these students comfortable with reading and writing, to get them enjoying it and overall to help them in their success.”

The students receive a test in the beginning of the semester that measures their literacy rate and reading level. At the end, they take the test again. Simoncic said the program gets great feedback and progress.

“With my last child I was working with, she did not like to write,” secondary education junior Hannah Safferman said. “But I got her writing and we wrote a really goofy story about a cow and chicken dancing in a restaurant ... she was laughing and it was really the first time she started laughing in front of me.”

The volunteers first learn how to tutor a child from a manual written by Lois Bader, the executive director of the Capital Area Literacy Coalition. After training, they are assigned to a student and help them with reading, writing and spelling twice a week. Though they typically work with elementary school students, Read to Succeed works with students of all age groups.

“One was an eighth grader and one was a ninth grader,” Simoncic said. “And every day they came in and they always wanted to do these spelling tests and try to beat each other and it was a lot of fun because they started as friends inside the program ... you could really see that they were there every time ready to

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DeWitt resident Sharon Mathews poses for a picture with human biology junior Ardwan Meshaal on Jan. 25 at Cumberland Elementary School at 2801 Cumberland Road in Lansing. Students from Read to Succeed visited Cumberland Elementary to receive training. They will each be paired with one student to tutor twice a week. Mathews is the program coordinator and Meshaal is the site supervisor.

PHOTO: JON FAMUREWA

learn. One kid had basketball every night, he came exhausted but still gave me 100 percent.”

As an education major, Safferman said she believes the program is not only valuable to her studies at MSU, but to all students of all majors who care about literacy and like working with children.

“You get to bond with a child and get to become very close to a child, which I think is very important,” Safferman said. “It makes you happy.”

MSU not releasing student immigration statuses, info

BY MADISON O’CONNOR AND RACHEL FRADETTE FEEDBACK@STATENEWS.COM

MSU will not release the immigration status of students unless compelled by law, a recent statement from the university confirmed.

The statement is in response to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on Muslim immigrants and refugees, which ends Visa issuing to migrants or visitors from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all predominantly Muslim countries — suspends the U.S. refugee resettlement program for at least 120 days and bars refugees from the United States.

“Not supplying students’ immigration status is just standard operating procedure for us at MSU,” MSU spokesperson Jason Cody said in an email. “Due to our own policies and already existing federal law, we would not provide any students’ private information, immigration status or otherwise, unless compelled by law.”

Concerns about how the ban would affect students came to light when the University of Michigan released a statement about the ban.

They stated the university will not release the immigration status of its students.

In the email, Cody said, “a group of folks from across campus” met Friday evening after monitoring the situation for a few weeks.

Cody also said MSU officials will meet this week to understand other university operations that might be impacted by the executive order.

Thus far, the university has made direct communication with students from affected countries, Cody said.

Cody said MSU’s policy of not releasing student immigration

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2 01 7

status is just the status quo for the university.

“That’s nothing new or nothing we’re doing, that’s just how we operate,” he said. Cody also said the meetings that will take place within MSU this week will be private meetings and will not be open for public comment. These meetings will include MSU employees from offices across campus, including IST, OISS, General Council and Student Services.

“You have to remember, this wasn’t a decision MSU made, this is something that was handed down that we’re reacting to.”

Jason Cody, MSU spokesperson “These are just people meeting, these are just people talking during the course of their business,” Cody said. “These are just people doing their jobs.”

It is currently unclear as to whether MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon will issue a statement regarding the recent executive order.

“You have to remember, this wasn’t a decision MSU made, this is something that was handed down that we’re reacting to,” Cody said. “So I would encourage any member of the community who has concerns to express those to their lawmakers, to their legislators.”

Stay with The State News as we update MSU’s handling of President Trump’s executive order.

Contents

Cameron Macko Managing editor cmacko@statenews.com

MSU men’s basketball defeats U-M 70-62 at home, breaks losing streak

BY CONNOR CLARK CCLARK@STATENEWS.COM

Technical fouls, blood drawn and words exchanged, all important ingredients for a rivalry game. Led by the freshman class, MSU men’s basketball (13-9 overall, 5-4) shook off the three game losing streak to eek past Michigan (14-8 overall, 4-5) 70-62.

The freshman class received their first invite to play in the in-state rivalry and three of four the highly-acclaimed freshmen showed their offensive abilities, forward Miles Bridges, forward Nick Ward and guard Cassius Winston all scoring in double digits. Bridges recorded his fourth double-double of the year, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Winston, MSU’s leading scorer in the contest, scored 16 points, mostly by the efforts of his free-throw shooting ability. As a team, MSU has been poor from the line, but they started 9-10 as a team and finished 17-23. Winston was 10-11.

With the high intensity of the rivalry and emotion from the fans, Winston said the team was focused in.

“It was everything that it lived up to be,” Winston said.

ONLINE

Developer has new vision for Park District

Ward finished a perfect 6-6 from the field for 13 points. Freshman guard Joshua LangConvexity Properties ford failed to make a large impact, scoring just considers major one point. changes for blight Converting just three 3-point baskets since the game against Penn State, sophomore guard Matt McQuaid accurately let it fly from beyond the arc. His nine points came from 3-3 from three.

After the game, head coach Tom Izzo said everyBY T H E N U M B E R S one was celebrating and cheering for McQuaid.

“You need to get confidence somehow, and I said confidence is earned not given and the kid has worked hard at it,” Izzo said.

The most elated, Izzo said, was Bridges whose drive drew McQuaid’s defender. Bridges then kicked it out to McQuaid in the corner for his third three.

“We’ve been on Matt (McQuaid) a lot about his confidence because he’s a great shooter,” Number of years since MSU Bridges said. men’s golf team won the Big A back-and-forth contest, MSU and U-M were Ten Championship title See page 7 tied eight times during the duration of the game, 12 times the lead exchanged teams. But when push came to shove, MSU controlled the majority of the game, leading 31:05 of 40 minutes of game time.

9

Lupe Izzo hosts annual food drive

ASMSU VP announces resignation

Before the rivalry game, Lupe Izzo held the 23rd annual food drive

Vice President for Academic Affairs Cassandra Shavrnoch resigned last week

“We have to make our downtown more dense — meaning higher, bigger buildings — more housing, a diversity of housing, more and varied things to do downtown and hopefully provide larger scale employers so people have somewhere to work as well.”

George Lahanas, East Lansing city manager PAGES 4 AND 5

READ MORE AT STATENEWS.COM.

Freshman guard/forward Miles Bridges (22) celebrates during the second half of men’s basketball game against the University of Michigan on Jan. 29 at Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated the Wolverines, 70-62. PHOTO: SUNDEEP DHANJAL

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3

Spotlight

MSU graduates seek post-college lives in Michigan, bigger cities

BY MCKENNA ROSS MROSS@STATENEWS.COM

After alumna Kelsey Parkinson graduated MSU last summer, she wanted to move to New York.

However, her goal of working in the fashion industry made it difficult to find a job. Parkinson moved back home and began to freelance for an advertising agency, all while continuing her job search outside of Michigan.

Many graduates look for jobs out of state.

According to the 2015 MSU Destination Survey, 38 percent of surveyed graduates reported employment outside of Michigan. The state is facing a net migration loss of -4 percent, according to The New York Times, and while many MSU graduates tend to stay in state, others prefer to leave post graduation.

In the mitten For some, there’s no lack of job opportunities in the area. Andrea Ragan, executive director at the Capital Area IT Council, or CAITC, said as the need for technology continues to rise, the need for information technoloy, or IT, employees grows. However, not enough students are going into that career field, resulting in an IT shortage.

Ragan said although the shortage is national, and possibly even global, Lansing is particularly affected.

“An awful lot of (recent graduates) are going to be headed for large metropolitan areas.”

Charles Ballard, Economics professor “We’re feeling it just as much as anyone else, but maybe more,” she said. “I think that other, larger areas are feeling the shortage also, but they have bigger attraction options.”

Still, 78 percent of respondents reported finding employment in the midwest. While the survey did not break down by geographical area within Michigan, associate director of employer relations Eric Doerr said internal reports indicate 45 percent of students from Greater Lansing stay in the area after graduation, and 74 percent stay in state.

Doerr said that number tends to surprise people. He said people expect more of MSU’s graduates to move away. While many do, the majority find employment in Michigan.

Economics professor Charles Ballard echoed Doerr. He said college graduates tend to go where job opportunities are. For many, opportunities exist in places like metro Detroit, perhaps even compared to Lansing.

“An awful lot of them are going to be head-

4

THE STATE N E WS

ed for large metropolitan areas,” Ballard said.

“That means a very substantial fraction of the MSU students are from metro Detroit.

“Metro Detroit has a lot to offer because it’s bigger. Depending on exactly how you slice and dice it, metro Detroit, if you include Wayne, Oakland, Macomb county — that’s about 4 million people. Whereas Ingham, Clinton and Eaton county is about half of a million. So, that’s a big difference.”

Still, Ballard does not suspect Lansing suffers much migration loss, in part because of the impact MSU has on the market and community.

“Even though there are plenty of MSU grads who don’t stay in the Lansing area, Michigan State University is still a tremendous asset to metro Lansing,” he said. “If you take away this university, what do you got left? ... You take away an employer that has 50,000 students, 12,000 employees. That is an economic powerhouse.

Even though some of those graduates don’t stay in the Lansing area, it’s still a huge net plus for Lansing metro.”

Retention efforts Jobs in the state are working to recruit and retain college graduates. Ragan said they focus their approach on encouraging students to join IT programs and careers. She said they focus their presence on campus to guest lectures, career fairs and other events on a student’s radar.

Still, Ragan stressed there is no perfect solution to the IT shortage.

“There is no magic bullet solution to recruiting or maintaining IT professionals,” she said. “We have to do some talent development to get people to choose these careers and paths.”

Ballard suggested raising salaries to keep people looking in the area instead of other metropolitan areas.

“The economist’s first answer is offer a higher wage rate,” Ballard said. “The best IT workers, they have lots and lots and lots of job opportunities. ... Lansing faces strong competition for keeping those people.”

Quality of life For Michigan to attract and keep more residents, cities might need to be the focus.

East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas knows this. He said the city has been paying attention to the changes that need to be made.

“I think young people now want a more urban, walkable, vibrant downtown area,” Lahanas said.

“That’s the place of choice for people graduating. So, we have to make our downtown more dense — meaning higher, bigger buildings — more housing, a diversity of housing, more and varied things to do downtown and hopefully provide larger scale employers so people have

somewhere to work as well.”

Lahanas said several redevelopment projects are in the works throughout the downtown, aiming to bring in more housing and employment opportunities. Some projects include the 565 Building and Park District.

But moving out of East Lansing is an important step for some. After Parkinson graduated in the summer she lived part time in the Lansing area while finishing some work. Soon after, she decided to move back home to Novi. “(I have) to get out of the college town mindset and lifestyle in order to grow up and move on,” Parkinson said.

“(I have) to get out of the college town mindset and lifestyle in order to grow up and move on.”

showcase prominent places, people and things in the Lansing region and help connect young people, college students and young professionals, to all of the emerging quality of life assets in the region,” Sell said.

Some past events include summer concerts and free kayaking on the Grand River. He said the events are put on to encourage college interns and young professionals to experience Lansing outside of a workplace.

Some college graduates move to cities without secure jobs. Ragan’s friends moved to Chicago after college without jobs and had to be nannies and waitresses until they could find something, while she started as a marketing manager in Lansing.

While Ragan did not do it herself, she said she sees why others have.

“It’s one of the most mobile times in a young professional’s in life,” Ragan said. “If you don’t have any roots yet, looking for your first job or career move after college you can look around geographically. Getting out of Michigan is appealing to that audience.”

Ballard agreed. He said cities with high migration rates are interesting places for college students to work and live. To make Michigan and Lansing a place for college students to live, it has to highlight all aspects of the city.

“It’s not just a job and a paycheck,” Ballard said. “It’s a life.”

Kelsey Parkinson, MSU alumna She focused her job search in New York, Chicago and other metropolitan areas because she said the best jobs in her field are there and she enjoys the lifestyle.

“There’s just more going on,” Parkinson said.

“I also just like the atmosphere of the city. It’s busy. There’s always something to do, people to see, places to go. You’re never really bored and there’s more excitement.”

Groups in Lansing are working to showcase the excitement of the city. Lansing 5:01 is a new nonprofit that hosts events downtown for visiting college interns and residents to socialize and experience an environment different than they expect.

Chris Sell, founder of Lansing 5:01 and director of alumni and entrepreneur engagement at MSU, said their events have career counseling opportunities, but focus on opportunities in the area.

“Our ultimate goal is to attract and retain young talent to Lansing and we do that through creating meaningful experiences and events that

78% of msu graduates find a job in the

Midwest

MSU ALL COLLEGES REPORT OUTCOMES OF 2015 GRADUATES REPORTED SALARIES

MEDIAN SALARY

1,063

$52,000

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2 01 7

REPORTED BONUSES 315

MEDIAN BONUS $5,000

Spotlight

Cameron Macko Managing editor cmacko@statenews.com

MSU ALL COLLEGES

REPORT OUTCOMES OF 2015 GRADUATES OUTCOME

No.

%

MSU ALL COLLEGES METHOD USED TO FIND EMPLOYMENT

PROGRAM

No.

%

EMPLOYED

3,223

63%

PREVIOUS INTERNSHIP/CO-OP

394

25%

CONTINUING EDUCATION

1,422

28%

PREVIOUS WORK EXPERIENCE

134

8%

1%

OTHER JOB POSTING SOURCE

260

16%

PURSUING OTHER COMMITMENTS

36 47

1%

MYSPARTANCAREER

107

7%

UNPLACED

85

2%

ON-CAMPUS INTERVIEW

75

5%

302

6%

CAREER FAIR

303

19%

5,115

100%

PERSONAL NETWORK/FAMILY

254

16%

63

4%

1,590

100%

STARTING A BUSINESS

UNRESOLVED TOTAL

MSU ALL COLLEGES

CONTINUING EDUCATION DEGREES PURSUED BY 2015 GRADUATES OUTCOME

No.

3%

239

17%

64

5%

507

37%

MBA

2

0%

PHD

62

4%

TEACHER CERTIFICATION

351

25%

CERTIFICATION PROGRAM: OTHER

44

3%

OTHER

68

5%

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS LAW MASTERS

TOTAL

5

1,383

OTHER

MSU ALL COLLEGES SUPPLEMENTAL EXPERIENCES

%

46

SECOND BACHELORS

SOCIALNETWORKING

PROGRAM

%

OUT OF CLASS EXPERIENCE

3,678

72%

CAREER BASED

3,195

62%

2,363

46%

STUDY ABROAD

760

15%

RESEARCH

685

13%

VOLUNTEER

815

16%

SKILL BASED

100%

SOURCE: ERIC DOERR, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF EMPLOYER RELATIONS

Data tables are from MSU’s 2015 Destination Survey. 5,115 graduates of 6,123 responded.

The survey only includes graduates that received a bachelor’s degree.

45%

55%

stay in the area

move out of the area

after graduation

after graduation

of msu graduates

No.

of msu graduates

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 201 7

TH E STATE N E WS

Crossword

L.A. Times Daily Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

News

Stephen Olschanski City editor city@statenews.com

CATA Rapid Transit route still in assessment phase RMURDOCK@STATENEWS.COM

Get the solutions at statenews.com/puzzles

2

3

4

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www. sudoku.org.uk SOLUTION TO SATURDAY’S PUZZLE

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1/30/17

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THE STATE N E WS

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2 01 7

Lathrop St.

Clemens Ave. Foster Ave. Detroit St.

Morgan Ln. Cowley Ave.

Harrison Road Delta St.

Abbot Road Division St.

Collingwood Dr.

Stoddard Ave. Hagadorn Road

Brookfield Dr. Northwind Dr.

Campus Hill Dr.

Montrose Ave.

Michigan Avenue

1

Holmes St.

Grand river Avenue

Level:

Allegan St.

1 Places to buy stamps: Abbr.

2 Language of Chile 3 On the loose 4 Property encumbrance 5 Golden Arches egg sandwich 6 Hollywood’s Hedy 7 Stylish vigor 8 Café chalkboard listing 9 Ocean State sch.

10 1990 Stallone boxing film which at the time was thought to be the conclusion of its series 11 Caesar salad lettuce 12 Give a hand to 13 Flammable hydrocarbon 21 There’s __ in “team” 23 Bully’s threat ender

Ottawa St.

DOWN

24 “Breaking Bad” channel 26 Palm starch 29 “Later, bro” 30 X, to Cato 32 Update factory machinery 36 “Toodles!”

37 GOP fundraising org.

38 Kitchen implements 39 Humdrum 40 “Lust for Life” punk rocker 43 Defining quality 44 2000s crime drama set in Baltimore 45 Cast a spell on 46 Dan of old MGM musicals 47 Tracey on whose show “The Simpsons” debuted 48 More orderly 49 Dinner plate scrap 55 Chirpy bird 56 Home with drones 57 Sentence subject, as a rule 60 Yale collegian 62 __ Lingus: Irish carrier

CATA PLANNED BRT ROUTE

58 Cozy cat seat 59 Kind of Boy Scout badge 61 Ancient region of Asia Minor 63 “Lux” composer Brian 64 Tylenol alternative 65 “Filthy” moolah 66 “Sure thing” 67 Eight plus one, to aviators 68 Disdainful grin

CATA Transportation Center

1 Song of praise 6 Madagascar primate 11 “Norma __” 14 Fiber-__ cable 15 Last Olds model 16 Make a decision 17 Massachusetts witch trial town 18 Frenzied 19 Speedometer reading: Abbr.

20 Mork’s sign-off 22 Cute Aussie “bear” 24 What we breathe 25 In favor of 26 Native of Damascus 27 Chinese menu letters 28 Eastside Manhattan thoroughfare 31 Dijon darling 33 Brain scan: Abbr.

34 Had the best record in 35 Confidentially, in Cannes 39 Univ. near Harvard 41 Unspecified number 42 Choppers 46 Boat made from a hollowed tree trunk 50 Ship, to a sailor 51 Zambia neighbor 52 Suffix with east 53 Male or female 54 Pastoral poem 55 Request for the latest update

Cedar St./ Larch St.

8th St.

The CATA BRT proposes these 27 stations along Michigan Avenue/Grand River Avenue

ACROSS

The proposed CATA Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT, system is currently expecting a 2018 or early 2019 opening day and is currently in the “environmental assessment” phase for Federal Transportation Authority, or FTA, funding.

CATA’s website likens the BRT program to a light rail system, which uses high-capacity buses instead of trains.

A dedicated lane will allow buses to transport riders quickly throughout the Michigan Avenue and Grand River Avenue corridor, replacing CATA bus route 1. The project would allow CATA to increase their transportation capacity without further disrupting traffic flow by adding more buses to auto lanes.

Director of Marketing for CATA Laurie Robison said this is unlikely to impact any MSU bus routes, but it’s too early to tell for sure.

“For efficiency in the corridor, (if they) connect with (the corridor) they might be impacted somewhat, but I think it’s premature at this point to really say,” Robison said.

The BRT project entered the FTA’s Capital Investment Grant, CIG, program in 2013, which can grant the project federal funding after a multi-year, multi-step process, information provided by the FTA via email states. The BRT project is currently in the “Project Development” phase of the process, where the project is planned and designed while the sponsor conducts an environmental review to measure the impact the project will have on the surrounding area.

“It was planned for construction to start ... in 2018, and it’s still in the plans that way,” Tri-County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Susan Pigg said.

“All of the environmental review work and data collection that was required has been completed throughout this region and it’s now sitting with the federal agencies for their review.”

The project will cost roughly $133 million for building infrastructure, stations and buying new buses, which is a nearly $100 million price drop from the original $230 million dollar estimate. Vast majority of funding will come from federal and state government levels.

Pigg said the project is at “30 percent engineering,” which means the logistics of where, how and in what ways the project would physically lay out on the corridor are about 1/3 of the way done. Five options were proposed as starting points for the project’s design in late fall 2016, Robison said.

“They’ve been running models about where vehicles come and go ... where are they likely to turn … what other developments might impact traffic flows in and across the corridor, and all of that information has been vetted and analyzed again and they’ve been developing what they imagine the layout would be,” Pigg said.

All materials for the environmental review step were initially submitted a little more than a year and a half ago, with CATA since responding to a number of requests for additional information, Pigg said. While not much has happened since, Pigg said she’s noticed the sheer amount of public discussion regarding the project.

“A number of the conversations have questioned the safety of the project, or its value to the healthy climate of our region,” Pigg said. “I hope that those conversations continue. What I see is that a lot of the people commenting are people that were previously unfamiliar with all of the research and discussion that went into coming up with this idea in the first place.”

Although some progress has been made, the project appears to still be on hold while CATA awaits the FTA’s approval of the environmental assessment, though more information should become available once the federal government adopts a new budget for the coming year.

“We have submitted a draft environmental assessment for analysis to the FTA for review,” Robison said.

“We’re waiting to hear back from them on that. … As far as when we expect to hear back, that’s a question I guess for the FTA.” The FTA, however, also appears not to have a

Ionia St.

Kalamazoo St.

BY RILEY MURDOCK

Meijer

Meridian Mall Road

ILLUSTRATION: MADELINE GUZZO SOURCE: CATA.ORG

timetable for the assessment’s approval. In a statement, the FTA suggested CATA be contacted for a timetable regarding the environmental review.

Robison could not confirm an exact date the initial assessment was submitted at the time of publication.

Robison said CATA found no environmental impacts that gave them pause, but are waiting on the FTA to weigh in on their findings.

“We’re just eager to hear back from, get a response from the FTA and see where that takes us,” Robison said.

Sports

Souichi Terada Sports editor sports@statenews.com

MSU men’s golf gunning for Big Ten title following successful fall

BY COLTON WOOD CWOOD@STATENEWS.COM

It’s been nine years since the MSU men’s golf team won a Big Ten championship title. Since then, the University of Illinois has swept the Big Ten, winning every conference title except in 2014 when Minnesota took it.

But this year, the Spartans have a chance to contend for the title they’ve fought for.

Five tournaments into the regular season, the Spartans have recorded four top-five finishes, including two wins.

“It’s been a great season,” MSU head coach Casey Lubahn said. “Two wins, four really good finishes against great fields, against the top 40 fields. It’s only half the year, but it’s a big start to the year, and it really provides us a platform to go chase (NCAA) and Big Ten championships here in the spring.”

For co-captain Charlie Netzel, this early success is a long time coming.

“It’s been a struggle the first two years, I would say, for this program when I was here,” Netzel said.

“Coach did a great job turning it around. We had the same four or five guys for three straight years, and we got better each and every year. So it was a lot of fun to see all the time we put in, and we’d reap the rewards.”

“It’s never fun to be a part of a team that’s not good, so you always work really hard to get out of that, and we’ve gotten out of that.”

Charlie Netzel, Senior and co-captain The senior from Western Springs, Ill. said the lulls early on in his MSU career have created extra motivation for the team.

“It’s never fun to be a part of a team that’s not good, so you always work really hard to get out of that, and we’ve gotten out of that,” Netzel said.

“Working with the younger guys — telling them how it’s not fun, and it’s no fun to get yelled at by coach, and playing bad — it’s extra motivation.”

The Spartans started the season at the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 10 and 11. Senior Sam Weatherhead shot a team-low score of 211 as MSU finished the weekend third out of 15 teams.

The following weekend, the Spartans — led by junior Michael Sharp’s score of 211 — took fourth in the Inverness Intercollegiate.

MSU notched its first tournament victory of the season at the Bearcat Invitational Sept. 26 and 27.

After the victory, the Spartans managed to finish 11th in the Alister MacKenzie Invitational as Netzel recorded a team-low total score of 205.

The Spartans rebounded from their worst finish of the season with a win at the Quail Valley Intercollegiate. Freshman Kaleb Johnson shot a 204 and took third overall individually.

MSU has been led thus far this season by senior co-captain Sam Weatherhead. The senior from Grand Rapids, Mich. holds the lowest 18-hole scoring average so far this season with a 70.26. He is also tied with Johnson for the lowest 18-hole score this season with a 66.

He has logged three top-five finishes and one top 20 in five events played.

Heading into the Big Ten Match Play Championship on Feb. 10 and 11, the Spartans have generated plenty of momentum needed to contend on the national stage as they are currently ranked No. 29

in Golf Week’s rankings.

“It’s the highest we’ve been ranked,” Lubahn said.

“It’s been a steady progression. We started at 198 in the country five years ago, and to be 29th now, I think it’s just the next step and to just keep moving up. It puts us as the number one seed in the Big Ten Match Play next week. Puts us in strong consideration for one of the top teams in the country.”

Lubahn said with the team’s success as of late, the focus on the issues surrounding the team becomes narrow.

“This team is a very consistent group,” Lubahn said. “They’re just very steady, probably comes from two senior co-captains who are really good leaders.

Right now, our focus is very elementary. It seems the higher the level you get, your focus narrows into the simple things.

“Right now, we’re working on drinking the right amount of water, eating the right things, stretching enough, sleeping enough. All those little basic building blocks is what we’re going to just keep focusing on because they have the talent to play with anybody.”

Netzel — currently holding the Spartans’ second best 54 hole score this season with a 205 — said it is key that this team avoids the distractions of potentially winning a conference title.

“We’ve never really been in contention for a Big Ten title (recently) like where we know if we play well, we can win,” Netzel said. “It’ll be fun to see how we handle that, and I hope everybody on the team believes that we can win if we play well because I do and I know Sam does and coach does.

We’ve got eight or nine guys that can play and help this team, so we need someone to step up.”

Despite the positive vibe surrounding this team, there is also a downside.

Several players are rehabbing injuries, but Netzel said it’s just an opportunity for the younger golfers to step up.

“There’s someone else who can step up,” Netzel said. “It’s a great opportunity for a guy that might have the opportunity to play. He can work hard and get himself on the lineup. I think it’s more of a good thing for the younger guys. They realize they got a chance to play.”

“It’s only half the year, but it’s a big start to the year, and it really provides us a platform to go chase (NCAA) and Big Ten championships here in the spring.”

Casey Lubahn, MSU men’s golf head coach Lubahn said the injuries are just a blockade in what accompanies a great season.

“We’ve got a couple guys who are injured right now, so that’s affecting a little bit of our prep,” he said. “So like every good season, we’re going to have some adversity along the way. We’re just working through it right now.”

The Spartans will play their sixth tournament of the season at the Big Ten Match Play Championship in Palm Coast, Fla. on Feb. 10 and 11.

NEXT MATCH: Big Ten Match Play Championship

FEB. 10-11 Palm Coast, Fla.

MSU MEN’S GOLF 2016-17 TOP RESULTS AND UPCOMING SCHEDULE Sept. 26-27 2016

1st in Bearcat Invitational

Cincinnati, Ohio

Oct. 24-25 2016

1st in Quail Valley Intercollegiate

Vero Beach, Fla.

March 6-7

Colleton River Collegiate

Bluffton, S.C

April 15-16

Boilermaker Invitational

West Lafayette, Ind.

April 28-30

Big Ten Championships

Baltimore, Md.

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TH E STATE N E WS

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Features

McKenna Ross Features editor features@statenews.com

Mixed-cuisine restaurant tucked away in phone store

BY SAMANTHA LEWAKOWSKI SLEWAKOWSKI@STATENEWS.COM

An establishment in Lansing has combined two things most people need to survive today: food and their cell phone. The building which contains Capital City BBQ doubles as a Boost Mobile cell phone store. Visitors can simultaneously grab lunch and pay their cell phone bill by taking a couple steps to the other side of the store.

Co-owner Linh Lee started the Boost Mobile prepaid cell phone store, located at 1026 W Saginaw St. in Lansing, in 2008. Having little to no knowledge about cell phones, starting the business was a gamble, she said.

“My dream, for my whole life, was to own a restaurant,” Lee said.

It was in 2011, after a fire destroyed part of the store, that Lee pursued her dream. Co-owner Regan Louchart was hired to be the contractor for the project.

“I hired him to rebuild my store,” Lee said. “I told him that I didn’t want the cell phones anymore. I want a restaurant.”

However, her customers depended on her to provide cell phones for them. Louchart accommodated everyone’s needs and divided the store into two.

Located across from Sparrow Hospital’s St. Lawrence campus, the customer base ranges from locals looking for cell phone service to doctors, hospital-goers and hungry customers.

The construction of what is now Capital City BBQ took four years to complete. Louchart, formerly the business’ contractor, now serves as co-owner of the dual establishment and Lee’s life partner.

The restaurant side serves homemade barbecue and Vietnamese food. Popular items include Bánh mì and smoked pork sandwiches. Lee utilized the four-year construction process to perfect her barbecue sauce recipe.

“It had to be an 11 out of 10,” Lee said. Four years and 50 versions later, Lee said she finally found her winner.

Lee, who comes from Vietnam, learned how to cook authentic Vietnamese food from her grandmother.

“Believe it or not, every time I’m cooking, I remember her,” Lee said. “She would make me come into the kitchen and learn how to cook.”

As for the peculiar establishment’s future, Lee said she wants to expand their rather tight quarters into a bigger building in the Lansing area.

“What would be really awesome would be getting a food truck to take on to (MSU’s) campus,” Louchart said. “Maybe for tailgating.”

With the customer support, they would like to move to a larger location because of the high demand. They are currently looking into several options near the current location.

“I want to improve this area,” Lee said. “I want to bring beauty to this area.”

Capital City BBQ and Boost Mobile on Jan. 27 at 1026 W Saginaw St. in Lansing.

Capital City BBQ offers a wide variety of foods, including Vietnamese cuisine. The Boost Mobile added the restaurant after a fire in 2011. PHOTO: JON FAMUREWA

Locals have come to know the eccentric setup that is Capital City BBQ. Brad Devereaux, a local resident, heard about the restaurant and decided to give it a try. Although he expected the unusual set up, the food was impressive, he said.

When the business moves, plans are to bring the cell phone store along and use the previous space for a new venture. Lee has come to love the large customer base she has developed through providing cell phone service and owning a restaurant, she said.

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THE STATE N EWS

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2 01 7