MSU men’s basketball team ives end of year awar gives end-of-year awards
Beijing trip gives perspective on MSU-China relations
Spartan alumni, students create anthology of comics
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Junior unior guard uard Keith Appling. ppling. JUSTIN STIN WAN/ E STATE THE EWS NEWS
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CRIME
SPRING BREAK CRIMES INCLUDE BURGLARIES, DRINKS, DRUGS By Darcie Moran morandar@msu.edu THE STATE NEWS ■■
While many students enjoyed warm beaches and rested with family during spring break, homes were broken into in East Lansing, and a number of drunken driving and drug-related incidents took place on campus. East Lansing crime On both weekends of spring break, East Lansing police received calls concerning 17 different crimes — most of them from robberies from either homes or other buildings. Three assaults were recorded from March 1 - 10, according to CrimeMapping.com. East Lansing police Capt. Jeff Murphy said in an email he still is collecting information on home invasions during the break, but four are reported to have taken place last weekend. In a previous interview, Murphy said it can take several days following the end of a school break to determine the full number of break-ins that occurred as students are still are returning. MSU crime So far, MSU police have not yet seen a large number of break-ins recorded from last week. There were no reported home invasions on campus by press time Monday, according to the MSU Clery Crime and Fire Log. About four larcenies, seven inciSee CRIME on page 2 X
Religion and alcohol use found to be connected By Isabella Shaya shayaisa@msu.edu THE STATE NEWS ■■
Although many college students spend most weekends drinking and partying, some students, including Logan Matthews, choose religion instead. “(My) main motivation (for not drinking) is to be close to God, (and) getting drunk on a regular basis can get in the way of that,” said Matthews, a chemical engineering senior. “The vast majority of times I’m stressed or worried about things, my first reaction is to pray.” Matthews’ reaction is not uncommon, as college students who use religious coping mechanisms, such as prayer and meditation, report less frequent and heavy alcohol use, according to a recent study conducted by MSU researchers. Most parents of the students who use these coping methods also reported turning to religion when faced with stress. The 129 students and their parents were recruited at MSU, but were not necessarily from MSU, said Zaje Harrell, an assistant professor of psychology and the study’s principal investigator. “There is a pathway between parents’ religious coping and their See ALCOHOL on page 2 X
ILLUSTR ATIONS BY DREW DZWONKOWSKI | THE STATE NEWS
STU DY
the man behind the curtain,
SAM RAIMI Once an MSU student, Raimi brings Spartan touch to big screen
By Derek Blalock blalockd@msu.edu
clear as Raimi attempted to realize his dream of directing movies.
THE STATE NEWS ■■
Oz isn’t the only thing that’s green. As people across the globe flock to see the latest Disney blockbuster, “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” Spartans can count director Sam Raimi as one of their own. Raimi has led the movie to the No. 1 spot in the box office, grossing close to $150 million worldwide this weekend — the movie’s first weekend since being released March 8. Prior to directing the prequel to the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz,” Raimi attended MSU in the late 1970s and produced several short films before moving on to feature films. Raimi’s most successful films in the box office came when he got the nod to direct “Spider-Man,” which was released in 2002, and both of its sequels. Combined, the trilogy grossed more than $2 billion worldwide, and each of the movies rank in the top 25 in the all-time U.S. box office, according to the Internet Movie Database. But the path from a Detroit kid to a Hollywood star wasn’t always
Taking a risk It all started about 30 years ago. Raimi, who was studying history and literature at the time, was only at MSU for two years before he made a bold move to keep his dream of a filmmaker alive — he decided to drop out of school. “I thought that I would be one day dragged back to my father’s furniture and appliance store because a kid from Detroit shouldn’t be making movies in Hollywood,” Raimi said. “It just wasn’t talked about then.” So Raimi did the “outrageous” and dropped out. He started working as a busboy at a local cafe to earn money to hire attorneys to draft a private placement memorandum, a legal document with which he could solicit investments for his first feature film — “The Evil Dead.” “I wanted to become a feature filmmaker and (‘The Evil Dead’) is the fruit of my labors; it was a bitter fruit of horror, but that was my fruit,” Raimi said. “So it wasn’t ‘How
More online …
To see a video review of “Oz,” visit statenews.com/multimedia.
did Evil Dead help me with my career?’ It’s that Evil Dead was my goal.” In 1981, his dream of being a feature filmmaker came true. “The Evil Dead” was released and developed a cult following in the years that followed. The film featured several MSU students and staff, including MSU professor Bill Vincent, who was cast in a small role. Vincent first met Raimi, his brother Ivan and Raimi’s roommate and longtime work partner Robert Tapert at MSU. Continued contact with the Raimi’s and Tapert throughout their careers has given Vincent the chance to appear in several of their projects. This past summer, Vincent got to travel to New Zealand to take part in the remake of “The Evil Dead,” which will be released later this year. Raimi and Tapert both serve as co-producers of the film, alongside Bruce Campbell, who starred in the original trilogy. Vincent said while he was on set for the first film in “The Evil Dead” trilo-
See RAIMI on page 2 X
RAIMI’S REELS
The filmmaker has directed 17 films, from international blockbusters to bloody cult-hits (Clockwise from top left in above image)
The Spider-Man trilogy (2002, 2004, 2007)
All three of these comic-book adaptations rank within the top40 highest-grossing films of all time. (U.S. domestic) The Evil Dead trilogy (1981, 1987, 1992)
“This is my boomstick.” Raimi’s dialogue paired with actor Bruce Campbell’s delivery combined to spawn the ultimate B-movie experience. “Drag Me to Hell” (2009)
This little-seen cult hit features a sequence in which the main character stabs her cat to death. “Oz: the Great and Powerful” (2013)
Robert Downey, Jr. was originally slated to star before James Franco took his place.