Tuesday 3/18/14

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FRIB breaks ground

statenews.com | 3/18/14 | @thesnews Michigan State University’s independent voice

U.S., local leaders mark start of $730 million project

Worst dorms on campus Column: Why living in East neighborhood is no fun

Appling, MSU prep for March Madness Senior guard Keith Appling Erin Hampton/The State News

campus+city, pG. 3

opinion, pG. 4

sports, pG. 6

GOVE RN M E NT

Human resources senior Jimmy Martinez jumps Monday around 7 a.m. in Dublin Square Bar. Martinez said he was happy to spend the morning of St. Patrick’s Day drinking with friends.

BYOB law allows patrons to bring wine to restaurants By Sara Konkel skonkel@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn

Allison Brooks/The State News

LUCK OF THE SPARTANS Erin Hampton/The State News

Supply chain management senior Abbey Mello sits and drinks green beer Monday outside a St. Patrick’s Day party on Collingwood Drive.

Chilly temperatures kept this Monday’s St. Patrick’s Day at MSU quiet and calm Erin Hampton/The State News

By Geoff Preston

Olivet College student Tyre Alexander, left, mingles with Grand Valley State students Destiny Daniels and Ashley Mamula on Monday outside a party on Collingwood Drive. Although St. Patrick’s Day was a school day for MSU students, many students still found time to party.

gpreston@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn

A

day after the confetti fell in Indianapolis following the Spartans’ Big Ten championship win, a different kind of green settled over East Lansing.

To see a video of the sights and sounds of St. Patrick’s Day, visit statenews.com/multimedia.

See ST. PADDY’s on page 2 u

“BYOB” isn’t just for house parties any more. With the passing of a recent bill in effect, East Lansing residents can now bring and drink their own bottles of wine with them to certain restaurants. House Bill 5046 went into effect this past Friday, giving bars and restaurants with liquor licenses the option of allowing their customers to bring their own wine. Beggar’s Banquet is now a participating restaurant in the new BYOB law, bartender Bart Carrigan said. Restaurateurs who may fear a profit loss have the option to charge corkage fees. These fees would allow participating restaurants to charge customers for bringing wine, to only allow certain types of wine or to opt out all together. Beggar’s Banquet set a corkage fee of $25, Carrigan said. “If (people) do go out and buy wine and bring it in, it’s a comparable price to the wine we’re actually selling,” he said. “On our special nights it’s a better deal to buy our wine.” Communication senior Megan Fr ye was excited to hear about the bill ,but said a high corkage fee would deter her from participating. It wouldn’t be worth it to pay more in fees than the actual cost of her wine, she said. But if the corkage fees were lower, she said it would bring in significantly more business to the restaurants, especially in a college town. The bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Jim Stamas, R-Midland, said the bill is a great option for restaurants and bars to have. But he stressed that it’s not a requirement. “Each restaurant and business owner has the opportunity to either take advantage of it or use their ow n bu si ne s s mo de l ,” Stamas said. “So it’s just one

See BYOB on page 2 u

ukrainian students reflect on crimean crisis By Michael Kransz mkransz@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn

There are no yellow school buses in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Instead, the children travel downtown using sidewalks and public transportation, and amid tense political demonstrations sometimes erupting in brawls and shootings, the schools shut down. Ukrainian st udent Lora Kaldaras’s brother has not attended school in three weeks because law enforcement is unable to contain and keep up with the violence spilling over from these protests. “Recently my father was

walking the dog and he saw a young guy being beaten up and he called the police,” said Kaldaras, a graduate student. “They told him they can’t respond to just one person being beaten up when on the other street they have gangs of people beating each other up.” In the Ukraine, a division between Russian and European influences has always existed, because the state once was part of the Soviet Union and a minority of Ukrainians are ethnic Russians. Some Ukrainians want their territory unified with Russia, while others want to remain a united Ukraine. The division deepened and turned violent,

Once part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been divided between Russian, European influences

mainly in Eastern Ukraine, after former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in late February. The ousting resulted in a dispute in Crimea, a peninsula with a population that is a majority ethnic Russian, about whether they would remain a part of Ukraine or not. On Sunday they held a referendum, with an overwhelming majority voting in favor of unifying with Russia. Many contest the legality of the referendum and the validity of its outcome, with some Crimean cities reporting nearly unanimous votes in favor of the move, MSU history professor Matthew

See UKRAINE on page 2 u

Area of conflict BELARUS

RUSSIA KIEV

UKRAINE Crimea

ROMANINA

SEA OF AZOV

More online … To see a timeline of events leading to the crisis, visit statenews.com/

CRIMEA 60 miles

BLACK SEA

Gr aphic by Paige Grennan | Sn


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