statenews.com | 3/19/14 | @thesnews Michigan State University’s independent voice
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Making the trek
Women’s rugby team bonds over a sport they all love deeply
Alumna prepares to hike Appalachian Trail for charity
On the big stage Gymnastics team heads to B1G championships Gymnast Lisa Burt Julia Nagy/The State News
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students protest law requiring insurance rider for abortions By Olivia Dimmer odimmer@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
MSU students, professors and Lansing-area residents protested on the steps of the Capitol Tuesday against a new law that requires women to purchase an additional rider if they want abortion procedures covered by insurance. Under the new law, women carrying insurance have the option to buy additional coverage for abortions, instead of having abortion coverage included in their benefits. States are allowed to enforce this through a provision of the Affordable Care Act. Michigan’s law, which took effect this past Thursday, makes no exception for cases of rape or incest. Psychology and philosophy freshman Jessa Stegall organized Tuesday’s protest and is a member of MSU Students United. She, along with about 20 other protesters, marched around the Capitol building and held signs with slogans such as “My body, my choice,” and “End the war on women.” The protesters argued the new law would limit women’s access to legal and constitutionally-protected health care. “I think it’s completely unfair women can’t decide their own fate when it comes to that,” Stegall said. “It’s a part of the war on women.” Michigan Right to Life led the successful citizen-initiated petition to push the abortion rider legislation into law, collecting more than 300,000 signatures on a proposal that was later approved by a majority legislators in both the House and Senate. Gov. Rick Snyder, who had vetoed a similar bill approved by the state legislature, was not given the opportunity to review or veto the law per the conditions of the signature. Michigan Right to Life Spokeswoman Genevieve Marnon was surprised at the opposition demonstrated at the protest, noting that Michigan is the 24th state to offer rider-only abortion insurance. “I’m surprised we are getting so much push-back,” she said. “We’re only exercising that which was built into the Affordable Care Act.” Other members of the MSU community came out to show their support, including assistant professor Penny Gardner, who said she has been advocating for women’s rights for 55 years. See PROTEST on page 2 u
martial arts
Photos by Betsy Agosta /The State News
Supply chain management sophomore Huanchen Lu folds origami on Tuesday at Wells Hall. He heard about the event in his Japanese culture class when his professor announced it.
Connecting cultures Students remember anniversary of Japanese earthquake by participating in Japan Week
By Meagan Beck mbeck@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS
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little more than three years have passed since one of the largest earthquakes on record struck the coast of Japan and shook a nation to its core, killing more than 15,000 people. Thousands more went missing, and the amount of destruction the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami caused millions of dollars in damage to the country’s infrastructure.
Three years later, the MSU community spent several days remembering and reflecting on the incident in an annual event known as Japan Week. On Tuesday evening, about 20 people closed the week of events by folding 270 Sonobe modules, which came together to create a piece of origami known as an Epcot ball. The Epcot ball allowed people to work towards a bigger goal piece by piece, alluding to the rebuilding of Japan since 2011, said Betsy
Lavolette, a second language studies doctoral student. People interested in learning more about the Japanese culture joined Lavolette, who led Tuesday’s origami workshop, to learn how to form the sonobe pieces comprising the Epcot ball. Lavolette said she studied Japanese during her undergraduate years at MSU, which gives her a personal connection to Japan Week. Throughout the week, attendees and event organizers reflected on the disasters and attempted to raise
Poetry, film and origami played a part in japan week
Supply chain management sophomore Youxian Su makes a large origami piece made Tuesday at Wells Hall.
awareness for a country that suffered so much, but still was able to come back. Past vs. present For the past two years at MSU, Japan Week has focused on commemorating the March 11, 2011, tsunami and earthquake disasters. Before the disasters took place, Japan Week was an event solely focusing on Japanese culture, featuring different speakers and film series, said Catherine Ryu, associate professor of Japanese. Since then, Japan Week
has become more of a remembrance event. The Asian Studies Center has always dedicated a time period for specific Asian communities, even before the disasters took place, said Julie Hagstrom, the center’s assistant director. “It’s a tradition here at MSU and a tradition for the Asian Studies Center to do either a Japan Month or Week,” Hagstrom said. “In this particular case, commemorating the events of 3/11, as people have come See JAPAN on page 2 u
To watch a video of students creating an origami Epcot ball, visit statenews.com/multimedia.
crime
Aikido club promotes harmony CATA reps talk bus rapid transit system at city council Staff advisor Joe Petroff teaches an Aikido move to graduate student John Riesen, left, on March 18, 2014, at IM SportsWest during an Aikido Club meeting. Aikido is a Japanese martial art. — Julia Nagy, SN See the story on page 5
By Juliana Moxley jmoxley@statenews.com the state news nn
With the potential development of a rapid transit system on the Michigan and Grand River avenues corridor, Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, representatives hope the change could minimize travel time from East Lansing to downtown Lansing. The rapid transit adjustment would include a travel lane to accommodate multicab buses and likely eliminate certain routes. The potential bus system would run down the Mich-
“We will take many pots of money — state money, private money, grants — to fund this project. We are progressively looking for funding to pay for this.” Debbie Alexander, CATA’s assistant executive director
igan Avenue and Grand River Avenue corridor and replace the Route 1 bus. Unlike the current CATA vehicles, the rapid transit system would use large multi-cab buses often seen in large cities such as Chicago or New York City. So far, the plan includes boarding on either side and 28 stations along the corridor instead of the usual bus stops.
If it is approved, the project could begin in 2016. The prospect of the system consumed the majority of East Lansing’s City Council meeting on Tuesday. Debbie Alexander, CATA’s assistant executive director and rapid transit project manager, gave a special presenta-
See CATA on page 2 u