Dueling columns:
statenews.com | 3/24/14 | @thesnews Michigan State University’s independent voice policy
same-sex marriage ok’ed, then appealed
Students debate same-sex marriage ruling opinion, pG. 4
Mysterious masquerade Students flock to weekend masquerade ball Arts and humanities, linguistics, and Chinese freshman Kate Rock Danyelle Morrow/The State News
campus+city, PAGE 3
Sweet Survival
2014
NCAA
TOURNAMENT
By Sergio Martínez-Beltrán smartinez@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
Despite a ruling from U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman calling Michigan’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional, the exact status of newlymarried gay couples remains unclear. Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a temporary stay to prevent the ruling from going into effect until an appeal is filed. The stay was granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Saturday afternoon and will be in effect until Wednesday. Same-sex couples flocked to the Ingham County Courthouse in Mason Saturday morning to receive their marriage licenses.
photos by Betsy Agosta /The State News
Head coach Tom Izzo talks to sophomore guard Denzel Valentine on Saturday at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena during the game against Harvard in the NCAA Tournament.
MSU advances to Sweet 16 after blowing through Delaware and escaping a late Harvard charge By Zach Smith zsmith@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS
The Ingham County Clerk’s office was one of four statewide to open its doors for gay couples Saturday On Saturday, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum issued dozens of marriage licenses between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Clerks in Washtenaw, Muskegon and Oakland counties also issued licenses for gay couples — more than 300 marriage licenses were issued, and more than 100 weddings were performed statewide. Sara Wurfel, spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder, told the Associated Press Sunday that Michigan state agencies will not recognize the marriages performed Saturday until the matter is settled in court. The status of same-sex couples who got married Saturday in Michigan likely will eventually be legally recognized, even if a higher court upholds the gay marriage ban in the state, MSU law professor Mae Kuykendall said. “The idea (of a stay) will be to maintain the status quo,” Kuykendall said. “The general strong tendencies would be to say that people who married under an existing framework cannot have their marriages voided.” According to Kuykendall, people who married on Saturday were in compliance with the framework provided by Judge Friedman. In his 31-page ruling, Friedman stated religious arguments should not have an impact on the rights of gay couples to marry. “Many Michigan residents have religious convictions whose principles govern the conduct of their daily lives and inform their own viewpoints about marriage,” the ruling stated. “Nonetheless, these views cannot strip other citizens of the guarantees of equal protection under the law.” To East Lansing Mayor Nathan Triplett, the ruling was long overdue. He performed five wedding ceremonies in Mason on Saturday. “I was ver y glad that some East Lansing couples were able to take the window of opportunity to get married,” Triplett said.“The Attorney General and Governor Snyder are spiraling a losing battle to deny the couples See MARRIAGE on page 2 u
nn
S
POK ANE, Wash. — Tom Izzo remembers the first Sweet 16 he ever went to as a head coach, in 1998 after his team beat Princeton. Capping off a two-win weekend in Spokane, Wash., Izzo and the MSU men’s basketball team beat another Ivy League school to reach Izzo’s 12th Sweet 16 in 17 years. “You know, this one was a good win because of what we have been through,” Izzo said after MSU’s 80-73 win against
spartan basketball
matt sheehan msheehan@statenews.com
Win against Harvard mirrors regular season SPOKANE, Wash. — Forty minutes of basketball summed up MSU’s first 35 games. It sounds weird, but the
Harvard Saturday. “We had to play pretty good to beat a really good team, even though we made some mistakes. I never keep track. Those kind of things are for retirement and I don’t plan on doing that right now, or in the near future,” he said. But the more notable performance from the Spartans this week took place on Thursday, when the Spartans took on Delaware. Senior Adreian Payne set a new MSU NCAA Tournament record, scoring 41 points in the Spartans’ 93-78 win against Delaware. After a tough Big Ten Tournament that saw him disapSee TOURNEY on page 2 u
Spartans’ win against Harvard to get to the Sweet 16 was the perfect ballad to this season. Allow me to explain. There was heavy debate that MSU was the nation’s best team. The Spartans had it all – experience, talent and a great coach. But to begin the season, they started as No. 2 and had to prove themselves worthy if they wanted that top ranking one day. What do all five ESPN college basketball analysts, four CBS Sports analysts and the president of the United States all have in common? They all picked MSU to win the NCAA
Junior guard/forward Branden Dawson passes the ball while Harvard guard Laurent Rivard guards on Saturday at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash. during their game against Harvard in the NCAA Tournament. Dawson made 26 points during the game.
Tournament – crowning them as the nation’s best team. But to start the tournament, they were named as a No. 4 seed, but that didn’t stop odds makers to have MSU as the second-likeliest team to win the banner. Everything was going as planned in MSU’s quest for the top ranking. They plowed through Kentucky, smashed nonconference opponents and played with a smooth-
ness only rivaled by velvet. This team had what it takes to be No. 1. Against No. 12 seed Harvard, everything was clicking for the green and white. Junior forward Branden Dawson was on his game, sophomore guard Gary Harris was filling the hoop and MSU simply looked like a team that could win it all. It passed the eye test as the No. 1 team in the nation. The Spartans are 18-1,
and life couldn’t be better in East Lansing. Until the moment the media is called in for a surprise press conference. No one knows what news will come, until Dawson walks through the doors to announce his hand is broken. The cornerstone of MSU’s defense and rebounding game – gone. See B-BALL on page 2 u
ACA D E M IC S
extra fees necessary for some colleges, officials say By Olivia Dimmer odimmer@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
In terms of MSU tuition and fees, not all majors are created equally. In addition to universitystandard tuition rates charged per credit, some students in technology and science-intensive majors are slapped with an additional fee per semester — which can be anywhere from $50 to upwards of $500. These programming fees are only charged to students in majors that use expensive equipment or software in their classes, such as engineering, human medicine and the Eli Broad College of Business. Office of Planning and Budgets Director Dave Byelich told The State News in a previous interview that these fees are
“In the university budget, the tuition doesn’t directly go to the departments where the student pays tuition.” Thomas Wolff, College of Engineering associate dean for undergraduate studies
needed to cover the extra costs associated with certain majors. Byelich could not be reached for further comment. Although many of the fees seem nominal in the grand scheme of paying for tuition, one stands out as higher than the rest: Engineering. The reasons behind the $567 fee engineering students enrolled in five credits or more pay each semester can be seen as soon as a person enters the college and sees the equipment available to students, said Thomas Wolff, the associate dean for undergrad-
uate studies in the College of Engineering. Students have access to wind tunnels, computer labs stocked with expensive and up-to-date software, teaching assistants and concrete compression machines, which are all paid for in part by student programming fees. Wolff said half of the fee goes to computing services and updating equipment. The other half goes toward paying teaching assistants and technicians who maintain the college equipment. He stressed that program-
Programming fees by college Broad College of Business
Engineering Program
Health Science Majors
KEY
Science and Technology Intensive Majors
$0
$100
$200
Part-time students
Full-time students
*4 credits or less
*5 credits or more
$300 $400 AMOUNT ($)
$500
$600
gr aphic by paige grennan | SN
ming fees are only used for instructional purposes and do not go to pay faculty salaries. “In the university budget, the tuition doesn’t directly go
to the departments where the student pays tuition,” Wolff said. “Engineering faculty also See TUITION on page 2 u