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News

Madison O’Connor Campus editor campus@statenews.com

MSU Communications changes with increase in media requests

BY KAITLYN KELLEY KKELLEY@STATENEWS.COM

Throughout the sexual abuse cases against ex-MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, former President Lou Anna K. Simon’s resignation, protests from the MSU community and other occurrences on campus, MSU’s Communications and Brand Strategy office, or CABS, has received a high volume of media requests.

CABS is MSU’s central communications team and is responsible for handling requests from media outlets and other members of the MSU community who seek information about a particular subject.

Amid campus controversies and the national spotlight’s shift toward MSU, CABS has made changes to how the office operates.

“MSU’s media procedures ensure consistency

Jan. 16, 2018 Statement on victim impact statements in Ingham County

and coordination of information released to the media and foster positive relations with media outlets — local, regional, national and international,” the CABS website reads.

Heather Swain, vice president for communications and brand strategy, said via email CABS’ mission is to “increase visibility, esteem, and affinity for Michigan State University.”

Throughout the cases against Nassar, inquiries from the media have increased, Swain said.

“MSU saw an increase in contacts from media during specific points in the Nassar criminal proceedings and has experienced an elevated volume of requests from media overall in relation to this matter,” she said via email. “During Nassar’s sentencing hearing, call and email volume was so high CABS established a specific media line and email box to allow us to better manage media requests.”

Jan. 24, 2018 Lou Anna K. Simon announces resignation as president

Jan. 31, 2018 John Engler accepts responsibility as interim president

The media communications phone number for CABS has recently received many media requests, journalists are now asked to leave a message.

Emily Guerrant, vice president and university spokesperson, said CABS responds to interview requests from journalists depending on availability and the type of interview requested.

“Most media requests CABS receives are not for interviews but rather are requests for information or for a comment on behalf of the institution,” Swain said.

Guerrant said she has noticed CABS’ media inquiries have been high recently.

“I’m not even a month on the job yet, so it’s hard to see what’s normal,” she said. “It’s been a very intense media since I’ve been here, and who’s to say how long that will go on, so I’m kind of trying to evaluate that.”

March 27, 2018 Interim President Engler statement on arrest of former Dean Strampel

She said figuring out how to connect the reporter with what they’re looking for is usually the office’s goal when it comes to responding to media inquiries.

“Whether or not that’s just us, or setting up an interview with someone else on campus, someone that’s more of an expert on that topic,” she said. “We kind of help to make those determinations and triage the opportunities and then work with the reporters to get them the information.”

Depending on the situation, Guerrant said CABS tries to respond via phone or email to fulfill the media requests.

CABS has also recently experienced changes within its staff. Employees in the CABS office now report to Guerrant and Kathleen Wilbur, the executive vice president for governmental and external relations.

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April 13, 2018 Interim President Engler statement on survivor discussion

April 18, 2018 Statement from Carol Viventi apologizing to survivors

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Contents

McKenna Ross Managing editor feedback@statenews.com

ONLINE AT STATENEWS.COM VOL . 108 | NO. 29

Roosevelt Institute finds financial issues

This is the last print issue of the semester!

Memorable sports moments from this season

The group’s report says MSU has invested less in students and more in financial gains.

Stay with The State News online for updates throughout finals week and the summer.

The State News remembers the best and worst moments for the Spartans this year.

“Sometimes in life we make these little things more important than the things that really matter, and I just wanted to help them understand it’s a lot more things thats going on in life than losing a basketball game.”

Lourawls ‘Tum Tum’ Nairn, Jr. Former Spartan basketball player See page 8

CONTACT THE STATE NEWS (517) 295-1680

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NEWSROOM/CORRECTIONS (517) 295-5149 feedback@statenews.com

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Years Congressional Candidate Chris Smith taught public policy and law See page 7

COLOPHON The State News design features Acta, a newspaper type system created by DSType Foundry.

This week’s cover was designed by Lauren Gewirtz and Daena Faustino.

CAMPUS EDITOR Madison O’Connor CITY EDITOR Souichi Terada SPORTS EDITOR Jonathan LeBlanc FEATURES EDITOR Sasha Zidar PHOTO EDITOR Nic Antaya COPY CHIEF Casey Holland DESIGN Daena Faustino Lauren Gewirtz

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Spotlight

McKenna Ross Managing editor feedback@statenews.com

FACING CRISIS: HOW MSU HAS MADE HEADLINES THIS SEMESTER

BY ANNA NICHOLS ANICHOLS@STATENEWS.COM

Next week, the class of 2018 crosses the stage to receive their diplomas. This semester has been the semester of shadows shifting, stories coming forward and the university being exposed under the watchful eye of the public.

Here are the top stories from this semester.

JANUARY

During the Ingham County sentencing for ex-MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, 156 victims called the “sister survivors” gave their impact statements.

Among those who spoke was Amanda Thomashow, who filed a Title lX complaint back in 2014 after she was assaulted by Nassar during a medical exam. Her case was dismissed and former dean of the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine William Strampel gave the OK for Nassar to continue seeing patients during the

investigation.

“Michigan State University, the school I loved and trusted, had the audacity to tell me that I did not understand the difference between sexual assault and a medical procedure,” Thomashow said in her statement. “That master manipulator took advantage of his title, he abused me, and when I found the strength to talk about what had happened I was ignored and my voice was silenced.”

Rachael Denhollander, who was the first to publicly come forward as a survivor of Nassar’s sexual abuse, was also the final victim to speak at the Ingham County sentencing. Once she initially came forward, hundreds of other survivors followed suit, giving rise to the collation of survivors, including individuals of all ages.

“This is what it looks like when institutions create a culture where a predator can flourish unafraid and unabated and this is what it looks like when people in authority refuse to listen, put friendships in front of the truth, fail to cre-

Ex-MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar is escorted out of the courtroom at the end of the sixth day of his sentencing on Jan. 23 at the Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing. PHOTO: NIC ANTAYA

ate or enforce proper policy and fail to hold enablers accountable,” Denhollander said in her statement.

Nassar pleaded guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.

Hours after Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told Nassar she had signed his death warrant on the last day of sentencing Jan. 24, Lou Anna K. Simon resigned from her position as MSU’s president.

Prior to the announcement, survivors, students, faculty, multiple newspapers, members of the Board of Trustees and other MSU community members demanded her resignation for allowing a serial predator to retain employment at MSU for years despite investigations and numerous claims of abuse during Nassar’s time at MSU. Students planned a march named Students for the Resignation of Lou Anna K. Simon before the announcement led to a name change to the “March for Survivors and Change.” Students and faculty banded together to support survivors.

FEBRUARY

On Jan. 31, the MSU Residence Halls Association unanimously voted no confidence in the Board of Trustees and Interim President John Engler, who entered the position earlier that day.

In a statement, Engler said the university’s main concern will always be survivors and he is only at MSU to lay a positive foundation for

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a permanent president.

“As the father of three daughters who just completed their undergraduate degrees, I put myself in the place of every parent who has sent their loved one to this great institution,” Engler said.

“I understand the concern and uncertainty as well as the frustration and anger. To those parents, be assured that I will move forward as if my own daughters were on this campus and will treat every survivor and every student as I would my own daughters.”

February was marked with continued opposition to the board and interim president as well: Students called for honesty and clarity from the board during the March for Transparency Feb. 2, faculty from the College of Education marched with their list of demands to the Hannah Administration Building Feb. 6 and the Faculty Senate voted “no confidence” in the Board, 61 - 4, on Feb. 13.

Nassar returned to court, this time in Eaton County Circuit Court, and for three days 65 victims were allowed to address the court. Following his two daughters’ statements recounting the abuse they suffered, father Randall Margraves lunged at Nassar and was restrained by police.

Margraves had asked for five minutes alone with “that bastard” and was refused by Judge Janice Cunningham before he lunged at Nassar.

Nassar pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and was

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Interim President John Engler lets survivor Kaylee Lorincz know her time to speak is up during the Board of Trustees meeting on April 13 at Hannah Administration Building.

PHOTO: C.J. WEISS

sentenced a maximum of 125 years and a minimum of 40 years in prison. He was sentenced on Feb. 5.

MARCH

In a visit marked with controversy, white nationalist Richard Spencer was permitted to speak at the MSU Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education March 5. Though the event happened during MSU’s spring break, many turned out to protest Spencer’s speech.

Among the slew of protesters, student Olivia Franklin held a sign saying “Feminazis against actual Nazis,” in resistance to the ideologies Spencer spreads.

“I wanted to come out here to show that just because the laws are protecting you at least a little bit, that we as a people — as a community — are going to fight back against your fascist ideologies and your racist and sexist ideologies and they are not welcome here,” Franklin said.

Throughout the day, 25 people were arrested on a menagerie of charges such as resisting and obstructing police, public urination, assault and battery and carrying a concealed weapon.

On March 26, Strampel was arrested and arraigned the next day on charges of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony count of misconduct in office and two misdemeanors of willful neglect.

In the court affidavit, four alleged victims recounted how Strampel sexually harassed and assaulted them as students under intimidation with the power he held as dean.

Approximately 50 pornographic images, some of which are believed to be of MSU students because of their MSU apparel, were found on a computer from Strampel’s office during the execution of a search warrant. Special agent investigators from the Attorney General’s office also found pornographic videos, among which was a video of Nassar performing one of his “treatments” on a young female patient.

Survivor Kaylee Lorincz accused Engler of meeting with her without her lawyer present to try and buy her out of her civil suit against the university. She said Engler told her he had a similar meeting with fellow survivor Denhollander and she had taken the settlement. Denhollander has since said she never met with Engler.

A survivor of Nassar’s sexual abuse, an advocate for victims of sexual assault and a freshman at the University of Michigan, Morgan McCaul has attended rallies and meetings at MSU. She said she has made the commute throughout this semester because she is not just a victim of Nassar’s abuse — she’s also a victim of MSU’s negligent policy.

“It’s really overwhelming and at this point sometimes I feel like it’s never going to end. I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone, but I feel an obligation to do this work because we have been given an opportunity to actually make change and to open a dialogue about what sexual assault looks like on campus,” McCaul said. “It’s important. It’s hard. It’s time consuming and it sometimes comes at great personal cost.”

Chabad House of MSU 540 Elizabeth St. (517) 214-0525 Prayer Services: Friday night services followed by traditional Shabbat dinner @ Chabad. www.chabadmsu.com Eastminster Presbyterian Church 1315 Abbot Rd. (517) 337-0893 Classes for All Ages: 9:30am Sun. Worship: 10:30am www.eastminster church.org Greater Lansing Church of Christ 310 N. Hagadorn Rd. (Meet @ University Christian Church) (517) 898-3600 Sun: 8:45am Worship, 10am Bible Class Wed: 1pm, Small group bible study www.greaterlansing coc.org

The Islamic Society of Greater Lansing 920 S. Harrison Rd. (517) 351-4309 Friday Services: 12:15-12:45 & 1:45-2:15 For prayer times visit www.lansingislam.com/ Martin Luther Chapel 444 Abbot Rd. (517) 332-0778 Sun: 9:30am & 7pm Wed: 9pm Mini-bus pick-up on campus (Fall/Spring) www.martinluther chapel.org The People’s Church, multidenominational 200 W Grand River Ave. (517) 332-6074 Sunday Service: 10:30am with free lunch for students following worship.

ThePeoples Church.com Riverview ChurchMSU Venue MSU Union Ballroom, 2nd Floor 49 Abbot Rd. (517) 694-3400 Sun. Worship: 6:30pm www.rivchurch.com

St. John Catholic Church and Student Center 327 M.A.C Ave. (517) 337-9778 Sun: 8am, 10am, Noon, 5pm, 7pm M,W,F: 12:15pm T & Th: 9:15pm www.stjohnmsu.org WELS Lutheran Campus Ministry 704 Abbot Rd. (517) 580-3744 Sat: 6:30pm msu.edu/~welsluth Pentecostals of East Lansing 16262 Chandler Road (517) 337-7635 Service Times: Sundays: Prayer 10:30am, Service 11am Wednesdays: Prayer 6:30pm, Bible Study 7pm pentecostalEL.org Denomination: Pentecostal

Hillel Jewish Student Center 360 Charles St. (517) 332-1916 Services: Friday night 6pm, dinner @ 7, September–April www.msuhillel.org

APRIL

The three ex-MSU football players facing various charges of criminal sexual conduct for the alleged sexual assault and recording of an unclothed victim back in January 2017 took a plea agreement April 4 in Ingham County Court.

Demetric Vance, Donnie Corley and Joshua King all faced charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. King also faced one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. All of these charges were dismissed. All three men pleaded to the lesser charge of seduction.

During the final Board of Trustees meeting of the year, protesters erupted with shouts of frustration toward the board, survivors of Nassar’s abuse spoke and an accusation against Interim President Engler was made THUR SDAY, APRI L 26, 2018

TOP: Protesters from Reclaim MSU hold signs during the Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 16, 2018 at the Hannah Administration Building. PHOTO: NIC ANTAYA BOTTOM: Associate professor Andaluna Borcila, left, and mother of a survivor Valerie Von Frank, right, embrace at the Reclaim MSU Rally at the Hannah Administration Building on March 23. PHOTO: ANNIE BARKER STATENE WS .COM

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CONGRATULATIONS! The Department of Economics congratulates:

The 2017-2018 Economics Award Winners: Mitchell Abood Laura Boisten Bailey Johnson Kade Katrak

Zach Kuloszewski Tyler Miksanek Yahya Talab Jack Weyhrich

Our graduating Econ Scholars: Laura Boisten

Krystal Jones

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Greer Clausen

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Helio Garciavargas

AJ Taormina

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News

Souichi Terada CIty editor city@statenews.com

MSU professor running for U.S. House of Reps

BY MARIE WEIDMAYER MWEIDMAYER@STATENEWS.COM

Democratic candidate for Congress and MSU professor Chris Smith poses for a portrait at his home in East Lansing on April 20. PHOTO: CHARLES BENOIT

The 2016 presidential election made Chris Smith examine himself to see what more he could for his country, he said.

He decided to run for District 8 in the U.S. House of Representatives, which includes East Lansing, Lansing and Rochester Hills.

“Given that I have spent 30 years teaching public policy and law — I have a law degree and Ph.D. in political science,” Smith said. “I felt as if this is what I was ready to do, this was a need.”

Smith is an MSU professor in the School of Criminal Justice.

He is on an unpaid leave of absence for 2018 to campaign for the Aug. 7 primary.

Elissa Slotkin is the only other person filed to run as a Democrat in District 8, which Smith said is a good thing.

“There is a developing list of policy issues where I can say I’m the only candidate who advocates Medicare for all, who advocates ending sales of military style rifles, who advocates no pipelines under the Great Lakes,” Smith said. “We are distinctly different.”

The policy differences Smith and Slotkin have are a good thing because it gives voters an easier decision to make, he said.

While Smith said everything is going wrong in Washington D.C. with President Donald Trump and “his enablers,” there are a few key issues that stick out.

“I think we should have universal, single- payer healthcare,” Smith said. “I’m very concerned about what’s happened with environmental protection, instead of having an Environmental Protection Agency, we have a pollution-enabling, oil company-profit maximizing agency. I’m very concerned about unfair taxation. I’m very concerned about Betsy DeVos being in charge of public education … and I’ve always been very concerned about gun control.”

Livingston County campaign coordinator Muriel Kaier said she chose to support Smith because he won’t pander to voters — instead, he’ll stick to his beliefs.

“Everything he believes in, I believe in,” Kaier said.

The Affordable Care Act was a decent start, but Medicare for all is the end goal for healthcare, Smith said.

He said he is aware of the narrow definition of the Second Amendment, according to the Supreme Court, because he has taught and written about it for years.

In 2008, the Supreme Court said handguns can be kept in houses and gun ownership can be regulated because the right to bear arms is not an unlimited right.

“Everything else is a policy decision as of now because the Supreme Court has not taken cases to change that definition,” Smith said. “They’ve expanded that definition … but it’s up to us to make decisions about the kinds of weapons and carrying and all that sort of stuff.”

Smith said he wants background checks at all gun sales, testing and licensing, annual registration and liability insurance for all gun owners.

“We need increased funding for mental health diagnosis and treatment, unrelated to guns, but there’s a carryover potential benefit,” Smith said.

Smith said he does not want to ban hunting rifles and he doesn’t think the Supreme Court will ever rule on it because no state will ever ban them.

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MSU DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

CONGRATULATIONS

CLASS OF

2018

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Sports

Jonathan LeBlanc Sports editor sports@statenews.com

‘Just perspective,’ Tum Tum says of his life, basketball games, faith

BY KARA KEATING KKEATING@STATENEWS.COM

Former Spartan Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. did not have the same path of playing basketball compared to his teammates.

After moving from his home in Nassau, Bahamas when he was only 13 years old, he continued his new passion on a path that he said he knew God had made for him.

The former three-year captain gave a motivational speech to Okemos High School, hosted by the Okemos Fellowship of Christian Athletes club, or FCA, in response to the second suicide in the school’s community.

“They reached out to me during the season, but I couldn’t do it,” Nairn said. “I didn’t have the time to do it. After the season, I wanted to make sure I get out and do it. I felt like God was leading me to do it.”

Okemos High School student and senior leader of FCA Gerald Sambaer met with the former Spartan guard during the season to ask him speak during their club meeting, to motivate his community.

Volunteer Kelle Donnelly noted students wanted Nairn to speak at one of their meetings and used their resources to help put the event together. Eight days before the actual event, Nairn con-

firmed he could speak in front of the community after the death of a former student. Donnelly said she knows this was God’s plan.

“This is perfect confirmation for us that this is when it was supposed to be and that was his story he was supposed to tell and everyone that’s here is suppose to be here to listen,” she said.

Nairn said growing up, he never was a highly religious person.

But after he moved to Florida to play basketball, he found out the school was located in a strip mall and they had no facilities to play basketball in. He began to look toward scriptures and put his faith in God. Nairn attended a tournament back in the Bahamas, where American high school and college basketball coaches watched athletes play against each other in a recruiting process.

This is where he met his high school basketball coach from Sunrise Christian Academy, which is located in Wichita, Kansas.

During his senior year of high school, he took 11 classes to graduate on time and met with head coach Tom Izzo. He said he chose to go to MSU because it is the place God wanted him to be.

“I think he really did a good job of giving his story and talking about all of the hardships he went through, and he was saying that God put him through these things to put him in a situa-

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Former MSU senior guard Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. (11) spoke at The Fellowship of Christian Athletes event at Okemos High School on April 20. PHOTO: ANNIE BARKER

tion he is now to succeed because God already knew what was going to happen down the road,” Sambaer said.

When Nairn first met Izzo, he promised him he would help the team win a National Championship during his four-year career. He made it as far as the Final Four in 2015, but fell to Duke, 81-61.

Nairn said there are more things in life than winning a National Championship in basketball.

“Just perspective,” Nairn said. “Sometimes in life we make these little things more important than the things that really matter, and I just wanted to help them understand it’s a lot more things that’s going on in life than losing a basketball game.”

Donnelly knew the former student as her neighbor and from multiple FCA meetings before the

student’s death.

She said she sat there and wondered why it happened and almost thought about not attending the funeral service because she could not face what happened.

After the services, she said she felt she’s grown stronger and wants to change the community even more. She said she felt inspired during Nairn’s speech.

“That’s kind of like that boost that we needed,” Donnelly said. “It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty on what’s going on around us. I’m choosing to say that it’s better and we have to inspire more, we cannot just accept this. This isn’t acceptable.

We have to call God into these vacant places that he is missing.”

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Jonathan LeBlanc Sports editor sports@statenews.com

Women’s golf wins 2nd straight Big Ten Championship behind Burnham’s success

BY CHASE MICHAELSON CMICHAELSON@STATENEWS.COM

W

omen’s golf continued its triumphant march through the spring season as the team won its second-straight Big Ten Championship from April 20-22.

Next for the Spartans is the NCAA Tournament Regionals on May 7.

The Spartans shot a three-round total of 5-under par and won the tournament by four strokes over Maryland and Illinois.

Senior Katie Sharp clinched the tournament with a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole.

“It was magical. That’s probably the best way to describe it,” Sharp said. “As soon as I started looking at the putt, I kind of had this feeling deep down that it was going to go in. I hit it, and the whole time, I was like, ‘it’s in, it’s in.’

It’s just incredible to be able to have that kind of shot to win the championship and pump up your team.”

Sophomore Paz Marfa Sans said she thought the putt would go long, but was ecstatic to see it drop.

“I was watching that putt from the spectator zone,” she said. “It was so fast, and I was just like ‘Hit the hole, go in, go in.’ When it went in, we just kind of screamed.”

Sharp’s putt was part of a strong finish for the

Spartans, as they made five birdies on the 53rd and 54th holes of the tournament.

“I think we’re pretty poised and confident about our game,” senior Sarah Burnham said. “I think it proves that we’re ready for the national championships, and ready to take on any team in the country, just because we’ve been in those situations and been able to be clutch.”

Head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, who was named on April 24 was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, was impressed with her team’s ability to handle the pressure of being the favorite to win and make big putts late.

“We were the ones with the target on our back.

Golfweek picked us to win,” she said. “We were the highest ranked team for the majority of the year. That didn’t make me so uncomfortable because four of our six players were there last year. These are big-time kids. They’ve accomplished huge things already.”

Burnham finished second in the individual portion of the tournament after she shot 5-under par.

The Maple Grove, Minnesota, native also became the first MSU women’s golfer to win the Mary Fossum Award for the Big Ten player with the lowest stroke average to par through the course of the season.

This adds to Burnham’s long list of accolades, as she won her second Big Ten Player of the Year award and is expected to make her third

Women’s golf celebrates its second-straight Big Ten Championship win on April 22 at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio. PHOTO COURTESY OF MSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

All-American team.

“We’ve had a lot of good players throughout (my) 20 years. She’s going to go down as the best ever,” Slobodnik-Stoll said of Burnham.

Burnham said she has a list of goals she has kept in her locker since her sophomore season.

“When I first came in, I didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “I didn’t become a higher

level player until my sophomore year. But then, I kind of realized, I want to be an All-American, I want to be Big Ten Player of the Year, I want to be part of a Big Ten Championship team.”

Slobodnik-Stoll said she liked Burnham’s ability to change her demeanor on and off the course at the flip of a switch.

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Features

Sasha Zidar Features editor features@statenews.com

Conversation between State News leadership ­— old and new

BY CLAIRE MOORE

Outgoing State News Editor-in-Chief Rachel Fradette poses for a portrait at The State News newsroom on April 25. PHOTO: NIC ANTAYA

CMOORE@STATENEWS.COM

ACROSS

1 Place for peas or z’s 4 Bridge measure 8 Like traffic at a bottleneck 14 “Norma __” 15 She famously said “Play it” to 49-Across 16 Saved to watch later 17 Horace’s “__ Poetica” 18 Year-end rewards 20 One-step-at-a-time toy 22 “Only __”: NPR sports program 23 Silver State capital 26 “The Mindy Project” actor Barinholtz 29 Well-endowed org.?

30 McKellen and McShane 31 Said further 33 Real estate unit 34 Acted bullish?

35 Classic TV intro which can be applied to the starts of the four other longest puzzle answers 41 Volunteer’s offer 42 “Vaya con __” 43 Attach with string 44 Half of half-and-half 45 Flower painted by van Gogh 49 See 15-Across 50 Bad break

52 Really worry 55 __ Tunes 56 Dugout loudmouth 60 Horseplayer’s hangout, for short 61 “Good News” Grammy winner Kathy 62 Workshop gadget 63 Opposite of paleo64 Wimps 65 Cheek or lip 66 “Yakety __”: rock-’n’roll novelty hit

DOWN

1 “Donnie __”: Depp film 2 Part of a winter hat 3 Appetite 4 Michael Moore film about healthcare 5 “No more fighting!”

6 Pack animal 7 “Don’t think so” 8 Cheap smoke 9 Actress Fey 10 Egg cell 11 Trident-carrying god 12 “My goodness” 13 Pigs out (on), for short 19 Creatures in caves 21 Pres. advisory team 24 “The Alienist” novelist Caleb

25 Boss’ demand often followed by “now!”

27 Shrewd 28 Circular current 31 Tori of pop 32 Head-slapper’s cry 33 Long, long time 35 Search engine results 36 Director Kazan 37 Basic principles 38 Big head 39 Sandy sediment 40 Like a really bad comedy skit 44 Fictional detective Mr. __ 45 U.N. workers’ agcy.

46 Sentences that need fixing 47 Summer drink 48 Posh stadium seating 50 Hindu princes 51 “The Highwayman” poet 53 “Hair” parts 54 Biblical pronoun 56 Big name in luxury autos 57 __ de cologne 58 Rite Aid competitor 59 Soul maker

Level: 1

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 WEDNESDAY’S PUZZLE

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12/14/17

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Editor-in-Chief Rachel Fradette has experienced a full academic year of managing the newsroom at The State News. She sat down for a conversation with Claire Moore — the incoming Editor-in-Chief for the summer — on what she has learned in the leadership role and what advice she has to offer.

Q A

Next week, I’ll be taking over as Editor-in-Chief. Your first day on the job as Editor-in-Chief, what was it like?

Q A

What are the most useful things you learned in your first few weeks on the job?

Q A

What’s it like designing a paper? Like, pitching stories, editing them and then designing the paper.

I think I was feeling the weight of the expectations. I had seen a lot of different Editorin-Chiefs do the job. In my time here, I’ve seen three, and then I’ve known a lot of other people who had done it as well, just through networking and other things, but … I knew how much it mattered and I knew that my time had officially started that day. I think that’s what really made me think about it — that it was now my time to make decisions and to lead the newsroom and help grow this place that I’ve been a part of since I was a freshman.

Omar Sofradzija, who is our editorial adviser, told me during my first week that no matter what — day, night, high pressure, low pressure — your staff, the people you lead, are always watching. What I really noticed in those first few weeks is that people were watching. I had to be sure to keep myself in check and to keep my shoulders back and to lead in a way that I can inspire them and I can show them what they can do.

It’s a process that I think all of the editors are learning so much from doing it, because you feel this sense of dedication and pride to your print product, because you want your audience to pick it up. It’s also our face. It’s The State News. But when you look at the paper, that’s also a representation of the voice of the campus. That’s something that I really focused on this year — the importance of a cover.

Q A

What was the craziest breaking news moment that you had this year?

Q A

What advice do you have for me?

Q A

What was your favorite story this year?

10

That’s very easy. Jan. 24, 2018 was the most wild day of my life … It was the last day of Nassar’s Ingham County Court sentencing. Like six hours later, after Trustee (Dianne) Byrum called for Lou Anna K. Simon to resign, I was working on a story with Madison O’Connor, who’s the campus editor. We had a source that was willing to go on record and tell us that Simon and the Board of Trustees were making a plan for the end of the week to have her step down. We were the first news organization to break it.

Rome was definitely not built in a day. It’s a very, very tough job. You start at the beginning and you don’t know anything, and you try your best and you work your way up. By the end, when you’re finally starting to figure out how to do it all, you’re done. You really have to enjoy the ride. You have to make decisions, and they won’t all be right. You have to apologize if you make a mistake. You have to own your mistakes and learn from them once you’ve made them … I think what’s most important is that you have to build a staff that will rally around you when it is convenient, and especially when it is not.

I don’t think I could pick a favorite story because I think that we produced tremendous work … It would be too difficult. There are stories that I could pick out that I thought were incredible and really well-reported.

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News

Madison O’Connor Campus editor Campus@statenews.com

ASMSU President Santavicca reflects on two ‘whirlwind’ years

BY MILA MURRAY MMURRAY@STATENEWS.COM

When international relations senior Lorenzo Santavicca ran for undergraduate student body president as a sophomore, the Associated Students of Michigan State University, or ASMSU, he said they weren’t expecting “the underdog” to win.

“He’s not qualified,” “He hasn’t understood enough of the organization,” “He’s too young,” and the primary reaction: “He doesn’t understand.”

“That couldn’t have been farther from the truth,” Santavicca said.

Two years later, Santavicca is the first person in the history of the organization to have served back-to-back terms.

“I built up such a strong base of knowledge about how Michigan State University works and how it doesn’t work,” Santavicca said. “And that gave me the self-confidence in saying, ‘I don’t know what they’re talking about, I know what I’m doing.’”

“Little did I know that this organization, ASMSU, exists. And that I would be in this role today.”

When Santavicca chose to attend MSU, he wasn’t aware ASMSU, the organization he would one day lead, existed. In fact, he wasn’t even considering joining the undergraduate student government at all.

But student government was always something he was involved in — he started as a member in student council in fourth grade, which was something he didn’t actually want to do, but his parents told him to get involved in a school club. In fifth grade, he was elected vice president of the student council.

“I wasn’t really sure what that meant or what that did,” Santavicca said.

After two weeks of being in MSU’s James Madison College, he felt the urge to get back into student government.

“He was actually the one to encourage me to keep moving on with ASMSU,” ASMSU Chief of Staff Lauren Fish, who started in the organization at the same time as Santavicca, said.

During his sophomore year, a few of his mentors in ASMSU’s Office of the President, the group of students who lead the organization, told him to run for the presidency. Santavicca said it felt right, and he went on to become the first junior ever to be elected.

His competitor in his first election was Bryn Williams, a junior at the time who served as the Vice President for Governmental Affairs while Santavicca was the Vice President for Academic Affairs in the Office of the President.

Santavicca said if Williams had gotten elected, he would have supported him in academic affairs. And Williams had strengths in governmental affairs that Santavicca didn’t have, but he left.

“I admired the work that he did, I still admire him,” Santavicca said. “We haven’t talked since the election, though, and I miss that. He was a good friend of mine.”

“The reality is that in this role, you are always seen as the president.”

“Not going to lie, I still applaud every time I see him across Case Hall, I say, ‘You’re going to class man, I can attest to that.’ It’s this running joke that we forget the ‘student’ part of the ‘student leader,’” ASMSU President-elect Katherine “Cook-

ie” Rifiotis said. “But I think that’s how he does it, merging everything in one. His co-workers, his best friends, his predecessor, his roommate.

He merged all of that in one and said, ‘I’m not going to distinguish between work and play.’”

In bed by 11 p.m., up by 7 a.m. That’s what he learned from a predecessor — and despite 40 plus hours in the office every week, media interviews, keeping up with academics, meetings after meetings and leading a student government, he has stayed with this advice throughout his presidency.

But balancing his identity as a student and his identity as the student body president has been difficult. Santavicca said one of the hardest challenges has been stepping out of this role.

“You’re never seen as ‘Lorenzo the person,’ you’re seen as ‘Lorenzo the president,’” Santavicca said. “And it’s a very difficult task sometimes to wear that hat all the time. Sometimes I just want to go out and be just the average student that doesn’t care.”

Rifiotis has known Santavicca as a classmate in James Madison College, a co-worker, a mentor and a friend.

“Every Friday, we would be the only ones there (in the office) after 6 or 7 p.m. He would come into my office and we would just debrief the whole week,” Rifiotis said. “And you can totally tell when he was ‘suit off’ — just kind of himself.”

Another hurdle for Santavicca was learning to deal with the press.

“Do I actively attack the press for something that I’ve said? No, not now. I think for a while there I was pretty bitter, because in the fall semester, specifically, every day it was throwing something else at me. I was like, ‘OK, when is it going to stop?’” Santavicca said. “Honest to God, it was one of the hardest things for me to handle. But what it helped me realize is that that’s the life of a public servant. You are held accountable by everyone that you represent.”

He said throughout his presidency, stress from classes and mental health have only added to the complications of being a leader.

“I’ve quite literally dedicated my two years in this role to everything about the students,” Santavicca said. “And one thing that I’ll say about that is, I am a student just like you.”

“Do I think I’m a good leader? I mean, I think that it just depends on if the people around me have stayed with me. And I’ve got an incredible few that have stood with me since freshman year.”

“The way to know if I’m a good leader is looking at how the organization is going to handle itself next year,” Santavicca said.

As for the leaders alongside him in the Office of the President, Santavicca said he is indebted to them. And although they are all friends, and do fun things like go to the Peanut Barrel “rather regularly,” they still have an organization to take care of.

Now, the presidency is being handed over to Rifiotis, who was elected by the general assembly on April 18.

“One of the things that marked me the most was when we had a conflict, a misunderstanding,” Rifiotis said about Santavicca. “And he came into my office and he was ready to explain himself, but instead, he just listened to everything I had to say … And that’s when I realized that in any situation, I should have done the same exact thing.”

READ MORE ABOUT SANTAVICCA AT STATENEWS.COM

“You can totally tell when he was ‘suit off’ — just kind of himself,” Katherine “Cookie” Rifiotis said. Rifiotis will take over as president of the student government this summer.

President of the Associated Students of Michigan State University Lorenzo Santavicca checks his phone prior to his meeting with interim President John Engler on April 24 at the Main Library. PHOTO: C.J. WEISS

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