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police
Bomb scare forces brief evacuations near stadium
Students unpack study abroad experiences when returning to MSU
Coming BACK
By Simon Schuster sschuster@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS n n
Spartan Stadium and surrounding buildings were evacuated late Wednesday afternoon for a bomb scare that ended up proving false. MSU Police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said the threat was called in through central dispatch at 3:15 p.m. Police evacuated Spartan Stadium and the surrounding area and relocated personnel to areas in Wells Hall and near Munn Ice Arena. Nathan Blixt, an employee in Web Services said officers walked into a conference room in the offices attached to the stadium told employees to evacuate. “There was a police officer that came into our meeting,” Blixt said. “He said, ‘just get out of the building, walk as far West as you can.’” Employees stood across Chestnut Road from the stadium watching police as K-9 units entered the building, presumably to search for the presence of explosives. By about 4:20 p.m. employees began to disperse. For those who left the building with their belongings, the evacuation meant an early end to the work day. When the evacuation order was given, recent graduate and MSU Museum employee Riley Ravary was working in See SCARE on page 2 u
By Olivia Dimmer
odimmer@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS n n
Packing for, preparing for and financing a study abr oad pr og r a m can be difficult, but for most students the hardest aspect of studying abroad comes at the end of the trip — returning home. In the past few we e k s, a n abu ndance of MSU students have spent time readjusting to American culture, timezones and food as they are just now returning from summer study abroad programs. Office of Study Abroad E x e c ut i v e D i r e c t o r Bret t Berquist said about 2,000 st udents choose to study abroad du r i ng t he sum mer, more t han any other time of year. He said the reason behind the popularity of summer study abroad programs is simple — convenience. “As a public institution we find a
Danyelle Morrow/The State News
lot of our students during the summertime work and tr y to get coursework out of the way,” Berquist said. “In choosing study abroad, they can take programs (that are) shorter than the regular semester, essentially being gone for a shorter period of time.” The 300 study abroad programs MSU facilitates span all seven continents and range in duration from 10 days to six weeks, although Berquist said a 10-day study abroad program is not typical. “Most of the summertime programs grant MSU credits and count towards a degree. T hey are credits students would have paid for anyway. We have actually found that students who study abroad generally graduate one semester faster,” Berquist said. But Berquist stresses the “intenseness” of the experience, both the transition to a new culture and the switch back to the States. It jolts students out of their comfort zone and leads to cultural and personal awareness. Going Abroad, Then Going Home See ABROAD on page 2 u
Crime
49 sexual assaults place MSU fifth in Big Ten 84 64 61 54 49 By Casey Holland
cholland@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
A data table compiled by the Washington Post on Sunday illustrates exactly how MSU’s campus, with .41 sexual offenses occurring for every 1,000 students, compares to other universities in Michigan and the U.S. With 49 sexual offenses reported between 2010 and 2012, MSU occupies the 11th highest spot, right behind four other Big Ten schools. Pennsylvania State University holds the highest number of offenses; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, has the third highest; followed by Ohio State University with the fourth and Indiana University, Bloom-
ington, with the seventh highest. The table showcases data collected from about 1,570 public and private nonprofit universities scattered throughout the nation. The colleges had previously submitted data to the Education Department under a campus safety law requiring them to disclose crime on campus, called The Clery Act. Out of the more than 1,500 schools on the table, about 45 percent did not report any sexual offenses during the three-year period of 2010-2012. MSU, with a reported enrollment of 48,783 students, had 49 cases reported during those three years, but coordinator for the MSU Counseling Center Sexual Assault Program Shari Murgittroyd said the
number is small compared to how many could have actually happened. “Depending on which research you look at, one-fourth or onefifth of women will be sexually assaulted during their time at university,” she said. “Of the more than 40,000 students enrolled at MSU, 51 percent are female. One-fourth of that amount would be in the thousands. ... The small numbers don’t surprise me — I think they’re a reflection of our culture and what we know. It’s not disturbing, it’s what I expect. Most don’t report these crimes.” MSU’s number of reported forcible sexual assualt cases,
Total number of reported alleged sexual offenses between 2010 and 2012
Pennsylvania State University
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Ohio State University
Indiana University Bloomington
Michigan State University
Total enrolled during those years
45,783 43,426 56,387 42,133 48,783 Florian Cherdron/SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST
See ASSAULTS on page 2 u
more inside Where to buy fireworks On eve of holiday, there are plenty of options for those looking to watch, buy fireworks Owosso, Mich., resident, Sienna Baker, 11, browses a selection of fireworks on Wednesday, at Jeff’s Fireworks, 3340 E Lake Lansing road. Jessalyn Tamez/The State News Campus+city, pg. 3
Firework laws City ordinances dictate what firework consumers can and can’t do on Fourth of July Campus+city, pg. 5 campus+city, pG. 3