statenews.com | 7/21/14 | @thesnews
A final note
Getting a taste
MSU student band plays final show before hiatus, says goodbye to band member
Vendors place food and wine out on tables before Taste of Downtown on Saturday at 100 S. Washington Square in Lansing. This was the 5th annual Taste of Downtown.
sports+Features, PAGE 6
campus+city, PAGE 5
jessalyn tamez | SN
Michigan State University’s independent voice
a pocket-sized, banned weapon
By Katie Krall
kkrall@statenews.com The State News nn
All weapons — including chemical substances — are banned on campus, according to an ordinance set by the Board of Trustees in the 1960s. Ordinance 18.00 Firearms or Weapons, which was first enacted Sept. 15, 1964 and was last amended June 19, 2009, specifically bans the use of firearms, chemical, biological, radioactive or other dangerous substances to injure, molest, or coerce another person. Students concerned with protecting themselves on campus have to resort to other means when walking alone, because under the ordinance pepper spray is not permitted. Not all students abide by the ordinance, however. Pepper spray, or Mace, is relatively inexpensive and can be found in most supermarkets. Some brands have even designed it as a keychain. It’s not uncommon to see female students on campus with pink canisters of pepper spray hanging alongside their keys. Some students feel the need to carry pepper spray outweighs the regulation against it, but many students aren’t aware it’s an illegal substance under the ordinance. All of those students could face consequences if they’re caught, even if they carry it to protect themselves. A necessary evil? MSU spokesman Jason Cody said in an email if a student is caught carrying Mace, he or she would face penalties — either from law enforcement or from the campus judicial system. The ordinance itself states anyone failing to comply will be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be fined $100 and possibly imprisoned for 90 days. Recent MSU alumna Jessica Smith said knowing pepper spray is illegal under the ordinance would not stop her from carrying it on campus if she felt
acade m ics
Philosophy degree provides tools By Casey Holland
PEPPER SPRAY ON THE SCOVILLE SCALE
cholland@statenews.com The State News nn
The Scoville Scale is a measurement of the capsaicin concentration within a substance measured in Scoville heat units
5,000,000
Police-grade Pepper Spray
2,000,000
Consumer-grade Pepper Spray
855,000
Ghost Pepper
200,000
Habanero Pepper
8,000 0
Jalapeño Pepper Bell Pepper
Gr aphic By Florian Cherdron | SN
Source: pepperscale.com the need for it. “There (are) so many people on campus and there have been cases of people being attacked on campus at like 4 o’clock in the afternoon, in broad daylight,” she said. Smith acknowledges safety
s u s ta i n a b i l i t y
Co-op teaches upcycling, container gardening
concerns exist with pepper spray if it were misused or sprayed accidentally, but she doesn’t think it should be banned. “I think if they want to take extra precautions, they should require girls take a safety class,” she said.
Smith said she uses basic precautions if she has to walk anywhere alone, but she said those precautions aren’t tailored to MSU. “I mean, (with) 50,000 people on campus ... it’s likely for something to happen, you know?
With that many people you’re going to get a few bad seeds, but I don’t feel any more or less safe than I would at home,” Smith said. Associate Director of StuSee Pepper Spray on page 2 u
Philosophy and psychology senior Olivia Jamrog chose her major because of the advice of her father. She didn’t take any philosophy courses during her high school years and spent her freshman year at MSU undeclared. After taking philosophy classes and learning from her dad that it could be a good foundation to build upon, she declared her double major. Now she’s looking at her options for a future career, whether it be law school or public health. “I find that in the adult world people seem to ‘get’ (majoring in philosophy),” she said. “They view it as challenging and important, while students don’t really know what they can gain from it.” For the past three years the philosophy department has been compiling data from their senior capstone courses. Surveys given to graduating philosophy students are used to determine how philosophy courses have prepared students for future career opportunities, and whether they have a clear vision of what they want to do for a career once they leave university behind. While they haven’t been compiling data long enough to form any concrete conclusions, philosophy professor and department chair Matthew McKeon said those who go into the general labor market after graduation aren’t going to go into direct employee disciplines. “You’re not going to use your direct knowledge of Plato in contrast with, say, engineering,” McKeon said. The tools that come with a philosophy degree are often unknown by incoming stuSee Philosophy on page 2 u
Community grocer closes Page 3
By Sierra Lay
people opt for ... processed food.” Using just seeds, soil and the containers made suitable by drillThe State News ing holes in the bottom, BuchanIn a world filled with perpetu- an explained how anyone can al change, sustainability can be grow their own food on a porch or patio. a necessity. “East Lansing is a food desert, Sustainability served as a major theme in a Container Gar- so there’s no access to healthy organic food within a dening Workshop held mile radius,” BuchanSaturday at co-op an said. “Vegetahouse Vesta. The bles off the vine, workshop, crefresh-picked, ated by AmeriEast Lansing is a have muc h Corps and the higher nutriMid-Michifood desert, there’s no ent value than gan Environaccess to healthy food you’re going mental Action within a mile radius.” to get at the Council coopstores.” eratively with Marketing junior Participants the MSU Student were offered tomaHousing Co-op, or to, pepper and kale SHC, highlighted the seeds to plant as they idea of sustainable living through the use of growing food filled their buckets with moist planted in upcycled, or re-used, soil. Many students said they would be taking their new plants containers. Host of the workshop and home to share with their housemarketing junior Alex Buchan- mates and friends. “Growing food is something an reused five-gallon plastic pickle containers from the Potbelly that may take a collaborative Sandwich Shop located on Grand effort,” Residential College in the Arts and Humanities senior and River Avenue. “Most of our (focus) is access SHC Vice President of Educato food,” Buchanan said. “Vegetables in general (are) expensive, so See Gardening on page 2 u slay@statenews.com nn
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—Alex Bucnanan,
Danyelle Morrow/The State News
Delta Charter Township, Mich., resident Ralph Swan waits for his wife as East Lansing resident Elizabeth Scheffel stands at the checkout counter July 19, 2014, at Goodrich's Shop-Rite in Trowbridge Plaza on the last day the store would be open. Swan has been shopping at the store with his wife since he was a student living in married housing at MSU.