statenews.com | 10/8/13 | @thesnews Michigan State University’s independent voice
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Candidate talks plans for city’s future
Officials pushing for more recycling
Dennard captures weekly honors
Find out about incumbent Kathleen Boyle’s views
Surplus Store holding Community ReUse Days this week
Senior cornerback’s play rewarded by Big Ten
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sports, page 6
Senior cornerback Darqueze Dennard Khoa Nguyen/The State News
court
new bill to Alleged murderer’s sister, dad take stand as trial goes on encourage grads to stay in michigan By Katie Abdilla and Simon Schuster
kabdilla@statenews.com and sschuster@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
By Michael Gerstein mgerstein@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
A new bill proposed by Michigan Sen. Glenn Anderson, D-Westland, would offer tax credits to graduates from instate universities who stay in the state. It’s an effort to curb the perceived “brain drain” problem — the tendency for many young grads to move out of state and take their newfound skills and education elsewhere. Anderson said that while the bill is no guarantee grads will stay, offering credits of half the amount paid on a “qua lified” student loan in a given year — what the credits would go towards — could be the “icing on the Mike cake”. Boulus, Many grads, President’s including Council, many f rom State Universities MSU, end up of Michigan m o v i n g t o major metropolitan areas such as Chicago or New York City, something that’s concerned some lawmakers and policy experts for years. Both Anderson’s bill and a similar House bill sponsored by Rep. Andy Schor, D-Lansing, would try to curb more from doing so. Several advocacy organizations say the bill could be a great measure for helping students pay off debt, which approached an average of about $27,000 per student this year, according to the Institute for College Access and Success. “Anything we can do to help that right now is just fantastic,” said Jessica Leacher, ASMSU’s vice president for governmental affairs, who attended a committee hearing on the bill last Wednesday. Others are somewhat skeptical of how much of an incentive the bill actually would provide. Michael Boulus, director of the President’s Council, State Universities of Michigan, said that while he hasn’t formulated an official position on the proposal, the effort would be expensive. “There’s a cost here of about
“ “Tuition
tax credits are really not a big incentive.”
See POLICY on page 2 u
To Okemos resident Shay McCowan, her little brother is her best friend. She said her brother Connor McCowan, 19, became close with MSU student Andrew Singler after she began dating him in 2010. T he g roup ma i nt a i ned a steady companionship until the early morning of Feb. 23, when an argument between the couple led to confrontation, culminating in Connor McCowan allegedly stabbing Singler to death. “They were like brothers,” Shay McCowan said. Shay McCowan testified in her brother’s trial Mon-
day morning, crying through most of her testimony. When she began testif ying, Connor McCowan became emotional, as well. Phone records obtained by police show that Shay texted Connor McCowan that night, saying Singler had broken her back and one of her ribs, injuries that police said she was never treated for.
Shay McCowan, sister of alleged killer Connor McCowan, wipes her tears Monday at Ingham County Circuit Court. Connor McCowan has been charged with the murder of Shay's boyfriend, Andrew Singler.
Testimony from Connor McCowan’s dad reveals Connor said he feared for his life and acted in self-defense that night Con nor Mc Cowa n t hen argued with Singler through a series of text messages and drove to his apartment in Meridian Township to confront him. Connor McCowan’s dad, O k e m o s r e s i de nt R a n d y
Georgina De Moya /The State News
McCowan, was asleep on his couch when his son woke him at 4 a.m. on Feb. 23. McCowan also testified Monday.
He said Connor McCowan told him about the altercation and said he feared for his life and retaliated in self-defense.
The two called Singler’s cell phone several times, then See TRIAL on page 2 u
Parades and prep
Hospitality business senior T.J. McDermott measures out a piece of wood Monday at Spartan Stadium. Student organizations are preparing floats for the MSU Homecoming parade on Friday. Khoa Nguyen, SN See FLOATS on page 5
campus
Impact 89FM up for nat’l award despite funding issues By Nolly Dakroury ndakroury@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
Margaux Forster/The State News
Mechanical engineer senior Eric Schendel DJs for MSU's Impact 89FM radio station. Impact has been nominated for College Radio Station of the Year honors.
Despite so far losing its student tax funding for the second straight academic year, Impact 89FM has been nominated for the 2013 College Radio Station of the Year Award, given by the College Music Journal, the top North American journal for college radio. Impact 89FM will be competing against three other college radio stations for the award. Impact 89FM General Manager Ed Glazer said this is the second time that the radio sta-
tion received this nomination, and said that it’s a result of hard work on the part of station members. “We’re really excited about it and we hope that we get it this time,” Glazer said. Station personnel are getting ready to travel to New York City for the College Music Journal conference and the award ceremony, which will be held on Oct. 17. Glazer said everyone attending the conference will vote for the top prize, including college station personnel, personnel from the radio and music industries and band members performing during
the conference. Glazer said station personnel have been doing the best they can to keep the station operating smoothly, given that they are using security funds for financing. The radio station is going into its second year without receiv ing $300,000 wor t h of student tax dollars, after ASMSU and the Council of Graduate Students, or COGS, requested the station conduct comprehensive financial reviews in December 2012. “There were a few questions that we had at that time, one of which was that the MSU Radio
Board had not met,” COGS President Stefan Fletcher said. At the time, ASMSU officials thought that other tax-funded organizations, like Impact 89FM, should be undergoing the same accounting standards as ASMSU, said Matt Franks, ASMSU director of public relations. The student government also had been asked to run audits, after which the administration demanded the transfer of all of ASMSU’s off-campus funds to an on-campus account. The student governments, which sponsor the station, also
See STATION on page 2 u