Friday 12/5/14

State News The

What you want to read You asked, we delivered. Readers told us on social media the articles they wanted us to write. In this issue we answer your questions about the MSU Alumni Association, MSU’s party school repuation, the health of alumna Stacy Blakeslee and how MSU decides when we have a snow day. See pages 6-7

TOP LEFT: Then, supply chain management senior Nick Gonyea, front, stands around a collapsed igloo with friends Jan. 6 on the 200 block of Durand. TOP RIGHT: Ferris State University student Alex Kallenbach pours beer into a cup April 12 at Nachofest on Stoddard Avenue. BELOW LEFT: Alumni Association head Scott Westerman stands along Chestnut road after being evacuated from Spartan Stadium on July 2. BELOW RIGHT: Dale Blakeslee holds onto his daughter’s hands, MSU graduate Stacy Blakeslee, on March 14 at Spectrum Rehab and Nursing Center in Grand Rapids. STATE NEWS FILE PHOTOS

S P O RTS

G RAD UATI O N

Controversial commencement

Some students are questioning the chosen December graduation speakers — page 4 f riday, D ec emb e r 5, 2 014

@thesnews

The MSU football season report card Football reporter Robert Bondy gave the team a B+, because despite many successes this season, MSU is not in the College Football Playoff — page 10 stat enews .com

The State News will resume publication on Jan. 12, but check statenews.com for updates

Contents

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da i ly N um b er

i ns i d e

Follow these tips to keep your belongings safe during break

Living City: MSU League of Legends Club meets weekly to game

Volleyball to start first round of NCAA Tournament Friday

Page 4

Page 8

Page 12

“People always look better in retrospect and the memories are always happier and more pure.

Sometimes, when looking back on your time with a person, it’s a lot harder to see the ways they hurt you...”

Opinion editor Casey Holland, on how to get closure.

Read more on page 3.

Days left of this semester, including today

Kinesiology junior Jason Johnson pours a blended smoothie into a cup Wednesday at Tropical Smoothie, 1201 E. Grand River Ave., in East Lansing.

Tropical Smoothie hosted a fundraiser at the store for the MSU Honors College. Read this week’s Good Eats on page 9.

PHOTO: Dylan vowell

Rate the things you buy.

Tell your friends what’s cool.

Prefies

4G

11:25 AM

100%

Tuesday

Messages

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Calendar 10 9 8

Weather

Notes

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11 12 1

7 6 5

2 3 4

Clock

Reminders

Photos

Camera

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Maps

Stocks

The State N e ws

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Prefies, pronounced like selfies, lets you and your friends share everyday experiences about the products you use.

Check it out before it’s released at prefies.com.

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Editor-in-chief Celeste Bott managing editor Anya Rath BREAKING NEWS EDITOR Simon Schuster TRENDS AND ISSUES EDITOR Merinda Valley SPORTS EDITOR Omari Sankofa II FEATURES EDITOR Emily Jenks Opinion editor Casey Holland PHOTO EDITOR Erin Hampton COPY CHIEF Elena Cronick Copyright © 2014 State News Inc., East Lansing, Mich.

Opinion

Casey Holland Opinion editor opinion@statenews.com @thesnewsopinion

Facebook still the most reliable social media site

By Anthony Herta aherta@statenews.com

Many people have started to argue that Facebook is dying. Facebook is full of old people. Facebook has a ton of ads. Facebook is too complicated. To some degree, these arguments are correct.

I will be the first to tell you Facebook isn’t perfect. But, unlike many other people my age, Facebook is still my favorite social network.

In middle school, Facebook was huge.

People added “friends” like it was their job.

Millions of photos were posted. Everyone knew what people were doing every second of their life. Many plants were watered in FarmVille. Facebook was the place to be.

When my parents finally let me create my own Facebook profile in eighth grade, I was ecstatic. I was scrambling to find the best photo of myself to impress all the ladies that would be looking at my profile.

I thought Facebook was so cool. Being able to see what all my friends were doing and being able to post funny things on their walls was nothing like I’d never experi-

enced before. Facebook was a perfect step up from the AIM days with Facebook’s instant message interface.

But since the Facebook glory days, many other social networks have popped up — most notably Twitter and Instagram. Although I am a fan of both social networks, both of these outlets haven’t matched the warmheartedness I have toward Facebook.

Twitter serves as a great way to see what people are up to at a glance. However, sometimes there’s so many tweets, it can be overwhelming to scan for information you actually care about.

But, with Twitter, a lot more superficial things come into play compared to Facebook.

No one cares anymore how many friends you have on Facebook. On Twitter, the number of “followers” and “following” is prominently displayed at the top of your profile for everyone to see. As a result, many people become hung up on their following-to-followers ratio — God forbid you follow more people than follow you, because that’s social suicide.

Although at the moment Twitter has less ads on their site, I’ve noticed more “sponsored” tweets sneakily being placed in my timeline. This argument will likely be short lived if Twitter wants to maximize their profits.

Instagram takes the superficial to another level. Everyone’s goal seems to be to

get past that first 10 likes as quick as possible so an actual number of likes appears under your photo.

Then there’s the actual photo. Because many people are so thirsty for likes, they feel like they have to look absolutely perfect in every photo they post. But don’t worry, there are many filters and photo applications to enhance your photos.

With Facebook I don’t feel the same sort of judgment and superficiality that essentially runs Twitter and Instagram.

Facebook has evolved nicely throughout the six years I’ve been on the site.

It’s the only place online where I’m connected to a huge variety of friends and family of all ages. Although this may appear as a negative to some, Facebook makes it very easy to block a certain post or photo that you may not want grandma to see.

Facebook also serves as a great resource.

With class Facebook groups, it makes it easy to ask other classmates about homework or tests without having to waste days waiting for your TA or professor to respond. It is also fairly easy to create awareness of an upcoming event without having to send out physical invitations.

At the end of the day, Facebook is like looking through that old scrapbook your mom made — you may not want to acknowledge that you love it, but you know you do.

Anthony Herta is an intern at The State News. Reach him at aherta@statenews.com.

mike holloway

To day ’ s q u e s t i o n

When did you start studying for your final exams?

F ri day, DE CE MBER 5, 2 01 4

To experience closure, sometimes you need to ask for answers

By Casey Holland cholland@statenews.com

I’m not someone who can be considered a role model for expressing oneself and owning your emotions. In fact, until recently my motto was to keep any hurt and pain bottled up inside myself and find a way to deal with all of it on my own.

When rifts began to form between myself and other people, closure seemed to be achievable only through blocking phone numbers and social media pages. I thought people were something that could be quit cold turkey.

But recently I found myself reaching out to someone I’d tried to cut off, because they were someone I still wondered about to the point that they completely clouded my thoughts.

Finally, I put everything out in the open and they did the same. Once I had the answers I’d been looking for, this person slowly stopped invading my mind. This is what closure should actually feel like. Closure does not mean still being completely entangled with thoughts of the person who hurt you.

I’d previously used the cold turkey strategy on friends I once considered close, on guys I was interested in and on people who ended up being toxic to my well-being. If I was hurting, I cut them out. No questions asked, no chances to look back. I thought it’d be easier if I had no chance to reach out to them and therefore could not open any old wounds I’d attempted to close.

I wouldn’t be putting myself in harm’s way, at least that was how I viewed it at the time. But the thing I’ve learned recently is that, in some situations, closure can’t be achieved through blocked phone numbers alone.

Because I’d still have questions that needed answers. I’d still want to know why that person hurt me, or whether this person genuinely cared at all. And I’d often still find myself worrying about their well-being, even though I was hurt.

If you need answers from someone, the only way to fully close that wound is to ask them the questions that still keep you awake at night.

I was still wondering about these people, so I did not truly have closure. Closure means finally being able to leave a person or situation behind in its entirety, and closure means that it doesn’t continue to affect your life on a large scale.

People always look better in retrospect and the memories are always happier and more pure.

Sometimes, when looking back on your time with a person, it’s a lot harder to see the ways they hurt you because you’re too busy missing how good they had made you feel once upon a time.

But you’ll finally have closure when you get the answers to questions you were once too afraid to ask.

Casey Holland is the opinion editor at The State News. Reach her at cholland@statenews.com.

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News

Simon Schuster and Merinda Valley Breaking news editor Trends and issues editor campus@statenews.com @thesnews

Controversial public figures to speak at MSU commencement “Our main goal is to focus on individuals who have made an impact on the world and are interesting to students.”

University spokesperson Jason Cody, on choosing speakers

By Greg Monahan gmonahan@statenews.com

Commencement speakers were announced this week for winter graduation at MSU, and the university is not shying away from controversial public figures.

Two of the speakers — University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will — have found themselves in the middle of the sexual assault issue in 2014. The third speaker is filmmaker Michael Moore, a documentarian known for his outspoken, left-wing views.

Will, a writer for the Washington Post whose columns are syndicated in newspapers across the country, penned a deeply divisive piece in June which claimed the “supposed campus epidemic of rape” is being pushed by progressivism in America, and has made “victimhood a covet-

ed status that confers privileges.”

He also writes that “the 20 percent assault rate is preposterous,” referring to the Center for Disease Control’s study which asserts nearly one in five women will experience sexual assault at some point in their life.

To Emily Kollaritsch, who is a rape survivor and social relations and policy senior at MSU, the decision to allow Will to speak at graduation is “despicable.”

“It is honestly despicable and disgusting,” she said. “But it’s kind of not surprising to me that they’d invite him, because the university title IX coordinator and the administration did not support me or any survivors whom I have talked to on this campus.”

MSU spokesperson Jason Cody said the university’s decision to have Will speak at next Saturday’s 10 a.m. graduation was

Police urge students to take valuables home during break In light of recent home invasions, MSU police and ELPD are saying it’s better to be safe than sorry

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“due to his career as a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist,” and is “not a recognition to any individual viewpoint that he holds.”

“Our main goal is to have a focus on individuals who have made an impact on the world and are interesting to students,” Cody said.

But Kollaritsch said the crowd will be full of people with no interest in hearing from Will.

“He’s going to be talking to a bunch of people there who have gone through hell having been raped, sexually assaulted and abused, which is reiterating the fact that he disbelieves him,” she said. “It’s so disheartening that MSU would allow him to speak at our campus.”

Preceding Will will be Friday’s graduation speaker, Sullivan.

Sullivan, an MSU alumna, has found herself in the news recently after a Rolling Stone article on

Nov. 19 told the story of alleged rapes at the university’s Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house and subsequent failure from the school to pursue justice.

The story has attracted national attention and put UVA under an intense media spotlight, and Sullivan has been left to answer many of the questions.

Rebecca Lim, editor-in-chief for the UVA student newspaper, The Cavalier Daily, said student emotions have been “mixed” about Sullivan’s handling of the sexual assault scandal.

“People were dissatisfied with her response from the outset,” Lim said. “But then she made a more sincere effort to show that she’s really serious about those things and met with student leaders and other administrators, giving speeches and talks about the issue.”

Since taking action to help combat the sexual assault issue

By AJ Moser amoser@statenews.com

Although finals week is still looming on the horizon, many students are eagerly anticipating going home and having some time off during winter break.

Students may head home free of stress, but campus is still a busy place over break, making residence halls susceptible to home invasions.

Due to a notable increase in the report of home invasions after students return from break, the East Lansing Police Department increases focused patrols in popular neighborhoods to safeguard vacant residences.

Lt. Steve Gonzalez of the ELPD said most of these are late reports, meaning the home was broken into at some point over break, and the students found out when they returned.

In addition to the increased police patrols, Gonzalez recommends students take extra

Fri day, December 5, 2 01 4

TOP LEFT: University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan addresses the Virginia Senate Finance Committee April 1 in Richmond, Virginia. PHOTO Credit: Marshall Bronfin ABOVE: Washington Post columnist George Will is shown May 18, 2004, in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. PHOTO Credit: George Bridges/krt

on UVA’s campus, Lim said her reputation has gotten a boost.

“Her response on campus has been improving,” Lim said.

“Nobody is really pointing fingers at her or blaming her.”

Sullivan will address students

precautions when leaving their homes for the holiday break, including taking home belongings and making sure all doors and windows are securely locked.

“We recommend simple things such as ensuring the mail is picked up or stopped, sidewalks shoveled and leaving a few lights on timers,” he said.

Following police warnings, students are beginning to take more of their valuables home with them when they leave the school for a long stretch of time.

The residence halls will close December 12, and MSU recommends that students to unplug appliances like refrigerators and fans to save power. Students prefer taking their more valuable items, such as televisions, home with them over break.

Only Hubbard Hall, McDonel Hall and Wonders Hall will house students during break, as they are designated for between-semester transitional housing. Students who currently live in those buildings

receiving advanced degrees at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at Breslin Center and will receive an honorary doctorate of law. Will speaks Saturday morning and will receive an honorary doctorate of humanities.

should take extra care to lock their rooms and secure their belongings before leaving campus.

For students who will be living in the dorms during winter break, MSU police stresses that strangers should not be let into buildings and suspicious activity should be reported promptly. Aside from employees and transitional students, no one is allowed back in until 8 a.m. January 11.

Although security employees will be working, MSU police stress that students must make sure their doors are locked.

“If a student has taken their expensive properties with them,” said MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor, “and secured the doors, there should be no reason to worry about theft”.

Police records indicate the number of on-campus larcenies over winter break is steadily decreasing. There were about 13 residence hall break-ins in January of 2013 and only eight reported after last year’s break.

It’s a Boy!!!

And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6).

Nearly 2,000 years ago, God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. As Christian Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Students, we wish you a truly joyous and meaningful Christmas season. We are united by the common experience that Jesus Christ gives intellectually and spiritually satisfying answers to life’s most important questions. Ask any one of us about this incredible event.

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Reader generated stories

The State News asked readers to tell us the stories they want to read about. Here are the stories you all wanted to see.

MSU officials determine snow days based off variety of factors Suggested by @katebenedict_3

By Leslie hemenway lhemenway@statenews.com

Since the 1960s, MSU has had a total of six snow days.

University spokesman Jason Cody is one of the many people involved in deciding whether or not to have a snow day.

Cody said it’s always a case-by-case basis when it comes to canceling classes. People from various groups — such as MSU police and the University Physician’s Office — will get together and take a look at the current conditions and forecasts.

Then they compare those to the campus’ capabilities to respond to such weather. Based on that, they decide whether or not to have a snow day, though Cody said he doesn’t find that term to be the most accurate.

“The term I would use is where we’ve had to modify operations, because even during that time, classes may have been canceled but there’s always people here working to keep operations going,” Cody said. “Whether it’s a snow storm or whatever the university never closes, we always have to keep the power on.”

When a decision is made, it’s Cody’s job to communicate it.

Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Snow Supervisor Matt Bailey said he is also involved with the decision-making. He also works to make sure the roads and sidewalks are adequately cleared of snow.

Bailey said he can’t make any true predictions of this upcoming winter, but he’s heard it’s supposed to be worse than last year.

“We are ready for whatever happens, we have all types of instruments we can put on our equipment,” he said.

Bailey said the most difficult part of his job is trying to clear snow during the day, when everyone is out and about.

Then-actuarial science freshman Hannah Cregg is hit with snow while making a snowball Jan. 6 behind the rock on Farm Lane. state news file photo

“That’s really difficult to do because everyone’s trying to drive in adverse conditions and we’re trying to work around them,” he said. “It’s great if it can snow in the late evening and we can come in when no one’s on campus.”

Hospitality business sophomore Samie Weiner said she thinks it’s likely MSU will have a couple snow days this year if the upcoming winter is as brutal as it’s predicted to be.

“I went to Indiana last year, but (our) winter

break was pushed back four days because all the highways were closed. So I can only imagine if Indiana had snow days … and if the winter is supposed to be worse, then I can only imagine (we’ll have snow days), or we’ll have delays,” she said.

The Alumni Association connects Spartans Suggested by @CarolineKBrooks

Former MSU President John A. Hannah once said, “When the university issues your diploma to you, it places an indelible stamp of approval on you, and you become a part of this university forever.”

With a living Spartan population of about 500,000 worldwide, the MSU Alumni Association works to keep the Spartan family connected beyond graduation and engaged in Spartan achievements.

“Our whole reason for being is to create an environment of Spartans helping Spartans,” said Scott Westerman, executive director of the association. “We want to make it possible for Spartans to connect and benefit from those connections.”

Before Westerman took the position of execuThe Alumni Association offers a variety of tive director almost five years ago, career and educational services as he said the association focused on well as connection opportunities in what alumni could do for the uniorder to help Spartans across the versity. Westerman said he felt globe launch a career, get settled, the aim of the association should save money, learn something new, rather be what could the Spartan reinvent themselves and retire or nation do for each other in this find a friend, according to the assointernational community of Sparciation’s website. tans and set out to try and evolve Alumna Kristin Burgard, who the association. received her master’s degree in The original purpose of the assobusiness in 2001, said she does not ciation was to garner financial supfeel connected to MSU despite being port for the university via donaimpressed by the quality of students Westerman tions and contributions from sucand teaching staff. She said she may cessful alumni, according to the have developed a stronger connection had she used employment searching services website. While fundraising for support of the or other services that the association now offers, university is still a key component of the assobut being an older student with real world expe- ciation, it now has resources that help to give rience allowed her to jump back into the profes- more Spartans the chance at success.

The association allows “friends” of MSU wishsional world rather quickly.

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Fri day, December 5, 2 01 4

By Megan Cochrane mcochrane@statenews.com

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ing to support the university to become a member for an annual fee of $45. This fee gives members access to other benefits like deals with local businesses and at the university.

“We really (have become) the central pivot for aggregation of everything cool that’s going on in the Spartan nation,” Westerman said. “(As a member you) get to take advantage of the immense power of that network.”

Alumnus Beau Preston, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 2002, said he still feels very much connected to MSU and revels in the camaraderie that is always present in the stands during game days.

He said being around Spartans anywhere is a very family-like atmosphere, whether you know the individuals or not.

Though he may not be on campus or in the stands of Spartan Stadium on a typical day, Preston said that his “first and foremost association (is as) a Spartan.”

Anya Rath Managing editor arath@statenews.com @thesnews

Progress has been slow but stable for Stacy Blakeslee Blakeslee, who fell sick last December with a severe staph infection that eventually led to her being in a semi-responsive state, is still working through therapy

Perception of MSU as a party school depends on who is being asked Suggested by @WhiteMansWife

By Kayman Whaley kwhaley@statenews.com

Brandon Childers prepares to move MSU graduate Stacy Blakeslee to her bed March 11 at Spectrum Rehab and Nursing Center, 4118 Kalamazoo Ave., in Grand Rapids. state news file photo Suggested by Lori Mann

just not strong enough like she used to be … but it’s very possible now that it’s starting to wear on her and that’s one of my concerns.”

The family recently reached their fundBy Ian Martin raising goal on GoFundMe of $20,000, but is imartin@statenews.com still struggling to pay for everything, which It was just last December when MSU alum- includes the hospital bills and paying back na Stacy Blakeslee suddenly fell sick with a more than $100,000 of Stacy’s tuition bills.

On the days Dale Blakeslee doesn’t spend severe staph infection that ended up creatin Grand Rapids with Staing a hole in one of her cy, he is waking up at 4 heart valves. The infec“...‘Well, why do a.m., working 60 hours tion spread to other parts in a span of four days. of her body, including her you want to keep Meanwhile Stacy’s mothbrain, every time her her alive if she’s er, Patty Blakeslee, is no heart beat. not going to be longer able to work full This led to aneurysms time because of her battle forming in her brain, one alive like she was with breast cancer. of which burst last Christbefore?’

You know Dale Blakeslee said that mas Eve, which sent she’s our daughter has resulted in the family Blakeslee into a semi-reand she does losing $3,600 in income sponsive state. per month. But the famiShe was eventually respond.” ly has decided to open the moved from the Univerfundraiser back up. sity of Michigan Health “We’ll probably be System Hospital in Ann Patty Blakeslee, mother opening that back up Arbor to a Spectrum of Stacy Blakeslee again, because we have Health nursing home and another $10,000 deductneurology rehab center in ible to meet the beginGrand Rapids, where she ning of January,” he said. has been ever since.

Stacy Blakeslee’s sister, Kelly Blakeslee, Progress has been stable, said Stacy’s handles all the fundraising for Stacy. The father Dale Blakeslee.

“We’ve got her where she’s not going to the next fundraising step is a 5K run on MSU’s hospital,” he said. “She was going to the hos- campus.

Her mother said she doesn’t have the facial pital, getting pneumonia. I think we’ve finally got her stable. The fluid on the lungs real- expressions she used to, but she responds to ly sucks, but … her body has been working her dog when she sees him.

The Blakeslees said they don’t believe she so hard to compensate for all this that she’s

would have made the progress she’s made if she wasn’t at the Spectrum Health center in Grand Rapids. They said that everyone else wrote her off.

Dale Blakeslee has even earned the nickname “Dr. Dale” at the rehab center because he’s been so hands-on.

Patty Blakeslee said Stacy Blakeslee is still able to call commands and she makes good effort in exercise and therapy. She can say “yes” and “no” with arm movement.

“It doesn’t look like Stacy is going make a full recovery at all so it’s hard to justify to people,” Patty Blakeslee said. “‘Well, why do you want to keep her alive if she’s not going to be alive like she was before?’ You know she’s our daughter and she does respond.”

While Patty Blakeslee said Stacy Blakeslee doesn’t have the same facial expressions as she used to, you can tell when she’s upset or hurting and “every now and then you’ll find a little smirk in Stacy’s face.”

Stacy received Botox medication in October, which helped to reduce her muscle tone.

According to Dale, she had her head turned and can straighten it out now because of it.

The Blakeslee family recently went on their first field trip with Stacy Blakeslee to Frederik Meijer Garden and Sculpture Park.

“We had fun. It was a blast,” Dale Blakeslee said. “She seemed to at least be alert.”

Patty Blakeslee said they’ve got prayer circles going all around the world going for Stacy Blakeslee and she knows that there’s plenty of family and friends praying for her.

“You don’t give up on her, she’s human.

She’s so different than before, but she’s in there,” Patty said.

F ri day, D E C E MB E R 5, 2 01 4

Making national news for burning couches and receiving attention for sport successes, MSU has a reputation for being a well-known “party school.”

Outsiders may have a flawed perception of the frequency and amount of partying students participate in. Many of the stories and assumptions are true, but many are also false.

“The frats are exclusive here, you have to know people,” neuroscience sophomore Sam Bagnasco said. “I feel like that’s because greek life here is a big deal, whereas at other schools they don’t put such an emphasis on it.”

Bagnasco hadn’t visited MSU until she arrived at her academic orientation program. She said that she thinks perceptions of MSU being a party school is true, but it is the result of the high number of enrolled students and its infamous school spirit.

“With our school being in the Big Ten and having so many opportunities to celebrate such as the Rose Bowl and our past GameDay, it’s only right to live it up,” she said.

Biochemistry junior Nick McNamee said MSU’s party reputation slightly influenced his decision to enroll. His expectations were not met.

“I had cousins that attended MSU and they told me party stories they experienced that were way crazier than what I’m experiencing now,” he said.

McNamee also said it depends on where you live.

“Obviously living in Cedar Village is a step up,” McNamee said. “Being here does increase your chances of drinking on an average night. ” Applied engineering sophomore Brandon Mathews said that his experiences at parties have had a relaxed feel. Mathews said his party experiences at other universities such as Central Michigan University and Western Michigan University have been more focused on having fun as a large group.

“People at other universities go out to exceed their limits and want to look back on their experiences at parties,” Mathews said. “People here (MSU) are always focused on who they’re going to hook up with next. That’s the goal here.”

Packaging sophomore Samantha Murphy said at MSU there’s enough people here and many opportunities to party. She said at smaller universities, everyone always wants to go out, but at MSU it’s not that imperative or as easy.

“I’m in a sorority now so it’s easy but last year it was a lot harder,” Murphy said. “You had to go searching for them. If you don’t try you can just sit in your dorm room and not do anything and not feel that bad about yourself.”

According to College Atlas, MSU is not listed in the top 10 party schools in 2012, 2013, 2014 or the projections for 2015.

Th e Stat e N e ws

7

Crossword

L.A. Times Daily Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

News living cit y

Gamers can join the MSU League of Legends Club

Across

1 SEC nickname 5 Seating choice 10 Skills 14 Islamic leader 15 What recon may provide 16 Famille member 17 Baseball, vis-à-vis jai alai?

19 Award for Jessica Tandy 20 Poetic preposition 21 Short time, shortly 22 Wood shop tool 24 Scoff at 26 “Hooked on Bach” company 27 GE range, vis-à-vis an Easy-Bake toy?

33 Spread 36 “A Challenge for the Actor” author 37 Commercial ending?

38 Appear dramatically 39 Hemingway and others 40 Letters on a cross 41 Tulsa sch.

42 Shell rival 43 Ryan of “Bones” 44 SpongeBob’s underwear, vis-à-vis Mickey’s?

47 __ block 48 Certain evergreen seed

52 One taking a shot 55 Grub 57 One or more 58 “Sin City” actress 59 Jeep, vis-à-vis a Cadillac?

62 Buck 63 Its second movement translates to “Play of the Waves” 64 First name in design 65 Socks 66 Delight 67 Hill workers

Down

1 Human, e.g.

2 Love abroad 3 Auto attachment?

4 “__ being unreasonable?”

5 Like some rescues 6 “Picnic” playwright 7 Mus. direction 8 10-Down vehicle 9 Ins 10 Mission program 11 Self-named sitcom 12 Cut 13 Percolate 18 Fund 23 Large Hadron Collider acronym

25 It’s checked when it’s done 26 Capital of Rwanda 28 Inferior 29 Piglike animal 30 Grape site 31 Poet friend of T.S. 32 10-Down first name 33 Challenging roommate 34 1989 Lawn-Boy acquirer 35 Gravy base 39 Easily moved 40 Part of MIT: Abbr.

42 Yom Kippur War prime minister 43 Helpful 45 Film with Manny the Mammoth 46 Complete 49 “Heart of Georgia” 50 Sign into law 51 Wrap relatives 52 Get money for 53 “__ Rhapsody”: Brahms vocal work 54 Many CEOs have them 55 Stone of “The Help” 56 Miffed, with “in” 60 Flier with Chicago H.Q. 61 Kelly Clarkson label

Get the solutions at statenews.com/puzzles 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 THURSDAY’S PUZZLE

12/5/14

8

© 2014 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

The State N e ws

Fri day, December 5, 2 01 4

Supply chain management sophomore Tim Cummings enjoys an evening of gaming Nov. 26 in his home. Cummings avidly plays League of Legends, a popular online-multiplayer game. PHOTO: DYLAN VOWELL

By Dylan Vowell dvowell@statenews.com

Founded in October 2011, the MSU League of Legends Club gives students on campus a place to meet fellow players and sponsors events like tournaments and giveaways.

League of Legends is a free team-oriented and strategy based multiplayer online battle arena. Typically, two teams compete to slowly work their way into the enemy base and destroy an object called a “nexus.” It takes a lot of strategizing to win the fast-paced game.

Teams are made up of five players and games last 35 minutes on average. League of Legends has become one of the most popular games in the world with more than

27 million people playing every day and 67 million playing each month. The game’s popularity has surpassed many championship sporting events like the World Series, NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals. In the 2013 League of Legends World Championships, 32 million people watched two teams battle it out at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The MSU League of Legends Club hosts meetings every Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Engineering Building. Players are encouraged to bring their computers and participate in locally hosted matches and tournaments. Players who win a tournament hosted by the MSU League of Legends Club are awarded with special prizes, which range from in-game items like skins and riot points to novelty hats and League of Legends toys.

MSU alumnus creates textbook app

by Amanda Chodnicki achodnicki@statenews.com

Post-graduation, MSU alumnus Darin Gross expands his Spartan start-up company, reaching more than 4,000 students at six Michigan universities, including MSU. With an idea to improve the buying-and-selling process of books on campuses, Gross started Booklify in 2012, a website with the mission to deliver the best prices for textbooks for students.

“One of my buddies and I shared the same major, while at MSU, and

we couldn’t even communicate what books we were selling,” Booklify founder and CEO Darin Gross said.

“I found out afterward that he sold one of the books I needed back to the bookstore for $10 or $15 and I bought it from the bookstore for $80.”

Gross said he was frustrated with the bookstore, especially after he discovered him and his friend could’ve split the $80 book price down the middle, benefiting them both.

“He could’ve gotten more money back for his book and I could’ve spent way less on it,” Gross said. “I knew there needed to be some form of

communication among a university before they reached the bookstore.”

The process Advertising junior and MSU Booklify representative Annie Thurber said not only does Booklify allow students to purchase books at the cheapest prices, but it also puts students in contact with other students on their same campus, who are selling a book they’re in need of. This way, Thurber said they can discuss where to meet up to do the exchange.

You can read more about Booklify on statenews.com

Features

Emily Jenks Features editor features@statenews.com @sn_features

Good Eats

The most refreshing beverages in town Graduate students Jessica Russell, left, and Dexter Gregg, right, share a drink Wednesday at Bubble Island, 515 E. Grand River Ave. in East Lansing.

Bubble Island sells tea and smoothies and are open during late night. PHOTO:

by kayman whaley kwhaley@statenews.com

Bubble Island “I think what I love most about Bubble Island is the amazing smell right when I walk in. The cashiers are always nice, and the strawberry milk tea is delicious cold or hot.” – Cheyenne Gaillard, no preference sophomore Bubble Island offers green tea mixes that allows customers to add in cream flavors including almond, honeydew, papaya and more. Customers can add in fruit flavors as well including kiwi, blueberry and mango.

Calpico Coolers are also a sweet and fruity option. With any drink you can add black bubbles for 25 cents, or mango stars and rainbow jellies for an extra 35 cents.

Bubble Island also has black tea mixes and smoothies.

HiTea “I don’t always get bubbles with my drinks, but I enjoy the tea and the authentic atmosphere.”

– Caitlin Czerwinski, chemistry freshman With raw materials used for their teas directly imported from China, HiTea provides a contemporary feel to a traditional tea shop. HiTea features 26 bubble flavors and other bakery items to compliment their drinks. They offer the option of less sugar or ice in their tea to accommodate customers.

Panera “Whenever I have the time, I order their Superfruit Power Smoothie with Ginseng. It’s a great thing I love to start my day off with.” Rachael Joseph, marketing freshman Panera offers five smoothie options that are either low in fat or fat-free. Their smoothies are blended with a mix of pureed fruits and juice concentrates. Joseph’s favorite smoothie is the Fat-Free Superfruit Power Smoothie with Ginseng. According to their website, it is a superfruit base with a mix of fruit purees and juices blended with organic, plain Greek yogurt and boosted with Ginseng.

Tropical Smoothie “When I started eating healthy I fell in love with kale, so I always order their Island Green smoothie.” – Holly Harestad, education freshman Tropical Smoothie has an abundance of smoothie options from four different categories.

Low-Fat, Get Nutrified, Supercharged and Indulgent smoothies are on the menu.

AERIKA WILLIAMS

Kinesiology junior Jason Johnson pours a blended smoothie into a cup Wednesday at Tropical Smoothie, 1201 E. Grand River Ave. in East Lansing.

Tropical Smoothing hosted a fundraiser at the store for the MSU Honors College.

PHOTO: DYLAN VOWELL

studyabroad.msu.edu (517) 353-8920

PROGRAM INFORMATION MEETINGS

SPAIN

Business & Culture in Spain Spring Break 2015 Monday, December 8 • 5:00 pm 301 Eppley Center

FRANCE,BELGIUM,SWITZERLAND Media, Management, & Culture in Europe Summer 2015 Tuesday, December 9 • 12:00 pm 408 Communication Arts & Sciences

JAPAN

Technology & Culture: Communication and Games in Japan - Summer 2015 Tuesday, December 9 • 12:00 pm 408 Communication Arts & Sciences

SOUTH KOREA

Technology & Culture: Communication and Games in Korea - Summer 2015 Tuesday, December 9 • 12:00 pm 408 Communication Arts & Sciences

Explore upcoming study abroad programs Office of Study Abroad 427 N. Shaw Lane, Room 109 Phone (517) 353-8920 | http://studyabroad.msu.edu

F ri day, D e c e mb e r 5, 2 01 4

Th e Stat e N e ws

9

Sports

Omari Sankofa II Sports editor sports@statenews.com @thesnews_sports

Football Season report card

By Robert Bondy

B+

A C B rbondy@statenews.com

Overall Grade: B+ MSU finished the season 10-2 and most likely will play in one of the New Year’s Day six non-playoff bowl games.

That’s a pretty successful season and something Spartan fans should be pleased with in the end. However, MSU gets only a B+ grade simply because the Spartans didn’t live up to the high expectations. From the beginning of the season it was all about making the inaugural College Football Playoff, and Nov. 8 that dream was ruined by Ohio State. MSU failed to win either of its two biggest games of the season and ultimately failed on reaching its goal. Like I said, MSU fans should be happy with the season and be excited about a big time bowl game in a warm destination, but the Green and White surely missed out on a golden opportunity this season.

Offense Grade: A What can we say about the MSU offense this season? Explosive? Efficient? At times unstoppable? All three can apply in 2014 as the Spartans set a school record for most points in a season.

MSU averaged 496.5 yards and 43.1 points per game, both of which rank in the top 15 nationally. The Spartan offense was led by its three-headed monster of junior quarterback Connor Cook, senior running back Jeremy Langford and senior wide receiver Tony Lippett. Cook and Lippett were both honored as All-Big Ten recipients and Langford reeled off nine consecutive 100-yard games to finish the season. By far one of the best offenses in the country, which is a complete 180 degree turn from a couple of years ago.

! !

Special Teams Grade: COne of the biggest drawbacks from this season was the inconsistency in the special teams area for MSU. While the Spartans set a school record for most points in a season, they surely left quite a few off the board as well. Sophomore kicker Michael Geiger was up and down all season, finishing 14-of-22 in field goals on the season. That included at least one missed goal in seven of the 12 games this year. One positive from the special teams was return man sophomore R.J. Shelton. He finished the season averaging more than 25 yards per return and ripped off a 90-yard touchdown against Penn State in the season finale. That being said, there are certainly areas for improvement for next season, especially from Geiger.

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The State N e ws

Defense Grade: B If you look at the numbers, MSU’s defense had a solid season and similar to those of the past here in East Lansing. However, it doesn’t have the same “No Fly Zone” dominance. MSU averaged only 293.5 yards and 19.9 points against this season, which both

Fri day, December 5, 2 01 4

ranked in the top 15 in country. The rush defense was impressive yet again, ranking No. 5 in the country and overall creating a tough front seven for opponents. But in the big games the defense failed to show up.

MSU surrendered 46 and 49 points in its two losses to Oregon and Ohio State, with both teams ripping off big plays against

the Spartan secondary. The poor performances left a sour taste in the mouths of the Spartan faithful, ultimately leading to a more disappointing season on that side of the ball. In the end, fans shouldn’t ever complain about a top 25 defense, but when it mattered the most the “Spartan Dawgs” were nowhere to be found.

Sports Consistency, strong play on defense will be keys for men’s soccer Saturday against Providence in Elite Eight Senior midfielder Fatai Alashe heads the ball against Washington forward Josh Heard Sunday at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field. photo:

By Matthew Argillander margillander@statenews.com

As the No. 3-seeded men’s soccer team (12-4-6 overall, 4-2-2 Big Ten) prepares for its second Elite Eight game in as many years, the team has to be confident that what they’ve done all season will lead them to a win over the No. 11-seed Providence Friars (15-4-2 overall, 5-2-2 Big East) Saturday at noon in DeMartin Soccer Stadium. "(Providence is) a good team, they’re not necessarily a team that jumps out at you as a huge soccer powerhouse, but that doesn’t mean they’re not extremely good,” junior goalkeeper Zach Bennett said.

Senior midfielder Fatai A lashe believes that if the team sticks to what it’s been doing all year long it will translate to success on the field.

At this point in the season all of the remaining teams know their identities and the Spartans must stay true to theirs to come away victorious. "(To win on Saturday), I would say we just need to play our game,” Alashe said. “There’s not too much we need to change. …For the most part we will try to play our game, try to play our style of soccer and make them try to adjust to us.”

The Spartans have relied on strong defensive play led by redshirt senior

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defender Ryan Keener, junior defender Zach Carroll and Bennett in front of the net. "(Providence is a) very talented team, they share with us (our) hard-working blue collar mentality,” Keener said. “I think we need to stick to what we do best ... if we stay sound defensively and keep everything tight on set pieces then I think we’ll give ourselves a shot.”

The MSU defense will need to stop Providence leading scorers senior forward Markus Naglestad and sophomore forward Mac Steeves. Naglestad leads the team in total points with 22 on 10 goals and two assists, Steeves is not far behind with 20 total points on nine goals and two assists.

Senior midfielder and forward Tim Kreutz, who scored the equalizing goal in the Spartans Sweet Sixteen matchup with the Washington Huskies last Sunday, said the team is confident they will be the better team when it is all said and done.

“I think it’s going to be a good game, they’re pretty well coached, they’re Big East Tournament champions which is a pretty tough feat any year,” Kreutz said. “We expect it to be back and forth but we have no doubt that we’ll be the better team.”

Should the Spartans win Saturday, the team will head to Cary, North Carolina for the Final Four Dec. 12.

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Th e Stat e N e ws

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Sports

Volleyball will begin first round of NCAA Tournament Friday The Spartans will depend heavily on senior libero Kori Moster against Loyola Marymount, lock to extend winning streak to six

By Troy Jefferson tjefferson @statenews.com

Senior libero Kori Moster warms up Nov. 22 before the game against Rutgers at Jenison Field House. The Spartans defeated the Scarlet Knights, 3-0. PHOTO: DYLAN VOWELL

It’s dancing time for the volleyball team.

MSU (18-13 overall, 11-9 Big Ten) will play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night against Loyola Marymount (23-7 overall, 11-7 West Coast Conference) at Stanford’s campus in Palo Alto, California at 7:30 p.m.

“We believe in us and that’s all that matters,” sophomore outside hitter Chloe Reinig said.

The Spartans were selected

to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year and it’s the seventeenth overall selection in program history.

“It’s so exciting. We wanted that rebirth because we know what we’re capable of,” senior libero and team co-captain Kori Moster said. “We’ve had a great couple of days of practice and we’re excited to get out to California to see what we can do.”

The Spartans will rely heavily on Moster, who has made the NCAA Tournament in each of her four years at MSU and led the team to the round of 16 each of the past two seasons.

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The State N e ws

Fri day, December 5, 2 01 4

Moster averages 4.60 digs per set, which ranks third in the Big Ten conference and she moved into fifth all-time on the conference digs list (2,179) with her 21 digs in MSU’s last game against Iowa.

Her defense will be key against the Lions, who have an explosive offensive attack.

Loyola Marymount averaged 14.20 kills per set, which ranked 3rd in the West Coast Conference and hit at a .258 clip, also good for 3rd in the conference.

“They’re a very good team,” head coach Cathy George said. “They have a lot of savvy kids and don’t make a lot of mistakes.”

The Lions enter the matchup on a two-game losing streak with their most recent loss coming at the hands of No. 12 BYU, 1-3 (28-30, 12-25, 25-23, 21-25).

MSU, on the other hand, is on a five-game win streak and has not lost a set since Nov. 19 against Northwestern. "(The win streak) was definitely needed for us to get into the tournament,” freshman middle blocker Alyssa Garvelink said. “We ended strong, we’re ready to take on the challenge and we can surprise a lot of teams.”

If MSU can get past Loyola Marymount then they will play the winner of No. 1 Stanford (29-1 overall, 19-1 PAC-12)/ CSU-Bakersfield (16-14 overall, 9-5 WAC) Friday night at 10 p.m.

Big Ten Honors Four players were named to various All–Big Ten teams on Tuesday.

Reinig earned All–First Team honors. It’s the seventh straight time MSU has had a player recognized with the honor.

Moster was named an honorable mention selection for the third straight year.

Freshman set ter Rachel Minarick was selected to the All-Freshman Team. Minarick’s selection marks the third straight season MSU has had a selection on the All-Freshman Team.

S e n i o r m i d d l e b l o c ker Jazmine White was the team’s Sportsmanship Award honoree.