The State News, January 23, 2024

Michigan State’s Independent Voice

MSU UNVEILS ALIENWARE ESPORTS LOUNGE Pond hockey returns to campus FOR STUDENT LEARNING, CONNECTION LIFE

As MSU’s campus has been hit by subfreezing temperatures and a winter storm last weekend, hockey players and figure skaters alike have taken advantage of the natural ice sheet tucked behind Armstrong and Bryan Halls.

By Lauren Coin lcoin@statenews.com Michigan State University’s new Alienware Esports Lounge in the Communication Arts and Sciences building was unveiled at a ceremonial ribbon cutting Wednesday.

The lounge, made in partnership with Dell Technologies, is the university’s first ever dedicated esports space.

Esports, short for electronic sports, is a rapidly growing industry centered around organized competitive video game play.

Michigan State has varsity esports teams as well as clubs. The MSU Esports Club Association is one of the largest student organizations on campus with more than 1,500 members.

Esports Director Christopher Bilski said this new space will allow for interactive learning and help prepare students for future careers in their field.

“MSU Alienware Esports Lounge gives students not only a place to connect with Michigan State University, but a place for them to connect with each other,” Bilski said.

“The space allows students to advance their academic studies through hands-on learning opportunities, broadcasting and production, organizing and executing events, and many other ways they can tie potential future careers to this space.”

The lounge’s grand opening featured several notable guests, including Dell Senior Director and PC Gaming Lead Matt McGowan, WNBA player and esports influencer Aerial Powers, Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist and various MSU leaders.

MSU Interim President Teresa Woodruff, who spoke at the unveiling, said this facility and the establishment of a varsity esports program were made possible by students

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SPORTS

Hear from the new football coach Jonathan Smith said he’s excited about his new roster. Since the opening of the transfer portal, he’s made key additions offensively and defensively.

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Brenden Hughens, front, a junior on MSU’s varsity Rocket League team tries out the new esports lounge Jan. 17, 2024. Photo by Brendan Mullin.

advocating for the investment in esports at MSU. “It’s really a very special privilege to be here as part of this particular dedication because from then to now, we have ensured that the student needs are always met, and so it’s really a cause for celebration for all of us,” Woodruff said.

Gilchrist said watching this student-led process shows the power in student voices

on campus.

“It shows that as a student, when you raise your voice, you can make your campus better, and that’s something that we cannot forget, must not forget,” Gilchrist said. “That ultimately is what makes our universities special.”

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Officers, agencies refused to participate in MSU shooting review Law enforcement officers and federal agencies refused to participate in a review of Michigan State University’s response to the February mass shooting, according to a draft of the review which called their decision to do so “unfortunate.”

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Day of service, remembrance gathering planned for one-year anniversary of MSU shooting

By Emilio Perez Ibarguen eibarguen@statenews.com As the one-year anniversary of the Feb. 13 shooting on MSU’s campus approaches, the university announced plans regarding remembrance events that will take place on the anniversary.

In a campus-wide email on Friday, Interim President Teresa Woodruff said planning underway, led by committees including students, staff and faculty, will aim to “provide spaces and time for i ndiv idua l i zed reac t ion s a nd experiences.” Participation at any of the remembrance events, she added, will be entirely optional.

The email states that most courses will not be held on Feb. 13 of this year, although the university will remain open including dining halls, the MSU library and other services meant to “support students and our community.”

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Plans for the anniversary include a day of service organized by the Associated Students of MSU in collaboration with the Center for Community Engaged Learning, an evening gathering to be held near the Spartan Statue north of Demonstration Hall and additional “reflective spaces” that will be set up across campus with counseling services available at each location.

There will be counseling staff available at each planned event, though Woodruff noted that the university will be using outside counselors “to ensure MSU staff can spend this day as they choose.”

Additional guidelines have been posted to help instructors handle the one-year mark of the shooting with respect to their students and how they may have been affected.

The email also states that the memorial bench, donated last April by ASMSU, will @THESNEWS

be installed on a small plaza near Berkey Hall along with other landscaping before spring graduation.

Woodruff also provided an update on efforts to create a permanent memorial on campus. She said the Feb. 13 Permanent Memorial Planning Committee will seek input from the community through a community survey this winter. There will also be engagement sessions this spring, where the feedback received will be used “to create a request for artist proposals.”

Further details about the events and how to provide input for memorial plans will be shared soon, according to the email.

“It is my hope that members of our community spend time commemorating Feb. 13, 2023, wherever and however it feels most meaningful for you,” Woodruff said.

STAT E N EWS.COM

Flowers rest at the foot of the Rock on Farm Lane on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, two days after the mass shooting in Michigan State University’s north campus. Memorials have spread across campus in honor of Brian Fraser, Alexandria Verner and Arielle Anderson, the three killed on Feb. 13. State News file photo.

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The Spartans celebrate a goal together during a game against University of Michigan at Yost Ice Arena on Jan. 20, 2024. MSU outscored the Wolverines in the second period, 4-3. Photo by Donté Smith.

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FROM COVER

ALIENWARE ESPORTS:

Varsity Smash Bros team captain Collin Landers said this space will benefit all students, not just those on esports teams.

“This is a good facility for not just the players, but also other students,” Landers said. “Whether you’re just playing with your friends or trying really hard to get better to get on the varsity sports team, I think that it will be a good resource for everyone.”

The lounge will allow for more classroom space, while also giving students the opportunity to socialize.

“If you want a space to socialize and just hang out with students, Com Arts in particular did not have a successful socializing space,” Games and Interactive Media Assistant Professor Ryan Thompson said. “But the lounge is hopefully the beginning of that sort of student-led space here in this building.”

This space is the first of its kind at the university, Bilski said, and it will set a foundation for the growing esports community at MSU. “The A lienware MSU Esports Lounge will transform lives and engage our students in a way we have never been able to before,” Bilski said.

“To connect, to build community, and to help students prepare for whatever comes next.”

Matt McGowan, Senior Director of Dell’s Gaming Unit, speaks during the debut of MSU’s new esports lounge, Jan. 17, 2024. Photo by Brendan Mullin.

Teresa Woodruff, front, Interim President of Michigan State University plays a video game with Garlin Gilchrist, the Lt. Governor of the state of Michigan, Jan. 17, 2024. Photo by Brendan Mullin.

Illustration by Madison Echlin.

Sparty tries to put on a gaming headset during the debut of MSU’s new esports lounge, Jan. 17, 2024.

Photo by Brendan Mullin.

New football head coach Jonathan Smith excited about new roster, preparing for upcoming season

Freshly minted Head Football Coach Jonathan Smith speaks at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center during a timeout of Michigan State’s bout against Georgia Southern on Nov. 28, 2023. Photo by Henry Szymecko.

By Colin Duffy cduffy@statenews.com The new Michigan State men’s head football coach, Jonathan Smith, spoke at a football press conference

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on Thursday, Jan. 18, where he explained the importance of this season as a team -- both players and coaching staff -- where a lot of the team members are new to Michigan State, the steps he’s taken so far as a

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coach and what it’s been like adapting to the East Lansing environment.

Since the opening of the transfer portal, Smith has made key additions offensively and defensively and added more than 10 staff members to the team.

“11 guys have joined the program and started to work out, we feel awesome about that group,” Smith said. “We were able to add to the roster on both sides, defensively at all three levels, D-Line, Linebacker and the secondary. Offensively, quarterback, [we] feel good there.”

Smith said he feels great about the quarterback, and he should. Since coming from Oregon State, Smith brought two key transfers along with him: quarterback Aidan Chiles – who came at a time with a gap in the roster – and offensive lineman Tanner Miller. Along with Chiles and Miller, Smith brought members of his coaching staff from Oregon State to fill in at Michigan State.

“Aidan not only knows the offense, he knows the continuity and the culture,” Smith said. “Bringing the staff over here allows us to start faster in regard to how we operate, speaking the language.”

Since coming to East Lansing, Smith has been getting himself involved with the environment and community, including going to some men’s basketball games. Since then, he has built a relationship with men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo.

“Coach Izzo has continued to be a great advocate and mentor,” Smith said. “After games has been a bunch of fun for me and my family.”

Not only has Smith put effort into involving himself with the East Lansing community and has extended that effort out to Michigan State’s football alumni. Smith said that he had a meeting with around 200 “former players,” where he was able to introduce himself and “get to know their stories a little bit.”

Smith wasted no time in the short amount of time he has been with MSU to add staff that he is already familiar with. He finalized his coaching staff, including the 10 position coaches including a more recent hire, former alumni and Oregon State cornerback coach Demetrice Martin.

“I’ve known (Demetrice) for a long time, all the way back from when I recruited his brother at Southern California,” Smith said. “Bringing in another alum (Demetrice) who knows this place, and is deeply passionate about this place, we’re excited for him to join us and help us out there in the secondary.”

The work has only started for Sm it h, as t he of f-season a nd recruiting season is in his grasp and is not far away. To Smith, the season “doesn’t slow down,” but he is ready to start working again.

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FREEZING TEMPERATURES SEE POND HOCKEY RETURN TO MSU CAMPUS

Students gather at a makeshift ice hockey arena on a frozen pond in Brody Neighborhood on Jan. 20, 2024. Photo by Jack Williams.

By Emilio Perez Ibarguen eibarguen@statenews.com The setup is less than ideal.

Moving bins taken from Brody neighborhood serve as nets; the ice is maintained by a single borrowed shovel; teams are decided at random and their games often don’t keep score. But to the MSU students who brave the cold to play pond hockey, they might as well be playing at Lake Placid or Munn Ice Arena.

For the past two weeks, as MSU’s campus has been strained by subfreezing temperatures and a winter storm last weekend, hockey players

and figure skaters alike have taken advantage of the natural ice sheet tucked behind Armstrong and Bryan Halls.

For kinesiology senior Jasper Najar, who spent his winters throughout high school playing outdoor hockey with his friends, finding a frozen pond to play on at MSU serves as the perfect wintertime activity.

“It’s just something to do in the wintertime,” Najar said. “You get active. You don’t get too cold because you’re skating around. And you get with the guys and have some fun.”

Many of the skaters, including statistics sophomore Jake Pelton,

A student rushes toward the puck while playing ice hockey on a frozen pond in Brody Neighborhood, Jan. 20, 2024. Photo by Jack Williams.

arrived at the pond with friends and joined ongoing games, making acquaintances with other skaters a long t he way. Pelton added that although conditions weren’t excellent, people were still finding ways to enjoy themselves.

“Ever y single kid on this ice grew up playing hockey. I mean, it’s Michigan, it’s a hockey state,” Pelton said. “Whenever you get the chance to play hockey outdoors with a couple of buddies, you’ll figure out anything.”

Compa red to it s orga n i zed counterpart, pond hockey is a more chaotic, free-f lowing form of the

sport that emphasizes quick hands, creative playmaking and just the right amount of trash-talk. Snow build-up and a rough ice texture mean pucks consistently take odd jumps that add to the challenge of playing.

“W hen you’re play ing in an i nt r a mu r a l or d r op -i n g a me , you’re trying to win. You want to be competitive,” supply chain management junior Hal Schnell said. “This has nothing to do with scoring goals. It’s just about making fun plays, picking each other up, and talking a little smack.”

With temperatures expected to

Two students fight over the puck in a game of ice hockey on Jan. 20, 2024.

Photo by Jack Williams.

rise above freezing in the coming week, it’s unlikely the Brody pond will remain frozen for much longer.

Despite pond hockey only being possible for a few weeks out of the year, Schnell said, the memories made on the ice make it worthwhile. “ I mea n, to me, it mea n s everything,” Schnell said. “Just the fact that we can come out, enjoy the time together, get outside, get active. It’s great for my exercise.

It’s definitely sad when it starts to unfreeze but it makes the time that you do get a little more special.”

Students say overcrowded CATA buses make winter travel hard

An MSU student hops on a CATA bus on Jan. 24, 2022. Photo by Audrey Richardson.

By Ridhima Kodali rkodali@statenews.com With a sprawling campus, Michigan State University can sometimes be hard to navigate for students and many turn to transportation methods like bicycles or buses. However, when winter settles in, the high volume of students using MSU’s Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, buses can make traveling a nuisance.

Human resources management f reshman Keira Chapman said riding on CATA Bus 31’s route was “uncomfortably crowded.”

“The kind where all the seats are taken,” Chapman said. “There’s a handful of people standing up to the point where there’s somebody touching you on like every side ...

It’s just so unpleasant.”

Chapman takes the CATA bus once a day. Although she’s happy students

are utilizing the bus, there were times when she missed her stop because of how crowded it is.

“Sometimes I just get uncomfortable when people are super close to me,” Chapman said. “But that’s a personal issue. It’s like, you kind of have to expect that’s going to happen on public transportation.”

Recently, Chapman entered a bus to find all the seats taken and people standing crammed against each other. Riding the bus and being squished up against other students was not an enjoyable experience, she said.

Computer engineering sophomore Sanika Kapre also takes Route 31 often. As an international student, Kapre said using the overcrowded buses, especially during winter, was a cultural shock because she didn’t use public transportation that often in India.

“During winter, the busses are running slow; they lag a lot,” Kapre said. “I often get late for my classes, but I get it’s snowing so the drivers have to be careful about the people inside and outside who are walking.

I just feel they need to improve the timings a little bit.”

Kapre said CATA should increase the frequency of their buses, as well as the routes that go to Brody Neighborhood. She added that bumping into other people can be “kind of suffocating.”

Kapre plans on taking earlier buses to avoid the crowds and arrive at her classes earlier during the winter.

“Hopefully, the Transit app works fine,” Kapre said. “It’s misleading sometimes. It shows that (the bus) is going to be there in one minute, but then the buses never show up.”

For e x plor ator y pr e fe r e nc e freshman Elise Malachowski, who takes Routes 31 and 32 frequently, t he overc rowdi ng of buses is “annoying” and “frustrating.” She suggested that MSU offer new bus routes and allow for the routes in the 20s — which students have to pay for — to be free for students in the winter.

“You want to be able to get to the place you want on time without having to worry about any restrictions,” Malachowski said.

“Sometimes you’re like, ‘I know I’d get there if I walk.’ So it’s taking away options that should be easy and safe, but then makes them not convenient and sometimes even unsafe if everyone has to stand or there’s a lot of people there.”

CATA’s Chief Marketing and Public Information Officer Lolo Robinson said in an email that CATA has received 43 documented complaints between Sept. 4 and Dec. 7 relating to overcrowding on buses, driver disposition, poor driving, missing a stop request and early or late departures.

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“While CATA is not aware of any systemic issues related to Spartan Service (30-series routes) or our urban routes that also serve MSU’s campus (20-series routes) during the current semester, we acknowledge that these complaints are fairly common when temperatures drop and students increase their use of our services,” Robinson said in the email. “On-time performance can be impacted by many different factors, including campus traffic, weather, accidents and boarding efficiency, among other factors.”

Robinson said CATA is currently i nvest igat i ng repor ts of “data accuracy concern” with the Transit app and prioritizes rider safety. CATA will continue to work with MSU to accommodate riders, she said.

Chapman said taking the bus is a time where she can relax. It doesn’t require as much “mental energy and focus” compared to walking or driving, which is why she likes it.

But when a bus is overcrowded, the comfort is gone.

“When there are so many people around me, I feel like I can’t take up space,” Chapman said. “I feel like I can’t have anything out either. I’m so aware of myself and how much space I’m taking up as well.”

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‘LACK OF TRUST’: OFFICERS, AGENCIES REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE IN OUTSIDE REVIEW OF MSU SHOOTING RESPONSE

By Theo Scheer tscheer@statenews.com Law enforcement officers and federal agencies refused to participate in a review of Michigan State University’s response to the February mass shooting, according to a draft of the review recently released to The State News through a public records request, which called their decision to do so “unfortunate.”

The draft also stated that members of

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the Board of Trustees “became involved in the (shooting) beyond their expertise and outside of their appropriate role,” and it included a page-long in-memoriam for those impacted by the shooting.

The draft was presented to the board, Interim President Teresa Woodruff and Vice President for Public Safety and Chief Safety Officer Marlon Lynch, according to university spokesperson Emily Guerrant.

Then these findings were either reworded or removed altogether from

An FBI agent walks toward MSU Union during the response of a shooting on Michigan State’s campus on the night Feb. 13, 2023. Photo by Audrey Richardson.

the final copy of the review, which was publicly released by MSU on Oct. 11, 2023.

“This decision and lack of trust is unfortunate” In April, two months after the Feb. 13 mass shooting on campus that killed three students, injured five students and shook the community, MSU employed an outside audit to examine its response to the tragedy and make recommendations for further changes.

The firm that conducted the review,

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Security Risk and Management Consultants, or SRMC, released its 26-page report to the public in October.

It largely commended the response of MSU police officers and local agencies that were also on the scene but noted the firm was unable to interview some officers for the review.

“We were unable to interview some law enforcement officers for this assessment, therefore we cannot speak to the involvement or participation of all responding agencies,” the final review

stated.

A draft version of the report provided more context. It instead stated officers and agencies “refused to participate.”

“We should also note that some law enforcement officers, including federal agencies, refused to participate in the review,” the draft said. “This decision and lack of trust is unfortunate.”

SRMC kept the identities of those it interviewed for the review confidential.

The firm did not respond to requests for comment on who refused to partici-

N EWS pate, although many of the local police departments and federal agencies that responded to the shooting said they weren’t contacted at all by the firms’s investigators.

Lynch insisted the university’s police department “fully participated” with SRMC investigators.

Lynch could not confirm that every MSUDPPS officer that was asked to be interviewed agreed to do so since the process was conducted confidentially. He instead pointed to a section of the review that says the firm “received excellent cooperation from every MSU administrator and staff member (investigators) interviewed” as proof of their compliance.

Over 72 agencies responded to the shooting on Feb. 13.

Four of them — the U.S. Border Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Homeland Security (HSI), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) — are federally operated.

FBI Detroit spokesperson Gabrielle Szlenkier declined to comment on whether the agency refused to participate. The ATF, HSI, and U.S. Border Patrol said the firm did not contact them about their involvement in the shooting response.

Richard Grillo, chief of the Meridian Township Police Department, said no requests came from the firm.

Chad Pride, deputy chief of the East Lansing Police Department, said he was “unaware of any request for ELPD to participate in this request.”

Jordan Gulkis, public information director for the Lansing Police Department, similarly said the firm did not contact them about their response to the shooting.

Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth said he did not recall being asked to participate.

It’s unclear why the finding was not included in the final version of the review. Lynch said his department was not able to change the findings of the after-action review before it was released.

President and CEO of SRMC Lynda Buel did not respond to requests for comment on who refused to participate and why the finding was not included in the final report.

In October, a receptionist for SRMC told The State News that the firm had “signed an NDA” and was therefore not able to take media inquiries. But former MSU Deputy Spokesperson Dan Olsen said that no non-disclosure agreement between SRMC and MSU exists.

“Maybe it is that they don’t want to discuss the matter, but no, there is no non-disclosure agreement with the university on that,” Olsen told The State News in October.

When SRMC was asked about the discrepancy, a receptionist said Buel was “under a different impression.”

“You know, she has had discussions with the people that we worked with at the university, and she’s not at liberty to discuss the review,” said the receptionist, who was not able to clarify whether those restrictions were legally bind-

ing. “You can interpret that however you like. That’s … what I’ve been told.”

Trustees involved ‘outside of their appropriate role’ This isn’t the firm’s only accusatory finding that was then softened in the published version of the report.

The draft also initially reported that “Board of Trustees members desperately wanted to help (during the shooting) and became involved in the incident beyond their expertise and outside of their appropriate role.”

In the published version, however, SRMC instead said trustees “wanted to help but became involved in the incident beyond the customary role and expectations of a governance board during an emergency.”

Trustee Brianna Scott first revealed that the finding was reworded in a letter she sent to the board in October, which accused Board Chair Rema Vassar of overstepping her role in university matters and called for her removal.

Scott claimed Vassar was displeased with the original finding and “inappropriately suggested” to consultants that they revise it before publicly releasing their report.

Scott says SRMC complied with Vassar’s suggestions and instead included the softer finding in the final report.

Vassar denied Scott’s allegations in October. She said another trustee, not her, “raised appropriate questions and concerns” about the contents of a review into MSU’s handling of the mass shooting.

Vassar defended the unnamed trust-

ee’s request, saying, “It was appropriate to engage the firm on the contents of their report — particularly as the specific request was for recommendations around our roles during crises.”

The final published review provides information on how to organize university leadership during emergencies for more efficient crisis management — guidance that wasn’t included in the draft version.

“The memory of that day will not be forgotten” The draft of SRMC’s after-action review begins with a page titled “In Memoriam,” acknowledging “those impacted by the mass shooting tragedy experienced by MSU and the surrounding community on February 13, 2023.”

“The healing process has just begun, but the memory of that day will not be forgotten,” it reads.

The entire page was removed from the final report, and no memorial was included in its place.

Guerrant said she was not aware the change had been made.

“I can’t speak for the company and the edits or changes they made in the report,” Guerrant said. “But the university did acknowledge the victims and families in the letter to campus that shared the report. Let us continue to keep in our hearts the students we lost that night, those injured, the families, and members of our community who were impacted.”

Concerns over length and content SRMC’s review has faced scrutiny for its relatively short length and lack

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of depth.

The 26-page review pales in comparison to reviews conducted for other schools that were sites of mass shootings, which are several times its length and intensely critical of school officials’ responses.

While SRMC’s review did call for more officers and communication, it shied away from detailed analysis of what MSU didn’t do well in its response to the shooting and largely commended officers’ response.

It failed to directly address the thirteen-minute gap between when the gunman fired and the emergency alert was sent out, that the doors in Berkey Hall didn’t have locks, and other details of the shooting that have been often critiqued.

MSU didn’t specifically ask SRMC to analyze what it did wrong in its shooting response. The university instead asked firms that sought to conduct the review to focus on “what response actions MSU handled well and what actions may be improved,” according to Bridge Michigan.

SRMC was paid $193,840 by MSU to conduct the review – the second lowest bid for the job, according to documents obtained by The State News.

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MSU ISSUED NEARLY 100,000 PARKING TICKETS IN 2023

Tickets wave underneath the windshield wipers of several cars parked at Erickson Hall on the morning of Jan. 18, 2023.

Photo by Trina Fiebig.

By Hannah Holycross hholycross@statenews.com MSU’s Department of Police and Public safety– or MSUDPS–issued 97,585 parking citations in 2023, bringing in $1.38 million to the university.

The MSU Board of Trustees approved to raise parking violation fines early this summer. However, this did not deter students from committing

violations.

Data science sophomore Max Gillum has received over twenty parking tickets. Although he pays for parking in the Division St. lot across the street from campus, he says he has received numerous violations due to not having ample parking on campus for students.

“It’s really convenient (for students) to have a car on campus. I understand sort of their perspective on why (MSU tickets cars), because they want to limit

car use on campus (due to limited parking spots), that’s why they ticket so much, but it is misfortunate,” he said.

Gillum lived in Hubbard Hall last year where he would occasionally park in the closer, metered spots for convenience rather than parking in the farther lot that he pays monthly for. He said that there were times he would leave his dorm to find multiple tickets on his car.

MSU Department of Police and

Public Safety spokesperson Dana Whyte said that when looking at the high number of violations, it must be taken into account the size of MSU’s student body and faculty, which consists of more than 50,000 students and more than 12,000 faculty.

“When you think about that, thinking how this campus is basically a small city within itself, that explains why the number is a bit higher,” Whyte said.

Whyte said the most common violations are in metered spots, where people either choose not to pay or their payments expire.

She said the best way to prevent this kind of violation is to download the Spot On app so that you can pay for meters on your phone rather than at the meter itself.

To cut down on violations in 2024, Whyte said the department is focusing on awareness and education. She said they want to enact plans to educate students and faculty about what specific violations are and how to avoid them as well as resources they can reach out to if they have questions.

“We really want to make sure that we’re being more proactive,” she said.

When it comes to where all the money from these citations goes, Whyte said that it is used towards safety updates and repairs on campus, including lot repairs and signage replacement repairs. The money also goes towards public safety efforts such as installing more GreenLight

emergency phones on campus.

Computer science senior Keshav Babu had a friend, who similar to Gillum, was facing the heat of continuous parking violations.

He decided to take matters into his own hands and create an app that would help ease his friends’, and many others’, problems.

“I was seeing a lot of people getting parking tickets and I was like, ‘Okay, this is actually a real issue,’” he said.

Towards the end of the spring 2023 semester, Babu released TicketTime, where students can report the presence of parking enforcement to warn off others.

“If anybody is walking by a parking lot these days, they can go into the app, report parking enforcement on that specific lot and if you are currently parking in that lot, you’ll get a notification and can go onto Spot On and add more time to your meter,” he said. “It’s kind of like a little bit of a game where you can try to optimize the amount of money you use (on parking).”

Babu believes that if enough people use his app, it will create a dent in the number of parking tickets given out.

“The idea behind the app is that it’s crowd-sourced, so the more people that use it, the better the app works,” he said. “The more people that are on it, that means more eyes out on campus, that means more people are seeing PACE, and more people are gathering information to help other students.”

MSU hockey makes a 7-5 comeback, first win at Yost Ice Arena since 2019

By Madilynn Warden mwarden@statenews.com Coming off of a devastating loss at Munn Ice Arena with a final score of 7-1 to Michigan Wolverine rivals, the Spartans rallied back at Yost in a 7-5 win to split the weekend.

“Obviously it was a really good effort for our guys,” head coach Adam Nightingale said. “I think the way it went for us yesterday, you know, we talked to the group, and you have to do a better job being disciplined.

Obviously we were playing a really good team and you have to find that line between respect and hate and all the rivalry.”

While the Spartans put up those seven goals, the action in the game was nothing short of exciting. Being down in the second period, the team put four unanswered goals on the board to gain a lead for the first time during the weekend, as well as putting two more in the net for the winning assurance.

“Just a reminder of what we talked about, it’s never about the score,” Nightingale said. “We want to keep getting better and get to our game. I think we have a good team and the key there is team. It’s not about one guy and we have to play team hockey, so just stay with it and don’t worry about the score, and you know it’s hard but you have to keep doing it the

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The Spartans celebrating a goal together during a game against University of Michigan at Yost Ice Arena on Jan. 20, 2024. Michigan State pulled off an impressive comeback win to beat the Wolverines 7-5. Photo by Donté Smith.

right way.”

With the teams being tied 1-1 through the first period, and then the Spartans going down 4-1 the last half hour of the game, the final period and a half for Michigan State was a team we’ve never seen before; the players came out together to skate out to their quick 5-4 lead before heading into the final period.

“I think we just started to play with a little more poise,” Nightingale said.

“I thought we whacked it around and

TU ESDAY, JANUA RY 23, 2024

you have to want the puck. I know yesterday was a really hard day for us but you have to get confidence and I think we have a pretty good hockey team. You also have to believe in yourself. I thought the more we started to hang on to pucks, we had to play in the O-zone a little bit more and find a way.”

For younger players, the game meant a great deal to keep their lead in the conference and continue their steady march of leading the Big Ten

Conference for the remainder of the season.

“I’m so proud of our guys, just the way yesterday went, and the first period today, just to keep battling and come back, that was huge for us,” freshman forward Gavin O’Connell said. “Carrying that into the next weekend of just knowing we can always come back and if we keep our heads down and keep working then it’s always going to go in our favor.”

The Spartans had not won a game

in Yost Ice Arena around their electric crowd since November of 2019. After finally snapping the eight game losing streak on the road in Ann Arbor, the team is preparing to do the same in February, but this time a sweep at Yost and at Little Caesars Arena for the Duel in the D series.

“We had a lot of good expectations, even yesterday,” fifth year forward Nicolas Müller said post-game. “But it didn’t go our way, all the pucks and we just didn’t play our way so it feels even better to beat them here at Yost, so it’s a great feeling.”

With the win on their backs and a week until their next Big Ten matchup against the highly competitive Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Spartans knew what needed to be done to take home the victory for MSU and not look back.

“I think the biggest thing is to believe in our hockey, the Spartan way, and that’s what we did,” Müller said.

The Spartans are back at Munn Ice Arena for another home series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers for their final match up of the regular season.

They will play on Friday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. where streaming is available on Big Ten Plus, as well as Saturday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m. which will be streamed on Big Ten Network.