2.4.20 issue of The Standard

THE STANDARD M I S S O U R I S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

VOLUME 113, ISSUE 16 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

LIV CHAMPS

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II celebrates during their 35-24 AFC Championship win over the Tennessee Titans. Following their win, the Chiefs went on to beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 3.

© Tico Sports/ Photo by Kaitlyn Stratman

‘A city where no one sleeps outside’ Eden Village, a tiny home community for the homeless, expands CARISSA CODEL News Editor @CarissaCodelTV Eden Village, a tiny home community for the chronically homeless, will soon be 24 more homes closer to their goal of giving everyone in Springfield a roof over their head.

Currently Eden Village only has one neighborhood on East Division Street with 31 houses and 31 residents. The second development will be on the west side of Springfield.

Nate Schluter, chief operating officer of Eden Village, said the organization’s goal is to build tiny home communities all over town until no one sleeps outside.

He said Eden Village has been looking at the new property since July or August 2019.

However, the land was donated to Eden Village after the property was put under contract by a third party.

“We’re going to build at least four more of these all over town, so that everybody has the blessing of having beautiful people in a pocket neighborhood like Eden Village where they can be safe and where they can heal,” Schluter said.

The residents of the village all have to pay rent — $300 a

File photos by JAYLEN EARLY/THE STANDARD

(Left) Resident Darrell, also known as Papa Smurf, sits outside his tiny home.

(Top right) Eden Village resident, Dion, stands outside on his porch.

(Bottom right) Victor sits on the steps outside his tiny home with his cat, Trouble. month. Some residents pay this started four years ago with co with disability or social securi- founders David and Linda ty checks, but others have full- Brown. time or part-time jobs.

Schluter said the Browns had a drop-in center called The Where it all began Gathering Tree when he met The idea of Eden Village with them to talk about the viGraphic by MADISON HARPER/ THE STANDARD

building small villages with tiny homes for homeless people,” David Brown said.

The current Eden Village is located on what used to be a trailer park. At only four and a half acres, Brown said start-

u See EDEN VILLAGE, page 2

Coronavirus spreads internationally SCOTT CAMPBELL Staff Reporter @ScottCa81380794 What death frightens you the most? Drowning? Falling from a great height? Dying in a car crash? Succumbing to a disease that kills less than 3% of those infected and

The Standard/The Standard Sports

sion of a tiny home community.

The Browns and Schluter then began thinking of ways to give the people at the dropin center a true home.

“I started learning about some communities that were

ing small was the best thing for this project.

“Over a four year period of time, two years of planning, developing and raising money and two years of construction, we were able to open and house 31 people,” Brown said.

Brown said the number of chronically homeless people in Springfield has been around 200. Last year, it was down to 175.

Eden Village is a crime and drug-free community, meaning if residents are caught committing crimes or distributing drugs they will be asked to leave immediately.

Brown said if residents do drugs off the property but come back without disrupting anyone and the problem does not disrupt the community, that is the residents’ business.

“It’s unrealistic to think that people will be clean when they move in here, otherwise we’d have no results,” Brown said.

Eden Village will hold a house for a resident while they go through rehab, but it depends on if the resident wants to go through the treatment.

“We’ve had six, maybe seven that have had to leave,”

TheStandard_MSU

has infected 11 people in your country of 350,000,000?

The virus in question has been labeled by the Center for Disease Control as the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, or 2019nCoV for short. The word “novel” in the name refers to the fact that it has not been previously identified. The Chinese

@TheStandard_MSU/@Standard_Sports

government first reported the disease to the World Health Organization on Dec. 31, 2019.

The first confirmed death occurred on Jan. 9.

On one side of the world, holiday celebrations are being canceled, politicians are offering to resign and entire cities are being quarantined.

MSUStandard

On the other side, airports are introducing new medical screening protocols, a total of five infections and no deaths have been confirmed, and Magers Health Clinic has run out of surgical masks freely available to students. u Read more at the-standard.org. issuu.com/TheStandard-MSU

2 THE-STANDARD.ORG

THE STANDARD

EDEN VILLAGE Continued from page 1

Brown said. “Five of them have returned. They said they realize (the home) they’ve given up.”

Brown said he has seen many success stories of people coming in, getting clean and then reuniting with families.

“Homelessness is a chronic illness,” Brown said. “It is a catastrophic loss of a family.”

Schluter said it is a shame Springfield does not have a 24-hour homeless shelter, and Brown agrees.

The Gathering Tree

The Gathering Tree started 10 years ago after the Browns moved downtown.

“When you live downtown, you walk the streets and all these people are living on those streets,” Brown said.

“After a while, you can’t avoid them. So I started talking to them and started

thinking, ‘what can we do?’”

He said the two reasons for opening the drop-in center was to get their friends off the streets and to build relationships to understand them as individuals, not as homeless people.

“That was the goal and that’s what we’ve done,” Brown said. “It totally changed our perception of homelessness. I think the average person’s perception of homelessness is skewed.”

However, The Gathering Tree was only open in the evenings, meaning the organization could not offer aroundthe-clock help.

Brown said meeting friends and then watching them go into the woods while he went home to a warm bed made him want to do something to change that.

Requirements

For the new Eden Village

development, there are only 24 available spots and over 100 applications.

Schluter said for residents to be considered, they have to have lived on the streets for a year or longer and suffer from some sort of mental or physical disability.

Brown said it is more likely a chronically homeless person has a mental illness that contributed to their homelessness. Sometimes this can cause issues at Eden Village.

“We’ve had some (residents who) couldn’t function here,” Brown said. “Partly because their mental illness was too severe, and trying to stay on top of them and keeping control of their medicines… Those are the type of people who need to be in an institution.”

Brown said he considers those residents are in need of an “intensive care unit” while Eden Village is more like a “general hospital.” The organization will take care of some people, but they still allow them freedom. Brown said it

Chartwells moves to be more ‘socially conscious,’ purchases fair trade products LAUREN JOHNS Staff Reporter @lje2017 In countries like South America, children 10 and younger are forced into labor camps because their farming parents cannot afford to feed them. As part of an initiative to improve workers’ lives, Chartwells Catering Company is investing in more fair trade products.

As a member of Compass Group, a food service company with operations in 45 different countries, they are proud supporters of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Program. According to Chartwells’ website, this coalition promotes better wages for participating farmers, giving them the power to change their circumstances.

To clarify, fair trade is the guarantee that producers in developing countries will be paid fairly by those in more

developed countries.

To spread word of the cause, Resident District Manager Quintin Eason spoke at a Student Government Association meeting.

“We can become the second certified fair trade school in the nation,” Eason said. “I’ll pay 9 cents more for a pound of sugar if (I know) that I won’t be sending someone to a labor camp that’s under 10 years old.”

He explained that the process can be difficult because the items we use every day, such as tea, coffee, oats and quinoa, have to be certified fair trade. The requirement is at least two certified items per dining location on campus.

“Most vendors already carry fair trade products,” Eason Illustration by JADIE ARNETT/ THE STANDARD said. “All the coffee down at Starbucks is fair trade.” the effectiveness of the enAccording to Nicole terprise relies heavily on Young, marketing director student support. and chef for Missouri State, u See CHARTWELLS, page 8

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

isn’t possible to give certain people the care they need.

“We’ve had at least two that were in that category, maybe three over a year and a half, who just didn’t work here,” Brown said.

“Homelessness is a chronic illness.”

-David Brown, co-founder of Eden Village Most residents thrive with the help they receive from Eden Village, according to Brown. He said most of them take pride in their community.

How to help

Schluter said on Nov. 5, 2019, they launched a $15 million capital campaign to create a “city where no one sleeps outside.”

“Obviously we need donations, and we need a continued army of volunteers to make that vision happen,” Schluter said.

Schluter said at the very least the people of Springfield should acknowledge a homeless person panhandling or sitting on the street.

“We shouldn’t pretend like people in absolute devastating poverty, most likely disabled or with a mental illness, are invisible to us,” Schluter said.

“The problem only gets worse for them and our heart parts only get hardened when we look the other way.”

Brown said people should volunteer with organizations involved in homelessness and try to understand who the homeless really are. Doing this, he says, will change the perception of homelessness.

Schluter said the best part of Eden Village is seeing people dream and hope again as they come out of survival mode.

“Your life is destroyed when you’re homeless and on the streets,” Schluter said.

File photo by JAYLEN EARLY/ THE STANDARD

Eden Village resident, Vickie, smiles outside her home.

“This is a place of healing.

That’s an everyday miracle for us to get to watch.”

Brown said while donations are useful, helping the homeless is bigger than that.

“Obviously we need funding for donations,” Brown said.

“But we’d rather have somebody come in and change their perception of homeless.”

Stalking prevention conference held to promote safety education CAROLINE MUND Staff Reporter @cemund32 Stalking is not a new idea.

It’s often romanticized in some of our favorite movies and TV shows such as “10 Things I Hate About You,” “Stranger Things,” “YOU,” “The Notebook,” “ Dead Poets Society” and many other fan favorites.

On Jan. 30 at Glass Hall, members from Project HEAL, Victim Center, Harmony House, Engaging Men, Title IX, the counseling center and campus security gathered to discuss stalking and harassment.

Project HEAL Coordinator, Kunti Bentley, began the seminar by having the audience watch “Stalking For Love,” on YouTube which discussed

how stalking is seen as romantic or has romantic undertones.

“The media often portrays stalking to be super romantic when in actuality stalking is actually a very serious crime,” said Bentley.

Stalking can occur from either men or women, neither of which is okay. However, “statistics show that women are more likely to be the victims of stalking and men are more likely to be the perpetrators,” according to “Stalking For Love.”

Missouri State offers a variety of programs such as Project Heal, Green DOT and Title IX. These are services that students can go to receive support, report incidents or receive individual or group counseling.

“You can come to see me if you just feel uncomfortable and

aren’t sure it’s stalking yet, and I can help you craft and edit responses to people to let them know to knock it off,” said Title IX Coordinator Jill Patterson.

Green DOT is a program that launched during the 20162017 school year. The idea behind Green DOT is to help lower stalking, sexual assault and dating and domestic violence on campus.

The idea is to picture a map of a community, there is a red dot that symbolizes harm to someone. The red dots begin to grow and spread across this map. Green dots represent someone trying to prevent the red dots from happening.

These can be big or little actions to help replace the red

u See STALKING, page 8

the Madison Avenue clothing Madison Avenue. boutique in the Plaster StuIn that same issue, a story On Jan. 28, The Standard dent Union is closing. quoting Larry Caudel spelled his ran a printed caption that said Only 1905 is closing, not name wrong, as Larry Caudle.

Corrections

Weekly Crossword © 2020 King Features Syndicate

ACROSS 1 Move like molasses 5 High card 8 Judicial garment 12 Place for sports reporters 14 Vivacity 15 Aware 16 Flex 17 Do sums 18 Kindle downloads 20 Sew loosely 23 Liveliness, in music 24 Wheelbase terminus 25 Obama’s old title 28 -- de Janeiro 29 Hawaiian dances 30 Deity 32 Dakar’s country 34 Salver 35 Bacchanalian blast 36 Yonder 37 Hallux, more commonly 40 That girl 41 “Superfood” berry 42 Mexican miss 47 Showroom sample 48 One of three rulers 49 Paradise 50 Tree fluid 51 Harmonization DOWN 1 Wife of Saturn 2 Raw rock 3 Buddhist sect

4 Mansion and its surroundings 5 Sleeping 6 Opposed 7 Outer 8 Start the PC up again 9 Bread spread 10 Savings institution 11 Make -- meet 13 Faction 19 Prejudice 20 Tavern 21 Line of symmetry 22 -- gin fizz 23 Stop, at sea 25 Hints at 26 Shrek is one 27 Bellow 29 Medal earner 31 Coloring agent 33 Idea

34 Gas bill units 36 Commandment starter 37 Commanded 38 On the rocks 39 Chess or

checkers 40 Use scissors 43 Historic time 44 Wall climber 45 Can metal 46 Joan of --

THE STANDARD

opinion

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

3

‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ is a gem of Chinese cinema DAVID WHEELER Critic @DontTellThe_Elf

Dreams and nightmares occupy the same space, morphing in and out of each other as you sleep. The dreamer never quite knowing how or when the horrors will manifest in what seems to be an otherwise pleasant dream. And while Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” never devolves into being a bad dream, one feels it constantly teetering upon the borderlands of a waking death, of the terror of a cold, dark night.

This is my third Gan film, following the overlooked majesty in his sophomore feature, “Kaili Blues.”

While “Kaili Blues” more or less seems situated in the real world — with a singular moment that, if I recall correctly, alludes to some manner of time distortion — “Long Day's Journey Into Night” not only bifurcates itself between the past and the present (a separation of, hypothetically, two decades) but also drops itself almost completely out of reality and into the underworld.

With impossibility would I fail to mention the oft-remarked feature of the film — the final scene being a 59-minute true long take, with no hidden cuts, beginning initially at the 71-minute mark with the long-overdue title card and the wayward, "detective" protagonist finding himself in a theater, donning a pair of 3D glasses as a way to signal the audience to do the same, as the final sequence is not only presented in a single unbroken take but as a 3D experience as well. Sadly, however, local theaters did not screen this film, and the only way to experience the scene in 3D is on home video.

Gan is clearly a student of Hong

Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, telling vaguely-defined romance stories that are often backdropped by the crime world, as well as a devolution of time. Yet while Wong Kar-wai often accentuates his frame with swiftcut editing and peculiar lenses, Gan favors lethargy and a slow-moving camera fitted with basic lenses, often panning in 360-degree patterns and sustaining lateral tracking shots.

The narrative itself is deceptive and evasive, keeping its enigmatic plotting in the realm of obscurity. But perhaps a microscopic sense-making of the story is folly to begin with, for Gan's meddling with dream, memory, and nightmares would only dare us to find the plot amid the disorientation. With delusive simplicity, the story follows Luo Hongwu, greying in hair, as he returns to his hometown in Kaili following the death of his father. His return brings back memories of a long-dead friend and a lost love, both ostensible victims of Kaili's gangsters.

Though unrelated to playwright Eugene O'Neill's “Long Day's Journey Into Night,” it would seem director Gan adapted the single-day conceit, with the present-day portions of the story beginning in daylight and ending in the dead of night — not to mention the film's namesake portends that it is the "day's" journey into night just as much as it is Hongwu’s.

Similarly, there may be a partial adaptation of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, especially as the final section of the film feels like we are thrust into the underworld where souls of the dead (including characters that may or may not be Hongwu's son or a reincarnation of his dead friend, his red-haired and estranged mother or the doppelgänger of his lover) indirectly taunt the living. u See WHEELER, page 8

‘Generation Zeal’ is a group of eager, curious debaters LINDSAY FARROW Columnist @lindsayfarrow28 I am not sure if scientists have yet to identify the specific gene that makes some people more argumentative than others, but I can guarantee that I am a carrier.

I’m not sure the genesis for my innate ability to argue any case, but for the entirety of my life I have found joy in proving people wrong. Cynical, I know.

And luckily for me, when coming to college I was introduced to an entire new realm of perspectives and ideas and people who speak with just as much conviction as me — a whole new world of debates. *Cue the choir of angels* And even luckier for me, it seemed that the majority of these new perspectives and ideas completely disagreed with my own. Yay… The university classroom has become my debate stage. My political, philosophical and moral beliefs are questioned at every turn. Being a college student in today’s society has prepared me to argue any of my beliefs at any given time. And to do so with a plethora of knowledge I did not previously have.

It has also forced me to encounter a very strange breed of debator. Mostly comprised of those falling under the category of “Gen Z”, or as I like to say, “Generation Zeal”.

Generation Zeal spawns from the technological times we are currently submerged in as a society. A society that is so reliant on our emotions, we disregard the need for facts, logic and singular truths.

Generation Zeal speaks with great The Standard Physical address: Clay Hall 744 E. Cherry St. Springfield, Missouri Postal address: 901 S. National Ave. Springfield, MO 65897 Newsroom: 417-8365272 Advertising: 417-

836-5524 Fax: 417-836-6738 Standard@MissouriState.edu www.the-standard. org The Standard is published on Tuesdays during the fall and spring semesters.

THE STANDARD Editorial Policy The Standard is the official student-run newspaper of Missouri State University. Student editors and staff members are responsible for all content. The content is not subject to the approval of university officials, and the views expressed do not represent those of the university.

cause and emotion. Aiming to sway you to their side of things based on emotional appeal alone. Specifically, fear.

It is important to note that I would not categorize everybody I’ve come across as being a member of Generation Zeal. This is a specific set of people who speak with such certainty about issues, basing arguments off of the way a story or course of events has made them feel, rather than stepping outside of the situation and examining every part.

The dangers of being a part of Generation Zeal should come as no surprise. A society arguing and making decisions based on feeling alone is dangerous. As we toss out the reasoning and rationality that sagacious philosophers before us used to lay framework arguments pertaining to political, scientific and ethical dilemmas we still face today.

But, I cannot blame Generation Zeal or it’s zealous members. I understand that the easiest way to win an argument and persuade others can be linked to strong emotional appeal.

We are constantly overwhelmed with news and opinions via the modern black plague that is social media platforms. We have the ability to watch news events unfold in real time, accompanied by the ability to insert our opinion in real time.

This has led to a society that is quick to respond with how a certain situation made them feel on an emotional level rather than taking time to research the different sides and logically making a choice from there.

We live in a very “Us vs. Them” society that has continued to divide u See FARROW, page 8

NAVIGATING FRIENDSHIPS

Illustration by ALYSSA VANDEGRIFT/THE STANDARD

A framework for making friends, keeping friends and knowing when to let unhealthy friendship go

to them! There is nothing like a meme in your inbox that lets you know someone cares.

Support them on big and small scales. Hype your friends up on Instagram, retweet their content, and swipe up on that Snapchat story!

More importantly though, show up for your friends. Go to their Galentine’s get-togethers, intramural Put in effort basketball games or art shows. Stick As women, we often prioritize our with your commitments and make love interests above our friendships time for your friends. and that’s fine if that’s your jam. But just imagine if we put in the same Focus on your energy level of effort into friendships as we did into romantic partnerships.

That sounds very cliche, but focus It can be hard to feel connected on the energy you put out to your to your friends when you rarely see friends. Are you being your best self? them and only get to catch up once Are you putting in your full effort every couple of months. So when into the friendship? Are you present it’s possible, reach out to your in the moment when you’re hanging friends. Call them up. You wouldn’t out? Don’t expect good energy to keep dating someone if you never come from others, it has to come speak to or hang out with them. from within. It starts with you and Don’t put unnecessary pressure to your attitude. hang out all the time in friendships but set expectations for time and Bring up problems so effort, whether that’s talking once a week or once a month or once a you don’t resent your year. friends

I straight-up love my lady friends.

They ground me but they hype me up; they believe in me and I support them. Having a network of female allies has been so incredibly powerful for me through the ups and downs of life. But college can be a confusing time for friendships.

Sometimes I think it would be good for us to treat friendships a little bit more like dating. I’ve seen many people cling to friendships that aren’t working out because we don’t have enough conversations about how to deal with friendship fallouts. A lot of the time, friendships don’t end mutually; they don’t end because someone slept with your boyfriend or called you a mean word to your face. A lot of the time, it just isn’t working out.

You no longer feel that spark. And it’s okay. But how does one end a friendship? It can be tricky and a very gray area which leaves both people confused and sad with little or no closure.

So here, I’ll be discussing ways to treat friendship a little more like Care to understand dating to provide a framework to deal with friendship — from the time you Don’t resent your friend if it start hanging out to the time you feels like you are putting in more break up. effort than them. Instead, ask what is truly going on in the life of that friend. Maybe they haven’t been Find gals in your talking to you because they’ve been area by joining completely overwhelmed with organizations based on school or work. Maybe they haven’t been talking to you because your interests they’ve been overwhelmed with The best way to find PNFs (po- school or work and you never cared tential new friends) is to go out of to ask them about it and only ever your comfort zone. wanted to talk about yourself.

It can be hard to make initial Bring up your feelings in an honconnections with people in your est way but start out the conversation organization and sometimes it takes with a question rather than calling a little while to develop connections someone out for not hanging out with into friendships. But the more in- you enough. volved you get with organizations and activities you’re passionate about, you’ll discover more about Treat your friends the yourself. way you want to be

Shoot your shot with PNFs

treated

It’s 2020, y’all! It’s time to shoot your shot with friends! As a person who has been 20 for a little over one month now, I have the authority to say that your 20s can be a confusing time.

On one hand, you might feel like you know a lot of people, but on the other, you might be confused about whether or not they want to hang out outside of class or your organization or work! But eliminating confusion starts with you, sis! If YOU feel enough of a connection with some-

Editor-in-Chief Sarah Teague Teague921@live.missouristate. edu

Sports Editor Amanda Sullivan Amanda124@live.missouristate. edu

News Editor Carissa Codel Carissa731@live.missouristate. edu

Digital Editor Greta Cross Greta099@live.missouristate. edu

Lifestyle Editor Zoe Brown Brown1218@live.missouristate. edu

Advertising Manager Sandy King SandyKing@MissouriState.edu

Photo Editor Kaitlyn Stratman Kaitlyn707@live.missouristate.edu

Faculty Adviser Jack Dimond JackDimond@MissouriState.edu

Letters and Guest Columns Letters to the Editor should not exceed 250 words and should include the author’s name, telephone number, address and class standing or position with the university. Anonymous letters will not be published. Guest column submissions are also welcome. The Standard reserves the right to edit all submissions for punctuation, spelling, length and good taste.

Letters should be mailed to The

one to want to hang out with them, odds are, they probably feel the same.

So the best thing to do is shoot your shot.

Be honest with PNFs and don’t be afraid to ask about hanging out.

You never know what type of friendship may blossom from there.

ZOE BROWN Lifestyle Editor @zoe_zoebrown

Standard, 901 S. National Ave., Springfield, MO 65897 or e-mailed to Standard@MissouriState.edu.

Advertising Policy The Standard will not accept any advertising that is libelous, promotes academic dishonesty, violates any federal, state or local laws, or encourages discrimination against any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, age, color, creed, religion, national origin, sexual

Advertising staff Kayla Thompson Joel Grieshaber Kyle Rickman Olina Einarsdottir Accounting Assistant Xingjie Wang Distributors

Be an attentive friend. Life in college can get extremely busy and sometimes it’s hard to maintain regular contact with people even when you have a desire to!

Make mental notes about where you left things with that friend the last time you talked. Did their parents move to Colorado? Did their annoying coworker get fired yet? How did that Tinder date turn out? Asking and remembering these things helps show that you care.

My love language is sharing memes. When a tweet, meme or Tik Tok makes you think of a friend, send it

Sarah Longworth Grace St. John Brent Wilson Copy Editors Diana Dudenhoeffer Madeline Schatz Chloe Sierks Assistant Copy Editors Ashton Garza

orientation or disability.

The Standard reserves the right to edit or reject any advertising copy at any time. The Standard encourages responsibility and good taste in advertising. Political advertisements must show clear endorsement, such as “Paid for by (Advertiser).” A sample of all mail-order items must be submitted prior to the publication of the advertisement. Advertising having the appearance of news must have the word “advertisement”

Opinion Writers Lindsay Farrow Annelise Pinjuv Jay Saxton Katherine Cooper Critics Cole Trumble David Wheeler Kamran

If you truly feel like you are not being respected in your friendship relationship for some reason, whether that be because they talk down to you, constantly leave you on read, hang out with mutual friends without you or bail on plans last minute, bring it up. You can’t expect your relationship to get better if you don’t address problems.

Leave the conversation open so that person can feel comfortable to address any concerns they have on their end. But if your friend gets defensive instead of caring to change, maybe they just aren’t that good for you. You wouldn’t let those sorts of things happen in a romantic relationship without bringing them up, so it’s worth addressing problems in friendships too.

Breaking up

If the problems continue or get worse, maybe the friendship has run its course. And that’s okay. I think the best way to end a friendship is to draw clear boundaries to gain closure.

When it feels like a friendship is one-sided, where you’re the one giving the majority of the energy, the thought of confrontation can be exhausting. At this point, it may be best for you to simply take some time away from the friendship to reassess its worth. I believe it is best to tell that friend when things aren’t working out but this is easier said than done.

Choudhry Visual staff Jaylen Early Kate Brown Brenna Lumley Kate Brown Christian Cuozzo Kendra Kernel Lainey Sanders Illustrators Jadie Arnett

printed above. Such ads must be bordered. Clear sponsorship must be shown on each advertisement. Position requests will be honored when possible but are not guaranteed.

In case of error or omission, The Standard’s liability, if any, will not exceed charge for the space occupied by the error. The Standard is not responsible for typographical errors that do not decrease the value of the advertisement. Liability for any error is limited to the first insertion

Madison Harper Alyssa Vandegrift Senior Reporters Claire Niebrugge Derek Shore Reporters Kathryn Dolan Afton Harper Tinsley

Merriman Connor Wilson Stephen Terrill Scott Campbell TJ Scott Kelsey Benack Lauren Johns Victoria Scroggins Todd Dearing Paige Newton Desiree Nixon Caroline Mund

of the erroneous advertisement.

Newspaper Theft Each reader is permitted one copy of the paper per issue. Additional copies may be purchased from The Standard office for 25 cents each. The Standard may waive this fee on a case-by-case basis if extra copies are available.

Newspaper theft is a crime. Violators may be subject to civil and criminal prosecution.

4

THE STANDARD

life

FEBRUARY112, 4, 2020 THE-STANDARD.ORG TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2019 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

‘Bird watching goes both ways’ ZOE BROWN Lifestyle Editor @zoe_zoebrown Growing up, Eric Francis was a self-described “bird person.” This is no longer. In fact, since coming to college, Francis inadvertently became a part of the national movement, Birds Aren’t Real.

According to the movement’s founder, the last bird died in 2001. Since the Red Scare, the government has gradually been replacing birds with drones that spy on the public.

What might these birds do with the information they collect? We can’t be sure.

“The government just wants to know what everyone is doing so they can have control over everything in case they need it for any reason,” said Francis, a digital film and TV production major.

Francis learned of the movement from a video released by the original Birds Aren’t Real Instagram account.

He created a “mockumentary” video after learning about the conspiracy and sent it into the founder of Birds Aren’t Real.

Soon after, Francis started an Instagram account for Birds Aren’t Real Missouri, which began with just a few dozen followers.

After seeing the video, the founder recognized Francis’ account as an official chapter of Birds Aren’t Real. There are only four other officially recognized chapters in the country.

Since then, the movement has received increasing recognition and his account has gained traction, especially in the Springfield area.

But is this movement just a passing meme? Or is it more?

Does the parodic movement reflect a growing distrust for the government?

Clayton Frye, 20, said he thinks it might.

“The movement just demonstrates this generation’s love for the bizarre and openness to the stranger side of life,” Frye said. “There's a sort of cynicism about it too, that may come from growing up with a 24 hour news cycle and constant bombardment of stories that don't feel real. Donald Trump is president, why would birds be real, you know? It's all surreal at this point.”

Frye has helped Francis in the past, making videos and designing fliers for the Missouri chapter.

Fliers and stickers donning the words, “Birds Aren’t Real” can be found around the campus of MSU.

On the national level, the Birds Aren’t Real headquarters Instagram account is verified and has 197,000 followers. Merchandise is available for purchase.

“Patriots” can buy shirts and hats with the logo or sayings such as “Birds work for the bourgeois” or “Bird watching goes both ways.”

“It’s a movement.

It’s a statement.

It’s a revolt.”

-Eric Francis of Birds Aren’t Real Missouri

Francis says he sometimes gets recognized when he wears merchandise from headquarters.

By some, he is known as the “Birds Aren’t Real Guy.” Growing up, however, Francis had three birds of his own; Kiwi, Bluebird and Sunny. He even volunteered to work with birds.

“Maybe this is all a lie,” Francis paused.

“Were they...lies?”

Today, he agrees that bird watching does, in fact, go both ways. He says he has a “strong distrust in the avian variety” and even calls birds “monstrosities.” “(My bird) would wake me up in the middle of the night,” Francis. “She would get scared in the middle of the night and flap around until I turned on the lights. It was because the cameras couldn’t see me. That was before the night vision was implemented.”

In search of answers, Francis went so far as to ask the president himself about “birds.” Donald Trump declined to comment.

The president’s policy on birds is unknown at this time.

Similarly, Francis has reached out to the former president Barack Obama, who also declined to comment. It seems that the bird problem reaches across the deep partisan divide.

Although the organization is actively against the government, Francis said he’s never felt personally threatened by individual birds.

Nonetheless, he was weary about disclosing his identity in this article.

“They don’t know who I am right now but once they reveal my face, then it’s game

over,” Francis said.

Most of Francis’ family supports his activism, except for one aunt who he said he thinks may be a government agent.

“My aunt actually took a picture of one of the stickers I gave her and crossed out the contraction part of ‘aren’t’ and just made it say ‘are’ and she posted it on Facebook and tagged me in it.”

He said he felt victimized by this act.

Though he is a passionate activist, Francis finds time to do non-Birds Aren’t Real related activities. He is a part of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, he works at a golf course, enjoys skating, photography and playing guitar.

To further the movement, Francis has considered organizing rallies and tabling on campus. However, he does not plan to become an official club through the university.

“I don’t want to be in charge of an organization,” Francis said. “I’m just the meme guy.”

Nonetheless, Francis encourages the public to stay woke. He is convinced that birds only serve “corrupt politicians.” The birds are not servants of nationalism but servants to the man.

“It’s a movement. It’s a statement. It’s a revolt.”

Photos by JAYLEN EARLY/THE STANDARD

(Top) Eric Francis holds up a Birds Aren’t Real flyer.

(Bottom) In addition to studying digital film and TV production at MSU, Francis operates the official Missouri Birds Aren't Real Instagram account.

(Left) Francis wearing his Birds Aren’t Real hat.

Bear Pantry relocates to University Hall VICTORIA SCROGGINS Staff Reporter @vs12591 The Bear Pantry recently moved locations to make room for healthier food options and provide students with more confidentiality.

The Bear Pantry will be getting refrigerators so they are able to house a wider variety of healthy foods.

“We want to provide healthier food items,” said the Director for Community-Engaged Learning, Alex Johnson. “It’s easy to get nonperishable and shelf Items, but we want to provide and advocate for health.”

The Bear Pantry moved to better protect the people they help. They provide food security for students, staff and faculty.

“The old place was like a fishbowl room,” Johnson said.

“It was a high traffic area and anyone could see the room.”

The Bear Pantry was formerly located in the Center for Community Engagement.

They moved to University Hall room 012 and have doubled the amount of people they provide services for.

“It was definitely a fear to be lost as a resource if we moved,” Johnson said. “However we wanted the opportunity to have a larger space to provide more while still being accessible to those on campus.”

The Bear Pantry is closely partnered with the local food pantries around the local Springfield areas. They coordinate with other food pantries to provide food for students.

“In 2018, student leaders told us if we were more accessible, more people would come if we were on campus,” Johnson said. “There was a lot of initial support from the administration and other nonprofits.

We also have a lot of support from the alumni base and the Missouri State University foundation.”

Johnson said they are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. The Bear Pantry allows people to come and receive food as often as they need it.

“We allow people to come anytime and any amount of times,” Johnson said. “There are no stipulations or questioned asked. They just need their Bear Pass.”

Bear Pantry is dependent on donations. Students that want to get involved with helping the program can join groups that hold donations or fundraisers for the Bear Pantry.

“We don’t have a lot of opportunities for volunteering in order to maintain confidentiality,” Johnson said. “We encourage students to advocate and educate the campus community on what hunger looks like on campus.”

Being donation-based allows them to ask for specific food items when they need to.

“In times of (bad) weather we can ask for specific food items if people need them,” Johnson said. “However, we will always have things like peanut butter, bread and cans.”

The Bear Pantry also offers hygiene products and resources people can contact to reduce their food insecurity.

“Our ultimate goal is for everyone on campus to have KENDRA KERNEL/THE STANDARD the resources they need to succeed,” Johnson said. “We want Shelves in the Bear Pantry are filled with cans. The pantry is located in as many people as possible University Hall in room 012. utilizing the resources that they need.”

The Bear Pantry is working house. It will be on Feb. 10 East. They will give tours while work they’ve done and discuss with the Student Government from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the providing snacks and drinks. the progress they’ve made by Association to create an open Plaster Student Union Ballroom The pantry will recap on the moving to University Hall.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

THE STANDARD

THE-STANDARD.ORG 5

Cultivated acts of kindness LAINEY SANDERS Staff Reporter @lainey_sanders

SARAH TEAGUE/THE STANDARD

The Glo Center, an LGBTQ+ community center, is located on 518 E. Commercial St.

Glo Center offers support for LGBTQ+ community M. TODD DEARING Staff Reporter @mtodddearing When Nan Todd came out over 20 years ago, the only place for her community was a bar. Today she leads an effort to give a safe space for anyone and everyone.

The Glo Center offers a space for young people of the LGBT+ community to gather and interact in a safe space.

Established in 1996, the Glo Center has provided the community with advocacy, outreach, programs and activities for LGBT+ people to grow and learn about their identity.

“LGBT youth are already at risk for the simple fact that they are LGBT+,” said Nan Todd, president of the Glo Center.

Todd has been an LGBT+ activist in the Springfield community over twenty years. She is highly regarded by her peers as being one of the key reasons Glo is the longest running LGBT+ organization in Missouri.

“Nan is a great leader,” said Mandy Monsees, local transrights activist and head of communications for the Glo Center. “Nan listens to everybody’s ideas, she’s very interactive with you as far as communicating.”

“She is fantastic,” said Michelle Jackson, a board member. “She’s been in a position of leadership so long; she

searches out opportunities and brings them back to us.”

Todd said she has seen children coming from situations that leave profoundly painful impacts on their lives.

“The act of being rejected by your family, those traumas,” Todd said looking down to her fingers as if they were staring back. “PTSD, anxiety, depression, all of that compounds with them, and they’re just kids.”

According to Monsees, anyone can feel rejection if they feel no connection to their community so it is essential to establish a place for people who feel isolated.

Todd said the support network Glo seeks to offer is a necessity for kids dealing with rejection.

“When I came out, I had moved to Kansas City thinking I would find more resources and the only one was a bar,” Todd said with a half-smile and solemn eyes. “Our goal at The Glo Center is to be 100% inclusive for everyone, no matter who they are.”

Todd stated that a place to congregate is essential for all LGBT+ youth.

“You don’t go to the bar to talk about ‘how do I navigate these suicidal thoughts’ or ‘how do I apply for college’ or ‘how do I find a bed tonight?”

Todd said.

The progress for LGBT+ people in the past few years has been, according to Todd, “five steps forward, three steps

back.”

“In the last 10 years we gained the right to marry who we want,” Todd said. “But in the past few years we’ve seen some regression.”

Todd explained that the backdoor entrance to the center is important because of the aggression seen towards the community.

“There are so many people who want to be there or need to be there, but they can only safely come in through the back,” Todd said. “The ‘okayness’ that society is having towards being hateful gives permission for people to discriminate.”

Todd said the current presidential administration is at fault for the regained attitude of hatred for her community and others.

“We see transgender individuals not being able to serve in the military and rights being rolled back and that creates a lot of fear in people,” Todd said.

Monsees is a transgender veteran.

“I work at T-Mobile, they recently just sent me to New York City for the Veteran’s Day Parade,” Monsees said as her eyes gazed down to her hot pink nails. “I was the only transgender veteran at the parade.”

Todd emphasized that because of this attitude, the Glo Center has become even more important for the LGBT+ youth.

“The transgender commu-

nity has been under attack for the past few years, just this year alone there are 14 bills in the Missouri capitol right now against LGBT people,” Onsees said. “In almost all states there are bills specifically against trans people.”

Onsees stated that the fear within the community is something that needs to be met head-on and with the intent of answering the questions of anyone confused by the community.

In addition to all of these problems, 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT+.

“Many of them are homeless because of violence in the home and being kicked out by their parents,” Todd said.

“They’re experiencing homelessness because their families reject them.”

Todd, who was at an event for the homeless, said their intent is to find those people and give them the help they need.

Jackson, through a quivering frown and a hand clutching a pin reading “free mom hugs,” said she finds it difficult to rationalize abandoning your child willingly.

Todd, Onsees, and Jackson all gave the same conclusion, that no one deserves to feel rejected because of who they are.

The Glo Center is located at 518 E Commercial St, Springfield, MO 65803. Their number is (417) 869-3978, and their email is info@glocenter.org.

Finding forgotten change in the vending machine or seeing a positive note are happy accidents to stumble upon.

The Kindness Commission creates and plans these ‘happy accidents’ with the intention of making someone’s day a little better.

Claire Kidwell originally came up with the idea.

“After attending a few 2016 election watch parties for both political parties, Kidwell couldn’t sleep well.

She felt that there was too much negativity being spread, and wanted to make a change,” according to an interview with Kidwell for the Bear Bulletin.

Claire’s vision for Kindness Commission has carried on after graduating by current Kindness Commission president, Lucas Merz.

Merz is a sophomore at MSU, majoring in international business administration.

Merz says the mission of Kindness Commissions is simple: to spread positivity and uplift people.

“Claire Kidwell started it years ago, creating it with the vision of spreading positivity around campus and to uplift people’s days and we’ve continued that till now, and we’re continuing it with spreading kindness around the campus and this

community,” Merz said.

Kindness Commission helped add smiles to people’s faces last semester by handing out free hot chocolate during finals week to give people a pick-me-up during a stressful time.

“We also do a lot of posters, a lot of fliers,” Merz said.

You’ve probably seen them around campus. The fliers that at first glance look like a missing cat/dog poster reading, “Have you seen this cat/dog?” but if you look closer, beneath it reads “Now you have, have a nice day.”

Kindness Commission plans to continue hanging up these types of fliers feature pictures of the members pets, but they have more planned for 2020.

“We want to do one called, ‘Take a compliment’ where it says, ‘Take what you need, give what you can’ and you can tear off these notes that would read things like, ‘Your hair looks great, have a nice day’ and give it to someone,” Merz said.

Merz says the organization wants to do more pay-itforward events where they would put change in a bag and leave it in front of a vending machine so people can get a free snack, as well as continuing their volunteering in the community.

Kindness Commission is always looking for more people to help spread kindness u See KINDNESS, page 8

6

THE STANDARD

sports

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

Lady Bears remain undefeated after two-win weekend at JQH DEREK SHORE Senior Sports Reporter @D_Shore23

The No. 21 nationally-ranked Missouri State Lady Bears have stuck with a motto all season and those three words resonated with the team on Sunday.

Humble and hungry.

And the Lady Bears have hit their stride at just the right time.

Missouri State once again has sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference, staying unbeaten at home with a 87-74 victory over Illinois State. This win finishes off a weekend sweep of Bradley and the Redbirds at JQH Arena.

After the stunning loss at Southern Illinois on Jan. 17, the Lady Bears have won four

straight games and head into perhaps its biggest weekend ahead for dates with archrivals Northern Iowa and Drake.

“It was a wake-up call for us and a maturity thing,” sophomore Mya Bhinhar said. “I think that was the problem at times. We were trying to play against the teams that were ranked and had a big name.

“Sometimes you overlook teams like that when you shouldn’t. It was a slap-in-the-face like, ‘Hey, this is our goal. We need to be playing like this every time we step on the court.’

We’re trying to stay humble and hungry.”

It was a back-and-forth game early with a 13-13 tie before Bhinhar and senior Alexa Willard combined for an 8-0 run in 63 seconds. Bhinhar scored eight points in the first quarter and hit multiple 3-pointers for the first time in her career.

The run began a stretch that saw Missouri State hit 13 of its next 16 shots over the ensuing 13 minutes, growing the lead to as many as 15 points on three occasions.

The Lady Bears took a 45-33 lead into halftime after shooting 63% in the first half.

Missouri State led 53-40 with 6:44 left in the third quarter. Illinois State charged back with a 16-3 run to cut the margin to a single point with 2:13 on the clock.

Junior Elle Ruffridge countered with a trey to kick-start a 9-0 for the Lady Bears. After the Redbirds made it 68-62 with 8:11 left in the game, Missouri State rattled off a 10-0 run to lead 78-62.

Illinois State pulled the lead to 80-72 with 4:23 remaining, but the Lady Bears’ defense allowed only one more basket to close it out.

Five players scored in double figures, and

Missouri State finished shooting 54% from the field. Willard had a team-high 16 points while junior Brice Calip had 15 points, and Bhinhar finished with 14 points.

Sophomore Sydney Wilson posted 13 points, and junior Abby Hipp added 10 points to lead a balanced offensive attack.

“This game shows our maturity and growth throughout the season,” head coach Amaka ‘Mox’ Agugua-Hamilton said. “We are focused on the bigger goal here. We want to send the message that we are here to win championships.

We can’t do it by coming out lazy or lackadaisical, which were things we did in the past when we weren’t respecting the front of the jersey.

We have grown.”

Missouri State heads to Iowa next weekend for crucial matchups against UNI on Feb. 7 and Drake on Feb. 9.

Family’s Chiefs fandom spans generations COLE SUTTON Sports Reporter @ColeSutton23

A lot has changed since 1970. While disco isn’t making a comeback anytime soon, one thing has made a return: the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. The last appearance for Kansas City was Super Bowl IV against the Minnesota Vikings. The Chiefs were victorious over their northern NFL opponents by a score of 23-7, and superfan Paul Grindstaff Jr., 63, was there for it all.

“I was in eighth grade; I remember that game well. I wasn’t nervous because I remember thinking the Chiefs were the better team,” Grindstaff Jr. said. “The Chiefs had just beat the Raiders in the AFL championship a week or so before, and in those days, beating the Raiders was actually more important.”

Grindstaff Jr., now a Farmington, Missouri, retiree, was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, so gravitating towards the Chiefs was easy for him. His Chiefs fandom originated from his father, who was a big football fan at the time.

“I remember some of Super Bowl I when the Packers beat the Chiefs,” Grindstaff Jr. said. “My parents took me to the KC airport to see the team after they earned their spot in the Super Bowl. I got some autographs from some players there and instantly became a fan.”

Chief’s fandom runs in the family for the Grindstaffs, and like Grindstaff Jr.’s dad did “It’s just been a part of during his childhood, Paul carried on the tradition to his son Paul Grindstaff III. me my whole life. It has Grindstaff III has been a Chiefs fan for as long been such a huge part as he can remember, and he knows how special it is that he gets to share these memories with his of connecting with my father.

“It’s just been a part of me my whole life. dad. To be able to carry It has been such a huge part of connecting such great memories with my dad,” Grindstaff III said. “To be able to carry such great memories with your father with your father and and a legendary sports team like the Chiefs?

It’s priceless. a legendary sports “I remember the playoff game against the (Indianapolis) Colts in ‘96, we were standing team like the Chiefs? on two inches of ice. But it being a playoff It’s priceless.” - Paul game, you were so excited you never felt it.”

While there’s plenty of Chiefs stories beGrindstaff III tween these two generations of Grindstaffs, both know how much this specific year’s post- of what it means for the team and the city,” season run means for Chiefs fans.

Grindstaff III said. It’s the first time, and “The biggest was just 13 days ago because could be the last time I’ll get to see the Chiefs

Photos submitted by the Grindstaff Family

(Left) Paul Grindstaff III, left, and his father Paul Grindstaff Jr. take win an AFC Championship game at home a selfie at the AFC Championship game on Jan. 19. with my dad.”

Even though none of the family made the trip down to Miami this weekend, there’s no question that the Grindstaffs will be rooting for their Chiefs.

“Our plans are to watch the game at home, obviously make some snacks, have a few beverages and enjoy a Chiefs victory,” Grindstaff Jr. said.

Grindstaff Jr. said he wasn’t one for playoff traditions or rituals, except for one.

“I’ve seen every playoff game at Arrowhead and up until this year, my playoff tradition has been watching the Chiefs lose in the most unexpected and insane ways,” Grindstaff Jr. said.

“I hope we’ve started a new tradition this year with (Patrick) Mahomes (II).”

In terms of Super Bowl LIV in Miami, Grindstaff Jr. said he wasn’t wavering.

“I think we’re going to win even though San Francisco is very good,” Grindstaff Jr. said a few days before the game.

‘It’s gotta mean something’

Ford frustrated after third-straight loss for men’s basketball team AMANDA SULLIVAN Sports Editor @mandajsullivan

It was another tale of two halves for the Missouri State men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon.

There was little to no energy inside JQH Arena to start the first half. Fans mumbled amongst themselves in the stands while the Bears went through the motions on the court.

The teams battled for a lead early, with several lead changes in the first few minutes, but Indiana State quickly started to pull away with consistent makes.

The Bears went over four minutes without scoring until first-half star Gaige Prim put up a jumper with 8:02 left in the first to slow the bleeding of the Sycamores’ lead.

There still wasn’t much spark for the Bears though, until head coach Dana Ford put in senior Ross Owens with 7:45 left in the first.

Owens only took one shot from the field in the first half, but it was deep from the corner. All of JQH erupted, and the Bears were off to the races to end the half.

“When coach calls my name, I gotta be ready, and I never know when it’s going to be, but I’ve just got to be ready,” Owens said after the game.

Before Owens entered, the Bears trailed by 12. When the teams headed to the locker room, they trailed by eight.

Owens stayed in to start and finish the second half without a break.

He and redshirt junior Josh Hall took over for senior Keandre Cook and freshman Isiaih Mosley to start the second half. Owens averaged 3.7 minutes going into Saturday’s game.

His 26 minutes is a career high.

To him, though, the minutes weren’t what mattered. He said he just wanted to find a way to light a fire under his teammates.

“Coming and bringing the energy — from the start there was no energy defensively or

(Top) The Grindstaff family went to the AFC Championship game on Jan. 19 at Arrowhead Stadium.

(Bottom) After the Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC Championship, the team celebrated on the field.

Grindstaff Jr. said he was simply just excited to see his team in contention for a title once again. He also knows that this Super Bowl could be the first of many. For him, watching the Chiefs win was unforgettable.

“To finally see your team hold up the trophy was one of the best sports memories I have,” Grindstaff III said. “I was actually speechless after the clock went to zero and the confetti started to fall.”

Missouri State hires new head volleyball coach DEREK SHORE Senior Sports Reporter @D_Shore23

KAITLYN STRATMAN/THE STANDARD

Junior Gaige Prim shoots a jumper in traffic against Indiana State on Feb. 1. The Bears lost by double digits for the sixth time this season. offensively, and I just came in and tried to bring that, and got the crowd going a little bit,” Owens said.

That was all Ford was looking for.

“Looked like it meant something to him, didn’t it?” Ford said. “It’s not rocket science what we’re doing here. Get a group of guys where it means something to them, and you play them. Heck yeah, it means something to Ross — it means something to him to play for Missouri State.”

Ford said from the beginning of the season that he needs a roster of guys that buy into Missouri State and the program. That was only Owens and Prim in Saturday’s game, according to Ford.

Fan favorites Keandre Cook and freshman

Isiaih Mosley had limited time on the court compared to previous games. As a senior, Cook has averaged 32.9 minutes a game — he played 22 on Saturday. Mosley has averaged the most minutes per game of any Bears this season with 33.6, but he only played 12 against Indiana State.

“You’ve gotta have five guys out there at all times that it means something to,” Ford said.

“It’s just simple — I’ve got to do a better job of getting it to mean something to the players that play here.”

Ford has about four days to find a starting five where the game matters. The Bears play Illinois State at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 5.

The Redbirds are 7-14 this season and have won two Missouri Valley Conference games.

Missouri State has found a permanent coach to lead its volleyball program after parting ways with the winningest coach in program history before the 2019 season.

Steven McRoberts has been hired as the university’s fourth permanent head coach in Missouri State volleyball history. He is the first full-time male head coach.

“I am extremely pleased to have Coach McRoberts, Stacy, Jackson, Mollie and Nate as part of our Bears family,” MSU Athletics Director Kyle Moats said in a press release.

“Coach McRoberts is a proven head coach who has won everywhere he’s been. He and his family will be a tremendous asset to our university and community. His plan for our program and my goals and expectations matched up ideally.”

McRoberts takes over for Melissa Stokes, who resigned on Aug. 12 following an independent investigation that found NCAA violations occurred within the volleyball program.

After Stokes’ departure, Manolo Concepción took over the team as the interim head coach. The Bears went 10-22 on the season for the worst finish in the program’s history, which snapped a streak of 19-consecutive winning seasons.

McRoberts, who has 23 years of experience as a collegiate head coach, including 15 at the Division I level, owns a 587-245 overall record with 21 winning seasons and 19 years with 20 wins or more.

“I am really grateful for the opportunity that Kyle (Moats) and Casey (Hunt) are giving me as the head volleyball coach at Missouri State,” McRoberts said in a release. uSee VOLLEYBALL, page 8

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

THE STANDARD

THE-STANDARD.ORG 7

How the sports staff transitioned to ‘digital first’ AMANDA SULLIVAN Sports Editor @mandajsullivan

uSee HOCKEY, page 8

u Read more at the-standard.org.

“This is the best thing that has happened to me.”

Dimitry Robertson has only been with the Missouri State Ice Bears for half a season, but he says he could not enjoy it more.

Robertson, a sophomore at Kickapoo High School in Springfield, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at a young age. He had trouble fitting in until the Springfield-based organization Champions Committed to KIDS connected him with the Ice Bears.

Champions Committed to KIDS connects children who have medical conditions and disabilities with athletic teams at both the high school and college level in Southwest Missouri.

Robertson’s father Stacy met with a member of the organization to see if Dimitry would be interested in partnering with a team. Dimitry said he wanted to be a part of a hockey team, so the Ice Bears were a natural fit.

“They reached out to us about him, and we could not have said yes fast enough,” Ice Bears assistant coach Brendan McClew said.

Dimitry is as much a part of the Ice Bears as the players are — he shows up to most practices, attends all the home games and almost all of the road games, and celebrates with the team in the locker room after wins.

The team welcomed Dimitry the moment he was introduced to them. Head coach Jeremy Law said he brings a positivity and light-heartedness that lifts the team’s spirits.

“He’ll say whatever is on his mind,” McClew

KAITLYN STRATMAN/THE STANDARD

Dimitry Robertson watches the Ice Bears warm up. said after the Ice Bears beat McKendree University 6-2 for their first win in two months.

“He came in tonight and said ‘Wow! This is so much more fun than losing,’ and it made us all laugh about a rough time.”

Dimitry has special bonds with seniors Hunter Saunders and Brady Griffin.

Offered at Missouri State in 4-week, 5-week and online options.

Contact ELIteachertraining @missouristate.edu or visit http://international. missouristate.edu/eli/ teachertraining/

Interested in joining Mensa, the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world?

Text or leave voice-mail @ 310.692.1666.

Ideal for your CV. Raise your GPA and your income. Work part time, around classes, full time income potential. All majors welcome to apply. Request info at TheCEOatHome.com

Check out the Hillbilly Feminist!

A podcast giving you the rants you truly want.

Available on Google Play, iTunes and most other podcast apps.

FREE MARKETPLACE ADS! Text-only marketplace ads are FREE for MSU students, faculty and staff.

One free ad per person per issue, up to 25 words.

Deadline to submit your ad is Friday at 5pm.

Submit your ad online or email it to msu.standard@gmail.com

Text-only ads. Price is per ad, per week.

1.5” x 1” = $10 • 1.5” x 2” = $20 Free for MSU students, faculty & staff. One free ad per person per issue.

25-word limit for free ads. Marketplace ad deadline is Friday at 5pm.

RD

Teach English abroad with the Cambridge CELTA certificte!

Administrative help needed to set up fire engine loaner program across southern Missouri.

For more info, email: somoes @rocketmail.com

SO

buy • sell • rent • jobs

MIS

MARKETPLACE ADS

S TA N D A

TY

STEPHEN TERRILL Sports Reporter @Stevethe2nd

U

SI

Champions Committed to KIDS partners Kickapoo sophomore with MSU hockey team

RI

ER

Ice Bears add team member

TH

KAITLYN STRATMAN/THE STANDARD

Dimitry Robertson, middle, poses with his mother, Melette, and father, Stacy, during an Ice Bears game.

E

Saunders and a few other players have gone to Kickapoo to eat lunch with Dimitry several times.

“He is a blessing,” Saunders said. “If you have a bad day of classes, you come to practice and he is always there — always smiling and asking you how your day was. It’s kind of hard to have a bad day if he is around.”

Dimitry was with the Ice Bears in Oct. 2019 when the Stanley Cup came to Springfield. He said that is his favorite moment with the team.

Dimitry has a growing collection of hockey memorabilia that includes photos with the team and the Stanley Cup, players’ partially broken sticks, and a puck collection that includes a souvenir puck from the 1980 Winter Olympics — the year the United States hockey team beat the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice.” Stacy has a friend whose mother was at the 1980 Olympics, who gave Dimitry the puck.

Dimitry’s mother Melette said she is thankful for the opportunity he has to fit in somewhere.

“This is kind of his first opportunity to have friends, and that’s been the best part for us,” Melette said. “It’s been hard in the past in that way.”

Melette said how the team functions as a family stands out to her. They have met a lot of the players’ parents, members of the Ice Bears booster club and fans of the team who have welcomed them with open arms.

Dimitry is going to be with the Ice Bears for the rest of this season and all of the 2020-21 season.

Ice Bears founder Stan Melton said Dimitry

From the moment I stepped into a journalism class at Missouri State University, I was told the media landscape was changing and I better catch up before it was too late.

Talk about terrifying.

Amanda Sullivan Well, as I just recently passed my two-year anniversary at The Standard, several changes have been made to catch up before it really is too late. So let me tell you a quick story.

When I joined The Standard, the sports department was the closest to the “digital first” model of today’s media. The staff wrote postgame stories and posted videos (shoutout to Larry Catt for sponsoring us for a few years) that went online immediately. Long-form stories went into our print edition once a week, but articles about the games were published as soon as possible.

And that was huge for a paper this size — The Standard has a small staff. All departments have a single section editor along with a handful of copy editors that may or may not be available when they’re needed.

That changed for the sports section about two and a half weeks ago.

The Standard’s editor-in-chief, Sarah Teague, reached out to me a few days before winter break was over saying she wanted to meet up and chat. I, of course, was racking my brain trying to figure out what I had done wrong — as any kid does when their parent says “We need to talk.”

It wasn’t bad, though. Sarah and our incredible adviser Jack Dimond came up with a loose plan on moving the sports department to a “digital first” model. What that plan was, I still don’t really know.

When I met with Sarah at Mudhouse on Jan. 11, I took off running with her loose guidelines and never looked back.

There was only one problem. We met on a Saturday and the first week of classes was set to start two days from then. We wanted to start the semester with a new plan rather than changing things midway, so we had less than 48 hours to solidify our plans and inform the sports staff about the changes.

I’m not going to lie, it was a lot of work.

A new handbook had to be written with guidelines, new expectations for each job title had to be set, new job titles had to be created to fit the model and a plan for schedules had to be created. Again, this all had to be done in less than two days.

But we did it.

The handbook, a schedule model, training manuals, job expectations — by Monday morning, everyone knew their role and seemed excited to jump in.

S TAT E U N I

V

Center City Counseling Clinic

offers individual, couples and family counseling at a cost of $5–$20 depending on income.

Call us at 417-836-3215 for more information.

Submit your ad online: the-standard.org Or email it: msu.standard@gmail.com

8 THE-STANDARD.ORG

THE STANDARD

STALKING

KINDNESS FARROW

Continued from page 2

to green.

Other resources available are Harmony House, Victim Center and Greene County Family Justice Center, which also provide services to individuals such as emergency housing to families involved with domestic violence, prevention education services, court support and counseling.

A service offered at MSU is Safe Walk. Call 417-836-5509 and an officer will come and escort you to where you need to go on campus.

“Often I have people who under-

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

estimated the concerns they might have had with something, rather than overestimating it,” said Patterson.

“You come to see us early and often, and we are happy to help.”

According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, some ways to help protect yourself are to not pattern your own behavior, document and report incidents, change passwords and usernames, protect your location, limit the information you are giving out, and control offline and online privacy.

Continued from page 5

Continued from page 3

and secretary for Kindness Commission, junior Emma Watkins said it’s amazing what a little act of kindness can do.

“A little random act of kindness can go a long way,” Watkins said.

“You never know what someone’s going through that day, and once they receive something really simple like a compliment or a free hot chocolate, you never know the difference you’re going to make and I love it.

“It’s the simple things that matter.”

us and make us feel more separated from each other than ever before.

Which is ironic in our hyperconnected world.

I urge all to reflect on themselves for a minute.

Take time to consider if you read a headline and automatically know how you feel about its content before actually reading it.

Consider if you even know our country’s political history before diving into the state of polarization we find ourselves in today. Reflect, and

think to yourself, “Do I actually know what I am talking about?”

It is okay to admit you do not know enough about a topic to argue for or against it. That is the respectable thing to do.

Not everybody has to have an opinion on everything.

Invest in your knowledge bank and take time to research what you feel is important to have an opinion on.

And please, check your biases at the door.

HOCKEY

VOLLEYBALL

is just as much of a positive force for the team as the team has been for him.

“Things like this make you a better person,” Melton said. “The players will be able to take the lessons from this, and they’ll apply for the rest of their lives.”

“These guys are my family,” Dimitry said. “They are just so good to me.”

“This program is well respected around the country. There have been so many great coaches and players that have paved the way for this successful program. I will do my best to uphold their legacy.”

McRoberts comes to Missouri State after a six-year tenure at Ole Miss. He posted a 111-82 record and guided the Rebels to the 2017 National Invitational Tournament Championship title — the first postseason national championship for any program in the school’s history.

“I have been thoroughly impressed with the facilities and the overall attention that is given to the volleyball

Continued from page 7

Continued from page 6

Weekend Sweep

The Ice Bears swept a two-game series against No. 25 McKendree University on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Friday night game was a 6-2 Ice Bears victory and the season debut for senior defenseman Brian Shumacher. Shumacher played for the Ice Bears in the previous two seasons but was unable to play in the fall semester of this season.

“He was our best player tonight,” McClew said. “He blocked more

BRENNA LUMLEY/THE STANDARD

shots tonight than he has in his entire MSU career.”

MSU won 4-2 on Saturday night.

Griffin stopped over 30 shots in the win.

Saunders said the two games were a full-team effort, something he said has not quite been there in the recent past.

CHARTWELLS Continued from page 2

“In addition to having a minimum of two fair trade certified products at each location, we need fair trade beverage options in catering, and we have to host education events and provide fair trade education materials online to the campus community,” Young said. “Lastly, there has to be campus support of the program.

“As of Jan. 30, SGA passed a resolution in support of fair trade initiatives.”

With the addition of fair trade goods, some regular products will

still remain, allowing the student to choose which is best for them.

“The impact on students is whether or not they purchase the slightly more expensive fair trade tea or the regular tea,” Young said.

The proposal for fair trade was a joint decision with campus sustainability, dining services and SGA. According to Young, the initiative falls in line with Missouri State’s public affairs mission which consists of three pillars: ethical leadership, cultural competence and community engagement.

“It’s been two or three forward lines and two D-pairs playing well in the past, but this weekend all of us were there,” Saunders said. “We talked in practice about holding yourself accountable, and we did that.”

The Ice Bears are at home next weekend to play No. 13 Oklahoma on Feb. 7-8.

“In the limited time this program has been available, we’ve already seen a tremendous amount of support and we believe it will only grow from here,” Young said.

According to Eason, Chartwells is no stranger when it comes to bettering the lives of others.

“From baking a special treat for a homesick student to initiating new sustainability platforms to delivering Thanksgiving turkeys to those in need, the Chartwells community is committed to bettering lives in every community we touch, both near and far,” Eason said.

According to Young, the living conditions of those in need is a cause worth fighting for and anything that can be done should be.

program,” McRoberts also said in the release. “I am looking forward to getting my family to Springfield and I am excited to get to work! Go Bears!”

McRoberts coached three years at Tulsa with the first two resulting in NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Sherwood, Arkansas native coached at Central Arkansas for six years, where he compiled a 146-58 record. He was named the Southland Coach of the Year three times.

McRoberts also spent eight years at Lubbock Christian in Texas. His teams won seven conference championships and three region championships in eight years.

WHEELER Continued from page 3

Likewise, something may be said with the thematic reasoning behind the signature long take, in that it flows like a river — the River Styx, the waterway connecting the dead and the living. Perhaps there is no greater signal of the film world's falsehood than in the final shot, a seemingly infinite sparkler still shedding fire when previous discourse between Hongwu and the "doppelgänger" dictated the impossibility of its perpetual kindling — as well as the fantastic spinning of a house following the recital of a book's passage.

There may be something to be said about the film's treatment of narrative, with the misappropriation of the dead friend and the criminal underworld, that these story threads feel underdeveloped, but Gan is more concerned

with the headspace of memory as seen through a prism. A deliberate misplacement of story. And while the film's amorphous impreciseness may deter some, this is still a trip down the rabbit hole that feels altogether unique and transportive.

At the midpoint in the film, just before the momentous long take — where our hero puts on the 3D glasses, the cut-to-black into the title card, later remarking about how he woke up in an empty theater in a haze of confusion, in a world that may not necessarily be his own — perhaps it is Gan's way of telling us that cinema is magical and otherworldly.

And the best part about that notion is that he is not only telling you how beautiful cinema can be — he is about to show you as well.

8.5/10