The Standard's 2.5.19 issue

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

VOLUME 112, ISSUE 18 | THE-STANDARD.ORG The Standard/The Standard Sports

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

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Missouri State student workers don’t have to be paid the state’s new minimum wage TINSLEY MERRIMAN Staff Reporter @MerrimanTinsley The recent passing of Proposition B in the 2018 midterm Missouri election means an increase of the state’s minimum wage to $8.60 per hour for private employers starting this year.

This presents complications for most Missouri State University students, as MSU is considered a public employer and is not affected by Proposition B.

Proposition B also raised the minimum wage by 85 cents per year until 2023. But since MSU is considered a public employer, its minimum wage will remain at the previous base pay of $7.85 and will not increase. MSU has three categories of part-time employment, and this means that some jobs will remain below the new minimum wage, according to the Student Employment section of the MSU website.

Category I jobs require little or no previous experience, according to the website. This category’s pay range is $7.85 - $8.35.

Category II jobs are higher in pay, but also require more skills. The pay range of these jobs are $8.36 - $8.86, nearer to the new minimum wage.

Category III jobs are those that require skills above the Category II range. These jobs pay $8.87 and over, but need certain faculty approval to determine how much.

Most of the student-held jobs on campus are considered Category I, such as senior applied mathmatics major Sabrina Klement’s part-time job as a Wells House front desk worker. Klement

monitors who enters and exits the building, and gives out mail to dorm residents. While many students are worried about the coming effects of Proposition B, Klement understands that getting more money takes more time.

“I mean, MSU is the least funded public university in the state so it makes sense they need some time to find some more money,” Klement said.

Since the MSU fiscal year budget was planned before Proposition B was passed, it u See WAGES, page 2

Convoy of Hope sends winter aid to Lebanon EMILY COLE News Editor @EMCole19

For example, tigers naturally fear fire, so they literally fear for their life every single time they jump through a hoop.”

The Carden Circus website states: “The Carden International circus is committed 110% to the exceptional care and ethical treatment of all of our animals. There is absolutely zero tolerance for verbal or physical abuse or the withholding of food or water from any of our animals. We strongly oppose any form of cruelty or mistreatment to animals large and small. Our animals are fed, watered, groomed, and cleaned daily. The entire stable area, including individual stalls, are cleaned regularly. The manure is removed and fresh bedding is provided every single day.”

According to People for the Ethical Treatment

In early January, a few weeks before temperatures in the Midwest dropped to the negatives, the Middle Eastern country of Lebanon was anticipating its own cold weather hit.

At the same time, Convoy of Hope, a nonprofit located in Springfield, was preparing to send help.

Jeff Nene, the national spokesperson for Convoy of Hope, said an employee who works for the organization in Lebanon notified the Springfield headquarters of the coming cold, and Convoy knew they had to help.

“We thought, ‘What can we do, quickly, to help’ because these storms were pretty severe,” Nene said. “Some places in the mountain got 10 feet of snow — that’s just phenomenal.”

One highway in Lebanon, connecting Damascus and the capital city of Beirut was covered in over 3 feet of snow in early January, according to the Associated Press.

Many in Lebanon were affected by the low temperatures, snow and flooding that followed, particularly in the Bekaa Valley, reported Al Jazeera.

Just a week after the Convoy employee notified them of the need, Convoy had set up an oil voucher program, handing out vouchers to families that they could then exchange for heating oil for their homes at various stores.

A week later, a shipping container was on its way, filled with food, blankets, pajamas, tarps and solar powered lanterns. Nene said they expedited the shipping, so the trip that would normally take around 16 weeks should take around half the time.

The container is currently on its way to Lebanon, where it will be distributed not only to food-insecure Lebanese families, but to some of the over one million Syrian refugees currently living there.

While assisting the refugees is important to Convoy, Nene said they wanted to ensure they helped the people of Lebanon, too.

“We don’t want to go into Lebanon and then only help people from another country,” Nene said.

u See CIRCUS, page 2

u See CONVOY, page 2

CLAYTON FRYE/THE STANDARD

The message of animal rights activists is almost impossible to miss for circus-goers. Members of the Animal Rights Club and others gathered in front of JQH Arena, where the circus was held, to protest the treatment of the animals.

Traveling circus at JQH Arena draws animal rights protests CHIYIERRJA GRANT Staff Reporter @ChiyierrjaGrant Small feet excitedly skip into the doors of the JQH Arena. The scent of fresh popcorn flows in the breeze, as families line-up waiting to take their seats for opening night of the Carden International Circus. Just outside the arena is a group of protesters who are concerned about what’s taking place behind the scenes, regarding the animals about to take center stage.

For three years, the Animal Rights Club has joined with the community right outside the doors of the JQH Arena, hoping to put an end to the exploitation and abuse of animals used in circus entertainment.

Jessica Albright, one of the presidents of ARC and marketing graduate student, is de-

termined to take a stand for the sake of the animals.

“We think the animals are being enslaved and that we can be the voice for these animals,” Albright, organizer of the protest, said. “We feel that circus-goers are not using empathy when they go to the circus.”

The goal of the animal rights protest isn’t to bring circuses to an end, Albright said. Their focus is to bring awareness, educate circus goers and have circuses retire animals to sanctuaries. Most families who come to enjoy the shows are unaware of how the animals are being treated during the training needed to successfully pull off the amazing acts.

“They don’t understand what the animals go through,” Albright said. “They don’t understand that the animals are getting poked with bull hooks, electric prods. They’re getting whipped.

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Springfield Police release 2018 crime report Page 2

Tunnel sheds light on violence, oppression Page 5

Jasmine Franklin leads with confidence Page 6

2 THE-STANDARD.ORG

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Annual crime report shows decreased theft, increased assaults CLAYTON FRYE Staff Reporter @clayton_frye The Uniform Crime Report is issued annually and submitted to the FBI by the Springfield Police Department. According to the 2018 release, the year-end data shows very positive results.

Vehicle theft, burglary and larceny in Springfield decreased by 20.8 percent in 2018. Crimes reported against people, including homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, dropped by 1.8 percent in 2018. This means there were 40 fewer incidents than in 2017.

In 2018, there were 16 homicides in Springfield — two more than in 2017. However, only two of those deaths were related to domestic violence, which the release states was a “significant decrease from years past.” Sexual assault decreased by 5 percent overall.

Aggravated assaults increased by 4 percent in 2018. Much of that increase happened in December, which saw a spike in assaults with two or more victims. The release also mentions that, in the past, a large portion of those crimes was related to domestic violence, while only 23 percent were last year.

Vehicle theft dropped by 25 percent. Four hundred ninety-nine fewer vehicles were stolen in 2018 than in 2017. This is paired with a 21.8 percent drop in theft, meaning there was 2,342 fewer thefts and 1206 fewer thefts from vehicles. There was also a 11.67 percent drop in burglaries.

“In addition to targeted enforcement, our community-wide education efforts are bearing fruit. We are seeing the results of people being more vigilant about crime prevention.” Police Chief Paul Williams said in the crime report. “Citizens are active in neighborhood watch and are taking steps to secure their vehicles by removing their keys, locking the doors and stowing property out of sight.”

The release also cautioned against third-party websites that provide “crime information” or other statistics for the city.

“The SPD does not provide data to any of them, and the data used is most often a year or two old. The only true, accurate and fair comparison to be done is against ourselves using historical data.” Williams said in the report.

WAGES Continued from page 1

leaves MSU in a tight spot as it considers its options over increased pay to part time employees. The university can’t provide more money without prep time.

According to the Jan. 15 edition of University President Clif Smart’s presidential update system Clif’s Notes, the university will make a decision for parttime and student employees before July 1, the beginning of next fiscal year.

But MSU also helps stu-

dents find jobs off campus so they don’t have to wait until next year. The Employment Opportunities section of the Student Employment site offers off campus work as well as on campus work.

“We have jobs out there, and we post for off campus employers,” Cheryl Combs, assistant director of the Office of Student Employment Services said. “There are around 83 openings off campus, so there are still many job opportunities out there.”

The Office of Student Employment Services helps students find jobs both on and off campus.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

CIRCUS Continued from page 1

of Animals, Carden International Circus fell at number four on their list of the top six worst circuses, due to numerous citations for failure to meet minimum United States Department of Agriculture animal care requirements.

The Animal Welfare Act requires those that carry a license to hold exotic animals to demonstrate proper handling.

The AWA does not permit any abuse, mistreatment, or withholding of food, shelter or proper medical care.

Carden International Circus has a track record of citations dating back to 1994.

The most recent was given after a series of inspections in February 2017.

Mediapeta.com has a public record of the citations recording that a few animals were in need of medical attention and had physical injuries that raised questions of concern by the USDA. George Carden, owner of the George Carden Circus, prefers not to answer any of the ARC’s questions but in other reports says his elephants, in particular, are not mistreated.

Though there are talks of circuses hearing the rally for a better life of the animals involved by protesters such as the ARC, Albright says this isn’t the end for circus entertainment.

“What we do promote is animal free circuses,” Albright said. “There are all really fun circuses that don’t use animals.

People think that we want to take the fun away from kids. It’s actually that we want the animals to be retired to a sanctuary.”

CLAYTON FRYE/THE STANDARD

A circus employee manages an elephant as it gives a ride to circus-goers. The Animal Rights Club protests the use of the animals.

In a 2018 interview with The Standard, co-owner of the circus Brett Carden responded to allegations that the company mistreated their animals.

“We don’t necessarily have whips for the elephants, we have what is a called a guide or in old terms, they called it a bullhook,” Carden said. “It’s more of an instrument to guide the animal forward and back, and of course it does have a sharp end on the end of it, that way if we go to stop the animal she’ll stop or he’ll stop.

“You know you wouldn’t want an 8,000 pound animal that you couldn’t

CONVOY Continued from page 1

All of the products currently being shipped to Lebanon were donated by various companies, including 900 LuminAID lanterns, and pajamas and blankets from American Airlines. When the supplies arrive in Lebanon, Nene said they will likely be distributed through local churches.

“I always tell people the two “We don’t best sources for volunteers are and colleges because want to be an churches they’ve got a big mass of people organization willing to do something — they want to do things to help,” Nene that throws said.

Nene said the supplies will food off the arrive in Lebanon later than they back of a wanted, but any supplies not used will be stored in Lebanon truck.” so they are available the next time a crisis arises.

“We’ve been at it long enough that we realize we can’t save everybody, but we can save some, and it means a lot to those people,” Nene said.

Convoy has been providing assistance in Lebanon since

stop.”

Albright says that until more changes are made to keep the animals out of living a life they were forced into, the ARC will keep protesting.

“As people become more educated and more aware that animals are sentient beings — they have emotions — we can’t treat them this way,” Albright said.

“They’re not here for our entertainment.

They are beings like us, using empathy and recognizing that what we’re doing is cruel and barbaric.

“It’s really unnecessary, especially when there’s other alternatives.”

2014, Nene said. It’s one of their focus countries. In Lebanon, around 1,000 children are in their feeding program, and Nene said it’s likely around half Lebanese children and half Syrian refugees.

Nene said the organization’s big picture goal is to eradicate poverty.

“We know we can’t do that by ourselves, so then we have to step back and say, ‘OK, what can we do?’” Nene said. “Our goal would be to help as many people as we can, children and families especially.”

By providing food to children, Convoy hopes to help them stay in school and break the cycle of poverty.

“We don’t want to be an organization that throws food off the back of a truck,” Nene said. “We want to be an organization that makes it self-sustaining, to where we can feed these kids, but we don’t want to feed their kids. We want them to learn how to feed themselves. We want to help them take that next step to getting out of poverty.”

For Nene, who has been with the organization for 24 of its 25 years, the effect of Convoy’s assistance worldwide is a rewarding part of his job.

“It’s really cool to know that whatever it is you’re doing, you’re having an impact on somebody halfway around the world that you’ll never meet, but yet the work that you do everyday is having an impact on their life,” Nene said. “There’s not much more gratifying than that. I think as an organization, it’s fulfilling and gratifying to see that we’re doing what we set out to do.”

THE STANDARD opinion 3 Religious freedoms: from persecution to protecting others TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

NATHAN BUNCH Columnist @NathanrBunch Let’s take a trip back to the late 1830s. It’s fall and the leaves are beginning to change. A new religious group has just moved into town, hoping to find a place to settle down. Instead of a welcoming embrace for these new members of the community, they were met with severe persecution and massacre. Fearing for their lives, they fled the area to only see the same fate in the next town. The only solace that they received was when they crossed a continent and settled their own area for themselves, founding Salt Lake City Utah, and settling the Utah territory.

This act didn’t happen to some little known religious sect, in some far off country. This happened to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, informally known as the Mormon church, and it happened right here in Missouri.

In 1938, at a place called Hawn’s Mill just

north of Independence, Missouri, an unauthorized militia led by a colonel and a local sheriff arrived at where church members were staying and opened fire. This action came mere days after Missouri Gov. Lilburn Boggs issued an “extermination order” in his 44th executive order. This order stated, “The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state,” and ordered a militia of 500 men to carry it out. At Hawn’s Mill, 240 men ignored a visible surrender and murdered 17 men women and children, according to the church’s website, History.LDS.org.

Outside of the Mormon church, these events are rarely talked about today. Generally swept under the rug as a mistake from a different era, it has mostly been forgotten.

But to the church it means something different. One could expect that the church would be bitter or resentful to this day. Seventeen innocent people who were just trying to settle down were murdered by a state-authorized militia. Nevertheless, it is seen differently. Instead of resentment and anger, it is used as a

catalyst for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ religious freedoms programs.

Mormons believe that, agency, or the ability to choose, is essential. By protecting other religious beliefs, they protect individuals not only from the persecution and horrors that were faced in the 1800s, but also from the inability to choose or practice what you truly believe.

Protecting this right, to members of the church, is essential in allowing everyone to follow what their heart truly believes, regardless of how that meshes with their own. This is also hand in hand with providing volunteer services such as, JustServe.org, which allows those who are more fortunate find opportunities to help those that they can and enable them to elevate the situation of those in need. It also pairs perfectly with the Welfare Square Initiative, in which the church provides many foods such as cheese, canned beef and other essentials to be sent worldwide for relief.

These initiatives, paired with Welfare initiatives that provide everything from food to blankets to those in need worldwide, offer a

wonderful example of Christlike service. Forgiving those who wronged, helping those in need and supporting others no matter their belief is a wonderful and refreshing thing to see in a world that often takes effort into tearing others down.

This outreach has garnered many friends in the religious community which can be seen by the congratulations offered to the church by other faiths on completion of a new Holy Temple in Rome, Italy. This was capped off by a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints giving a tour to a Catholic delegation, noting their combined efforts in many fronts for things such as relief and religious freedoms, according to an article from the Mormon Newsroom in 2019.

As we look to our beliefs, we should do what not only provides ourselves with what we need, be it spiritual or temporal, but what can help others in their endeavors as well. From volunteer work, to standing up to those who are putting other’s beliefs down, we can all do a little bit to make this world a better place for all of us in it.

Something we must all agree on ISAAC DEMOTTA Columnist @isaacdemotta “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

I doubt that Abraham Lincoln had any idea how famous and renowned this line from his Gettysburg Address would become. He knew something that I believe was simply common sense at his time: the milieu of America’s founding, and the documents that came out of that atmosphere, must be revered and held up as the ideal for these great United States.

Being ready to move on to a new America without the abomination of slavery, Lincoln did not throw the baby out with the bath water. He didn’t say that the founders were evil dead guys whose work should be thrown out or ignored. Lincoln’s skin would have crawled at the suggestion.

No, he knew that even though the founders were hypocrites who did not live up to the standards they pronounced, that is no condemnation of the standards themselves.

A few of those ideals espoused by the founders were life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, along with limited government, and irrevocable God-given rights. Lincoln knew that even though the founders themselves were in gross violation of their own touchstones, the touchstones were not only good, but essential, to the very structure and social fabric of this nation.

If we are truly to be one nation, under God and indivisible, there must be things that all of us as a nation agree on.

We all must agree that the founding was a tremendously important step forward in the course of human events. We must agree that the values written down by the founding fathers were of absolute necessity in order to bring us to where we are now.

The reason the founding documents are so important, even today, is that they represent an ideal that was long unmet by the people and government of this nation. But without that ideal there can be no hypocrisy to point out.

Furthermore, the values written down acted as a time bomb of sorts. It is really hard to maintain that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights” and then also have millions of men, women, and children kept in chains or oppressed by Jim Crow laws. These things are irreconcilable and either the standard must go, or the practices. And thank God it was the latter.

Too often I hear nothing but disdain for this nation’s founders and their work. I even hear plenty of condemnation for the nation currently because of the past atrocities committed here.

Let me be clear, the hypocrisy and the tragedies committed within the United States were terrible and disgusting. But what needs to be understood is that the very fact that there were ideals to be hypocritical of is a good thing. It is those ideals that we grabbed onto in order to pull ourselves out of the evil traditions being practiced.

Martin Luther King Jr. made the point better than I ever could: “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was the promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

MLK knew that if this country was to come together and move forward that it must be with a vehement appreciation for the wonderful ideals that hold us together. He did not look for some new idea that would only serve to divide people. He instead clung to the founding truths and principles which drove this country to truer things and better things.

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The dilemma of teaching while being a part of the LGBTQ+ community JORDAN PHILLIPS Columnist @jrdnphillips In a New York Times article from Jan.16, it was announced that Karen Pence, wife of current Vice President Mike Pence, would go back to teaching at a K-through-8 private Christian school in Virginia that she had taught at from 2001 to 2013.

What made this a headline was the fact that she was hired back at a school that bars students and teachers who are part of the LGBTQ+ community.

In May of last year, NBC News released an article about an elementary art teacher in Texas who filed a lawsuit against her former school district for discrimination based on her sexual orientation. She had been put on administrative leave the previous fall because after talking about her girlfriend during a presentation, a parent complained to the district and claimed she was “promoting the homosexual agenda.”

The issue of openly queer teachers has been an issue since the emergence of the

gay rights movement in the late 1960s.

Since then, people have gone back and forth on the issue of whether queer teachers should be allowed to teach.

The Briggs Initiative in 1978 was one such example of pushback against the gay rights movement. It was a proposition put forth by state Sen. John Briggs, R-Calif., to fire any teachers that were gay or lesbian, or any teacher that openly supported gay rights.

Harvey Milk, a well-renowned activist and one of the first openly gay people to be elected to political office in the United States, was quick to denounce Briggs’s reasoning for the legislation, famously stating: “Then why am I homosexual if I’m affected by role models? I should’ve been a heterosexual; and no offense meant, but if teachers are going to affect you as role models, there’d be a lot of nuns running around the streets today.”

While we have come a long way since the defeat of the Briggs Initiative, we still have a long way to go.

I am a student in Missouri State University’s teacher education program, and

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I am a part of the LGBTQ+ community; those two things should not be mutually exclusive. It is important that non-heterosexual, non-cisgender people should be allowed to teach without fear of being fired from their jobs.

It should be OK for gay teachers to talk about their partners, just as it is OK for straight teachers to do so. In addition, an openly queer teacher can be a role model and a safe place for queer students who feel like their peers and the other adults in their life do not take their sexuality or gender identity seriously.

I seek to be the role model that I never had growing up. A lot of people my age that are queer and want to be teachers have that same goal in mind. Teachers should not have to hide a part of them in order to teach the youth of America, and they certainly should not fear losing their jobs because of it.

If the children and adolescents in this country can be more accepting of gay, bisexual and transgender people than ever before, then we should let teachers be authentically themselves, regardless of how they identify and who they love.

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Local musicians create Ope! Records to support artists in the Midwest REESE RADMACHER Staff Reporter @Reese_Radmacher

fresh perspective on music production has taken root here in Springfield. Brought together by their innate passion for music, creators of Ope! Records, Ephraim McFarland and Hudson Freeman are undeniably synced, notably in their desire for a level playing field in the music industry.

Freeman and McFarland, both seniors studying music technology at Evangel University, met during their sophomore year through their program and have been working together ever since.

In recent years, the broad range of music streaming services — including Spotify and Apple Music — have designed platforms that allow independent artists to reach people on a worldwide scale. Freeman then poses the question: “If we’re all putting music on the exact same place, why do we have to live in Nashville in order to get there?”

As independent artists themselves, McFarland and Freeman responded to their question by creating a label of their own that they hope will champion authenticity and support musicians living in the Midwest.

Currently, the label represents two:eighteen and Hudson Freeman and is joined by artistic director Sam Nye. Freeman said the inspiration for the name Ope! Records came from a meme. For a period of time, social media sites circulated posts about Midwesterners’ tendency to say “ope” in daily situations, such as accidentally running into someone or trying to get past someone. It was adopted by Freeman and McFarland as a humorous way to reference people in the Midwest.

“I say it more than 20 times a day, honestly,” McFarland said.

“I’m not even from the Midwest, and I immediately started saying it, completely unintentionally,” Freeman, a Dallas native, responded.

Collectively, Ope! Records has produced two EPs, including four songs on one and six on the other, as well as three singles — with each single made up of two songs. An EP and two singles were made by McFarland’s band, two:eighteen. Hudson Freeman, also the name of his band, made the other EP and single.

McFarland said their current focus is on themselves as artists to serve as “guinea pigs” before venturing into something bigger.

As business partners and members in each others’ bands, Freeman and McFarland collaborate frequently on music. They share influences such as indie folk icon Bon Iver and a love for the genre as a whole, but they are versatile musicians who are individually distinct in style.

“We are heavily involved in each others projects, but we consider them separate entities,” McFarland said.

McFarland’s musical prowess can be seen through his ability to produce, sing, play guitar, trombone and a little bit of keys.

By blending electronic components with indie folk and indie rock, the atmospheric sounds produced by McFarland are eclectic

and hypnotic in a way that resembles bands like Broken Social Scene and Glass Animals.

While growing up in O’Fallon, Missouri, McFarland said he was exposed to a wide variety of music through his dad and gained experience singing in front of crowds early on through his worship team at church.

His interest and involvement with music was gradually refined throughout his youth, but it was in high school when he found an indie rock band named From Indian Lakes — a revelation that ignited his connection with music.

“If we’re all putting music on the exact same place, why do we have to live in Nashville in order to get there?”

“It was the first time I sat down, listened to music and was like ‘Damn, this has such potency to it and such intentionality,’” McFarland said. “From there, I just kind of exploded listening to everything I possibly could.”

James Blake is another artist that McFarland considers a “visionary when it comes to production and electronic music.”

Two:eighteen is working on their new album, “Neutral Karma,” which will be released in chapters beginning Feb. 18. A new chapter will come out every Friday until March. 15.

McFarland said the sound for the upcoming album will be more focused, falling under the indie rock genre mixed with electronic elements.

Both Freeman and McFarland said they chose to do chapters for their upcoming releases as opposed to dropping an entire album at once in order for audiences to better assimilate the songs.

In regards to the album title, McFarland said he chose Neutral Karma because it reflects how he feels about being human at times.

“Sometimes you do things you don’t understand or you believe one thing and act totally different,” McFarland said. “It’s like this inherently contradicting experience.”

Hudson Freeman’s upcoming album titled “I Don’t Know” will be released on April 5 through April 11.

Freeman incorporates orchestral music into his sound by using brass instruments, violin and string arrangements. Along with singing, playing guitar and some keys, Freeman plays the banjo and mandolin.

“The main concept of my album has to do with identity and certainty,” Freeman said.

“That’s kind of the themes I’ve been exploring in writing music. What do I believe, what do I

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Ephraim McFarland and Hudson Freeman, the founders of Ope! Records, are both majoring in music technology at Evangel University. hold true and how do I fit into the world as well as my friends’ and family’s lives.”

Freeman’s sound parallels a soft, melancholic nature commonly associated with indie folk band Iron & Wine, with a black and white cover art theme to match.

As a musician with a base in traditional folk music blended with indie and low-fi rock, Freeman draws inspiration from artists like Sufjan Stevens, Mumford and Sons, Bon Iver and The Lumineers.

Freeman said Stevens’ music has been a quality reference point for him recently.

“It’s very acoustic oriented but kind of combined with orchestral (and) classical elements,” Freeman said. “It’s very big and bombastic but at the same time super intimate with really interesting narrative lyricism to it.”

When generating song ideas, Freeman said he often revisits content he made years ago leading to songs about being himself now that are oddly tied to the past through what he wrote with his guitar — when he was in love with a

girl five years ago.

“Those things are tied together in kind of a cool way because they were written over a long span of time,” Freeman said. “I try to embrace it rather than get annoyed by it.”

Freeman and McFarland have also played house shows within Springfield, at events for 92.9 The Beat on the square as well as a wine bar on Commercial Street named Q Enoteca; there, they held their first big release party for Ope! Records.

Larnelle Foster, owner of Q Enoteca, said that Freeman and McFarland have a huge following and always bring in a large crowd.

A significant portion of the crowd is made up of friends from their Evangel community.

“It’s always a great crowd, and they’re all just really close,” Foster said, “It’s just a vibe that I haven’t seen much. It’s almost like a community they’ve created. It’s supportive and chill.”

For more information about Ope! Records you can visit their Facebook page, Instagram profile or website at www.operecords.com.

Millennials are finding new ways to practice wellness CARISSA ALFORD Staff Reporter @carissabalford Millennials are changing up health and wellness trends.

Yoga, essential oils and a more digitized way of working out better suits this generation.

Teresa Brandenburg, assistant director of campus recreation, said it was difficult at first to identify the trends and make the switch to satisfy millennials’ needs.

“We struggled for some time to keep that group exercise trend going,” Brandenburg said.

Brandenburg has seen health trends change from generation to generation. For example, baby boomers were known for long, high-intensity workouts that target a specific muscle group.

Now, younger generations work out the whole body, for shorter periods of time.

“We have 30-minute classes now, and we have high-intensity interval training,” Brandenburg said. “I don’t go completely by trends, but the trends are showing that those are what’s desired.”

Shorter gym time is attributed to millennials living fast-paced lives, Brandenburg said. She said they are interacting in overall health and fitness throughout their day by eating healthy, using apps and social media.

“This allows them to not have to spend hours in the gym,” Brandenburg said. “They prefer fun, innovative, fresh, short and effective exercise.”

The biggest difference between the millennial generation and the baby boomer generation is the social aspect. Older generations preferred big group exercises, while more current generations prefer social media when in the gym for that similar social aspect.

“The big trend that I’m seeing is that we are still on that social platform, but it’s more through the digital media,” Brandenburg said. “I see a lot more people in the gym with their phones, following a workout.”

She said she saw a lot of people sitting on a piece of equipment for a long time and wasn’t sure what they were doing. Turns out, they time themselves while they work out, and the apps they are using show them what to do and how long to do it for.

Another way to gauge the change in health and wellness trends is to look at new organizations that have popped up.

Orangetheory Fitness locations are just beginning to come into big cities across the nation after starting in 2010. What makes this gym different from the others? It uses science and technology to help people reach their desired results, according to the official website.

“Orangetheory is based on the science of EPOC, excess

Photo courtesy of Orangetheory Fitness

Orangetheory Fitness’ Springfield location is on Glenstone Avenue. The total-body workout, Orangetheory’s website states, ensures people who visit the gym maximize their 60-minute workout. post-exercise oxygen consumption,” the website said. “If you challenge your body at the right intensity, your body will work harder to recover oxygen lost during exercise. This revs your metabolism and makes you burn calories long after your workout is over.”

The gym also sells their own brand of heart rate trackers and other technology to “help you scale the workout to your unique fitness level.”

Classes at Orangetheory are one hour long, staying in tune with the short workout millennials are accustomed to.

Senior Kristin Tuter, psychology and gerontology major, started practicing yoga in 2009.

“Everyone is going more natural and holistic,” Tuter said.

“Yoga is nothing new, we’ve just Westernized it, and it has really picked up.”

Tuter is a yoga instructor at three different studios across Springfield and has taught at seven studios throughout her yoga career.

“I didn’t like my body, I didn’t like who I was,” she said. “I had a lot of hate inside of me.”

The further she went through her yoga journey, Tuter said she was able to find self love.

“Yoga, for me, has been therapy,” Tuter said. “It’s helped

me love myself for who I am and who I used to be.”

Tuter said yoga helped her overcome her depression in a natural way. She used to take medication, but now it is not needed. Through movements Tuter said she’s found healing — these positive effects have made yoga become popular in a fast-paced world, she said.

Traditional yoga is designed to relax your body and slow everything down, according to Tuter. She said if someone were looking for a way to burn calories and get a smaller waistline, a cardio yoga session is a good fit.

To keep up with new millennial health trends, in 2011 the Foster Recreation Center implemented new programs and different classes, such as group personal training.

“That’s something that we have adopted because we have that social aspect, but maybe we don’t want to be in a large group with strangers,” Brandenburg said. “But we want to work out with our friends.”

Unlike previous generations, Brandenburg said millennials are being holistic and proactive about their health, as well as eating better.

“Since the incline and awareness of mental health, that’s probably one of the major reasons why we are assuming the yoga and the meditation, the essential oils and the massage therapy,” Brandenburg said.

Brandenburg is still seeing different generations weightlifting, but for a shorter amount of time than before.

“We’re not in the gym all day, we’re not doing classes back to back — we’re hitting it 20 to 30 minutes and then we’re done,” Brandenburg said.

The importance in all of this, according to Brandenburg, is the mindfulness. However, she isn’t positive that mindfulness is an adaptation through the new generation, or if there’s just an increased awareness of it.

Besides both generations becoming more mindful, the baby boomers focus on increasing their lifespan, instead of improving their mental health, according to Brandenburg’s research.

“We may not have eaten as healthy, we may not have adopted the consciousness that the younger generations are right now, but we are trying to play catch up,” Brandenburg said.

Baby boomers’ goal is to remain healthy and active so they can have a healthy retirement.

Due to millennials being more conscious about their health than generations before them, they aren’t letting fiscal struggles stop them from putting their health first.

“One thing I just found out through the Athletic Business Conference, (is that) millennials are not making as much money as our generations have, but they have no problem

u See WELLNESS, page 5

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

THE STANDARD

THE-STANDARD.ORG 5

‘We are the lights at the end of the Tunnel’: Immersive event talks shootings, privilege VANNA GUZMAN-SLATER Staff Reporter @vannaslater “It’s been X number of days since the last mass shooting,” five symbolic actors chant in unison.

The basement of Wells House has been reimagined into an immersive experience to talk about the power, privilege and oppression within our society.

Black curtains and dim lights section off a once spacious lobby. Rooms are converted into mini stages, almost television-like, for audiences to walk through and view true-to-life problems.

Tunnel, formerly known as Tunnel of Oppression, has been put on by Residence Life, Housing and Dining Services for the last eight years.

This year, topics ranged from mass shootings to mocking modest choices.

Its purpose is to make students aware of the impact they hold in creating change, as part of the Missouri State University public affairs mission.

Students attend the event in groups and are led down a dim hallway hosting a variety of rooms where actors seem to reenact what we’ve been hearing about in the news. The enactments are emotional and thought provoking, and after each scene, students are asked to reflect on what they saw.

“Would you believe someone who told you they were a victim of sexual assault?” the moderator, Jenny, asks after the first room, which showed how sexual assault affects men and how our reactions as friends, family and society members directly impact victims.

Set out on tables outside each room are red marbles and glass vases. Participants place a marble in the vase if they can answer “Yes” to the reflection questions after each scene. It’s okay if someone can’t say yes — the point of the activity is make the audience think.

CLAYTON FRYE/ THE STANDARD

A student actor during Tunnel battles with an inner monologue in a performance about the opioid epidemic.

The event is made up of a series of displays and performances designed to provoke thought and address serious social issues.

NETFLIX

Yalitza Aparicio, left, and Marina de Tavira in the 2018 Netflix film “Roma.” Aparicio was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her perfomance in the film.

‘Roma’ is a sincere tale free of glitz, glamour

“It gave me a chance to think about how I relate to each situation instead of me just watching a scenario without any connection,” said Erin Thomas, a sophomore criminology major, about the marble exercise. “In the future, they should continue that.”

Some vases, like the vase outside the mass shooting room, are nearly empty. Not all situations are ones the average student can relate to or understand, but being able to learn about them with compassion gives students a way to open conversation regarding what is going on in the world.

Thomas attended Tunnel last year and knew what to expect going into it this year, but said she was still very touched upon entering the room covering mass shootings. The actors of the room brought up a compilation of news coverage of mass shootings over the past several years, including Sandy Hook, an uncomfortable subject for Thomas.

“I remember being in my eighth grade math class, and my teacher

WELLNESS Continued from page 4

with spending a lot of money on health, wellness and fitness,” Brandenburg said.

Citing a study done by My Protein, a British online retailer that specializes in sports nutrition and clothing, Market Watch reports the average American spends $155 per month on their health and fitness.

“That’s $112,000 in their entire lifetime, and $13,000 more than a public four-year college education which averages about $98,440,” Market Watch said.

Brandenburg also attributes this push to be healthy and

pulled up the news channel, and we sat and watched that chaos unravel,” Thomas said.

The marbles also depict how far the United States has come with some social stigmas, like mental health.

The vase outside the mental health room asking, “Would you know how to help a friend suffering from a mental illness?” is plentiful. The mental health room is set out much differently than the rest of the rooms, instead including a group discussion with less abrasive sensory details: dim lights, no loud or aggressive sounds.

Not all of the topics were well known. Jordan Delehant, a freshman computer science major, attended for the second time.

“I was surprised about how much opioid addiction is happening in the world, especially on college campuses,” Delehant said.

Topics for Tunnel change from year to year, picked from a broad list by resident assistants and hall council members involved with Residence Life.

mindful to social media.

Now that the water has settled after a health and wellness changeup, there might be a pebble thrown into the pond again.

“We are into the next generation with the freshmen (at Missouri State),” Brandenburg said. “The millennials are going to be the senior generation soon.”

Health and wellness researchers will now have to wait and see what the next generation has in store.

Some official sources, like the Pew Research Center, say the majority generation currently in college are technically classified as Gen Z, not millennials. Contradicting sources, like the U.S. Chamber Foundation, say college-aged students are in fact millennials. However, the United States Census Bureau currently does not recognize any other generation besides the baby boomers.

COLE TRUMBLE Critic @Cole_Tr It’s artsy, it’s black and white, it’s set in the 70s, it’s a best picture nominee, and most importantly, it’s a Netflix original, so it’s free for me to watch.

Ladies and gentlemen, girls and Galaxis, the Mighty Usurper, a best picture nominee is a hefty honor for any movie to receive. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the Oscars, however. People seem to be under the misapprehension that the Oscars is about selecting the “best movies” of the year. That is wrong.

Obviously with an award title like “best picture,” they are meant to seem like they are selecting the best picture. But more than that, they are selecting the best Oscar movie.

Think about the films nominated: they’re all good. Most of them are very good. “Bohemian Rhapsody” isn’t, but the rest are good. But not too many of the nominees are actually exciting.

Exceptions include “BlacKKKlansman” and “Black Panther,” but in my opinion they don’t stand a good chance of winning.

It is all about what is the best film to represent the Oscars, not what movie is actually the best.

Like for real, “Bohemian Rhapsody” only got the nomination because of their marketing team and because whoever was in charge of getting the nomination did a ton of coke

before going on a schmoozing spree to everyone they thought could possibly help them get that tiny golden man statue — but enough complaining.

It is important to know this information about the Oscars when we talk about “Roma” because it’s a pretty slow film.

It’s in black and white, a lot of the story is told through subtitles as the characters switch between speaking Spanish and a more localized dialect. As the film follows the life of Cleo, a maid in Mexico City, it focuses more on telling her honest story rather than being full of action.

External factors in the film create conflict, but these are not the focus of the film. Cleo is at the center, and a lot of the events that could be used to create a fantastic adventure simply don’t impact her directly enough to see a stunning display of heroism or change. Her change is more subtle as all of her experiences are internalized to construct a character that is completely fleshed out and full of life and history.

This film is, technically, very good. It’s clearly a passion project, with every detail in the script and the directing is meticulously tailored to meet the aesthetic and mood of the film. There are incredibly small details that come full circle, and there are mountains of meaning packed into molehill moments.

One example is the use of black and white in the film.

u See TRUMBLE, page 9

Weekly Crossword ACROSS 1 Sleuth, slangily 4 Pod dweller 7 Crafty 8 Equilibrium 10 Overuse the mirror 11 Motor 13 Fee for work done 16 Officeholders 17 Break a Commandment 18 Sphere 19 Diminish 20 Small blister 21 Milky stones 23 Young turkey 25 Profess 26 Science

workshops 27 Pooch 28 Paris river 30 Cleopatra’s slayer 33 Navy, with “The” 36 Seriously loyal 37 Madagascar critter 38 Surrounds 39 Thing 40 CSA boss 41 Affirmative action?

DOWN 1 Layers 2 Ht. 3 Sneeringly doubtful 4 -- de Leon 5 Square dance

quorum 6 Europe’s neighbor 7 Small songbird 8 Annoyance 9 Sign up 10 Greek letter 12 Heron’s kin 14 Swindles 15 Recede 19 “This means --!”

20 Urban transport 21 Egg-shaped 22 Pirate costume feature 23 Sheet of glass 24 Ohio college 25 Billboards 26 Rosters

28 Sleep soundly?

29 Chopin piece 30 Picked a target

31 Pond gunk 32 Apiece 34 Satan’s forte 35 Kill a bill

6

THE STANDARD

sports

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

Bears are coming out of the fog AMANDA SULLIVAN Sports Editor @mandasullivan14 Driving into the fog at night is a scary thing. Your sight is limited in all directions; the wind is pushing you in all different directions; you’re driving on a road that you’ve never been on before.

It can be a thrill for some but a tense experience for most.

You truthfully have no idea what could happen at any given moment.

That’s the Missouri State men’s basketball season in a metaphor.

When Dana Ford was named the new head coach for Missouri State on March 22, a clear plan was laid out.

Ford said it in his opening press conference: “I was hired here to win championships.

Period.”

In other words, your GPS has picked the route you need to take even though you are 337 miles from your destination. You trust the GPS has picked safe, drivable roads since you’re in it for the long haul.

It takes a few miles, but everyone in the car gets settled and everything feels like it’s going to be OK. Summer practices roll around. A team and a coach get acquainted for the first time, but it nothing seems to go wrong. The school year starts, and, eventually, the season starts too.

BILL SIOHOLM/THE STANDARD

Junior Keandre Cook looks for an open lane around his Northern Iowa opponent.

A 3-0 start at home with big wins shows promise. A little fog covers the neverending plains on either side of the road, but you’re not too worried.

The first wall of fog hits.

You’ve gotten used to the darkness, but the fog makes visibility difficult. The car slows and everyone has to adjust to the new situation. Five games on the road all end in losses.

The teams were good, and the

season is still young. There is plenty of time to adjust until conference starts.

It’s a rollercoaster for awhile. The last four games of the nonconference schedule highlight the team’s highs and lows. Conference play starts with two losses. Players and fans start to get a little uncomfortable, but they all understand this is a growing season and with all growth there are growing pains.

The fog thickness changes without warning as the drive continues. The more inconsistent it gets, the more aware everyone in the car becomes.

You hope it isn’t anything that will impair the drive for too long because you really want to reach your destination on time.

The inconsistency continues for a bit, but then something changes. You hit a big city. Almost all of the fog

clears, and you feel like the road ahead of you is safe.

Three straight wins in Missouri Valley Conference play boosts confidence.

Seniors like Ryan Kreklow and Jarred Dixon adjust to their new coach. All of the players find their role in a time-eating offense.

Josh Webster is confident calling the shots as point guard, and Jared Ridder is finally sinking 3-pointers that

Who is Jasmine Franklin?

CLAIRE NIEBRUGGE Senior Sports Reporter @claireniebrugge You know her as Jasmine Franklin, the freshman.

You know her as Jasmine Franklin, the 6-foot1-inch starting forward.

You know her as Jasmine Franklin, who leads all Lady Bears in rebounds this season.

You know her as Jasmine Franklin, fourth top scorer behind three upperclassmen this season.

But what else do you know?

Jasmine Franklin grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She mostly played softball. But that eventually became too slowpaced for her upbeat, high energy.

Jasmine started playing basketball, which she felt matched her competitive and aggressive nature.

In her four seasons of high school basketball, she recorded two state championship titles. But it was her “besties for the resties,” as she put it, that helped grow her love for the game.

Jasmine said her high school teammates were wonderful. They had such a strong connection off the basketball court, and that’s what gave them the competitive edge on the court.

They gelled. They were like family.

Her senior season, she had many offers: Missouri State University, University of Colorado and University of Arkansas to name a few.

Arkansas was too close for her. She said she wanted to play somewhere close enough that her family could come to her games, yet far away enough to feel independent.

Geographically, Missouri State was a perfect match. But it was the family-like atmosphere that reeled her in.

On Jasmine’s first visit to Missouri State, she was greeted by Jackson Harper, son of head coach Kellie and assistant coach Jon Harper.

“When I came on my first visit, he ran up to me and said, ‘Oh Jas, I missed you,’” Jasmine said. “And I was like ‘Aw, you’ve never met me before but how cute!’”

fans have been wanting for weeks.

As confidence in the situation heightens, everyone is feeling better. But another wall of fog hits.

It’s worse than the last one.

You can’t see more than 100 yards ahead of you; other drivers are speeding by recklessly, but you’ve had practiced in tough situations.

The shotgun rider has GPS pulled up and directs you even when you can’t see what is coming up. Their composure in tight spots keeps you, the driver, relaxed and ready for whatever is about to happen.

The Bears lose a tough one on the road, but it’s nothing to be discouraged over. Ford acknowledges the battle and composure of the team throughout a fight on the court.

“I can live with today’s game,” Ford said after the Bears’ loss to Northern Iowa.

“If our program is going to play like that every night in this league, then I’m gonna sleep well.”

The rest of the drive appears to be foggy. You’re unsure of what will actually happen next, but you’ve still got 150 miles to go.

There is still plenty of time for adjustments and even acceptance of new battles ahead.

The drive — or the Dana Ford era, at least — still has a long time before it ends.

Buckle up.

Track team prepares for conference championships in indoor regular season BRYCE DERRICKSON Sports Reporter @BruceyD17

“I knew I just had to do what I could to help out, impact the game as much as I could,” Jasmine said.

Jasmine had the entire team and coaching staff backing her. They all gave her advice and support, showing her that they had all the confidence in her and her abilities.

And even though she had confidence in herself, she still felt nerves as they were announcing the starting lineup.

“Oh man, I was shaking in my boots,” Jasmine said.

Jasmine finished that night with six points and 10 boards. Since then, she has started every game since.

The Missouri State women’s track and field team competed in two invitationals with several setting new personal best in preparation for the conference championship.

At the Pittsburg State Invitational, Missouri State had five top-five finishes.

Senior Taryn Smiley finished second in the 60-meter dash with a 7.59 mark. She also placed 10th in the 200-meter run with a personal best 25.17 time.

Junior Grace Breiten also finished in second place setting a personal best 4:57.23 mile.

In the long jump, senior Sidne’ Williamson and junior Jamilah James placed second and fourth. Williamson marked a 5.78-meter leap and James jumped 5.67m.

Freshman Edna Dar also finished in the top 10 in the 800-meter run. Dar placed fifth with a 2:17.08 run.

One week after the Pittsburg State Invitational, the women’s track team traveled to the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska. The invitational hosted events for the first two days of February.

“For our indoor season, outside of the conference championship, the meet in Nebraska is always the biggest regular season meet, just in terms of competition and opportunities for us to improve our marks,” interim head coach Jordan Fife said. “So, we always come here hoping that we’re ready for some of that big-time competition.”

Missouri State started the Sevigne Husker Invitational with two top-10 finishes in the long jump.

James produced a season-best 5.84 jump, allowing her to finish in fifth place.

“She’s been jumping really well to start the year,” Fife said. “She came out of the gate with a couple of really good jumps to start things off and was able to finish pretty high in the long jump.”

Williamson also finished in the top 10, claiming 10th place with a 5.67 mark.

Senior Olivia Ott competed in the indoor pentathlon for the first time this season. Ott ended with 3,180 points and a career-best 2:35.48 in the 800-meter run.

Smiley qualified for the 60-meter finals on Feb. 2 with a sixth-place finish with a 7.60 time.

“It’s very difficult to make the final here in Nebraska,” Fife said. “It’s always exciting to be on the start line with the caliber of athletes that make the final like this. It was a really good situation for her to be in to test those nerves.”

Also racing in the 60-meter dash was freshman Tomi Bamigbade and sophomore Amalie Gunn. Bamigbade ran a 7.76, and Gunn ran an 8-second flat 60m.

In the 60-meter hurdles, junior Chicago Bains just missed out on qualifying, finishing in 14th place with an 8.85 time.

The next day in Nebraska started early for the Bears with the 200-meter dash.

Smiley set a new career best in the

u See FRANKLIN, page 9

u See TRACK, page 9

File Photo by BILL SIOHOLM/ THE STANDARD

(Left Jasmine Franklin charges past her Loyola defender.

(Top) Franklin fakes a shot before shooting.

File Photo by BILL SIOHOLM/THE STANDARD

Freshman Jasmine Franklin leads the Lady Bears with a .543 field goal percentage and averages 7.3 rebounds per game.

Jackson might be considered the glue that holds the Lady Bears together and quite possibly the true reason Jasmine decided to commit.

“I love that kid,” Jasmine said. “He never meets a stranger.”

Jasmine said she also liked the fan base surrounding Lady Bears basketball, as well. She said she could tell the community really supported the women’s basketball team, something you don’t see very often.

Harper thought Jasmine would make a great fit at Missouri State.

She described Jasmine with the first words that came to her mind: athletic, fast,

high motor, competitive.

“She has a really high IQ for basketball,” Harper said. “She just gets it. She picks up things very quickly.”

Harper also said that Jasmine has a huge personality that projects a lot of confidence.

“There’s something new every day,” Harper said with a laugh. “It’s good for our team. She’s very playful and fun.”

That confidence, along with her natural abilities, got her into the Lady Bears’ starting five.

Harper knew going into the season she would have to dip into her underclassmen to fill the starting five, seeing as how there are

only three upperclassmen Lady Bears.

After the first two games of the season, Jasmine got the go-ahead.

“Coach gave me the talk about starting,” Jasmine said. “I kind of just went into game mode.”

Harper said she and the other coaches wanted to try something new with the lineup. She said she felt as though Jasmine would be a dominant player in the future, so why not get her out there early and get her ready.

Jasmine said she did not expect to start as soon as she did, though. She said she wasn’t even sure if she would see the court this season.

(Bottom) Franklin twists and shoots the ball behind her back.

She scored 10 points against Valparaiso.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

THE STANDARD

THE-STANDARD.ORG 7

Lady Bears earn sole possession of first place in conference, have winning weekend down after the Lady Bears defeated them on Friday.

The Lady Bears finish out a three-game road trip at Southern Illinois on Friday, Feb. 8.

MSU won the first matchup 66-51 on Jan. 13. Southern Illinois is 3-6 in conference play, only defeating Evansville, Indiana State and Valparaiso. All of those teams have losing records in the MVC.

AMANDA SULLIVAN Sports Editor @mandasullivan14

File Photo by BILL SIOHOLM/ THE STANDARD

Senior Danielle Gitzen shoots a jumper against Valparaiso. Gitzen is averaging 13.1 points per game.

Ice Bears continue strong play at home SAM GRUS Sports Reporter @SCGRUS_6

Club lacrosse coach steps down to care for family AMANDA SULLIVAN Sports Editor @mandasullivan14

end with a 7-4-0 record.

The Sooners allow 32 shots per game, which is above division average. Getting as many shots on net and funnelling pucks, were going to be a key to the game.

Missouri State put 37 shots on goal during the Friday night game.

The Ice Bears also did a good job of staying out of the penalty box during the contest.

Goaltending was going to make a difference in the two-game series against Oklahoma. Law started Stephens on back-to-back nights after he had a strong start against Central Oklahoma. Stephens responded

well to the start on short rest, stopping 25 of 26 shots faced, with the only goal coming late in the first period.

Barrett made his presence known again on the stat sheet in the first game of the series. Forward Hunter Cooley notched the game-tying goal during an Ice Bears power play in the second period.

Getting a 2-1 victory over the Sooners to guarantee a winning weekend gave Missouri State even more confidence going into the Saturday night game against Oklahoma. u See ICE BEARS, page 9

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shots in the game. Coming into the game, the 21 year old was second on the team in both goals and points.

“He’s really turned it on, and he’s got a hot stick,” Law said. “His line of Zane O’Bryan and Jordan Bratton are really playing well.”

The game winner came off Barrett’s stick, and it was his final goal at the 13-minute mark in the third period.

Coming off a strong win against the Bronchos, the Ice Bears turned their attention the University of Oklahoma. The Sooners sat just below the Ice Bears in the WCHL standings, coming into the week-

U

SI

BAILEY VASSALLI/THE STANDARD

Nikita Salnikov reaches to get the puck from an opponent. The Ice Bears were able to come away with a weekend sweep.

The Missouri State men’s club lacrosse team’s coach released a statement on Jan. 30 saying he was stepping down to care for his family.

Dustin Rich’s wife Ali died on Jan. 9 due to cancer. Rich said in the statement he needed to be with his family. Rich has two sons who are 13 and 5.

“I do not like this decision. I do not like being in this position, however, this is the right decision,” Rich said in the statement.

Rich coached six seasons at MSU, earning the Conference Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018. He led the team on its fourth Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Championships trip in 2018. Before becoming head coach, Rich was the defensive coordinator for the team for two years. He was an assistant during the 2009-10 season, joining the coaching staff after playing collegiate lacrosse at Missouri State.

“Outside of my family, there isn’t anything I love more than the game of lacrosse — coaching it, watching it, and playing it,” Rich said in the statement. “Lacrosse has been a central component of my life for 16 years now. On Jan. 9 that all changed.”

RI

ER

Twelve games is all that remains in the Missouri State Ice Bears regular season. Coming off a big rivalry weekend sweep of Mizzou, the Ice Bears looked to build on their recent home ice success.

This week the Ice Bears capped off a six game home stand against, Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma.

The weekend started with a Thursday night matchup against the Central Oklahoma Bronchos. The Bronchos were 14-3-1, and were second in the Western Collegiate Hockey League. With a win, the Ice Bears would move closer to second place in the WCHL. “These were big divisional games,” head coach Jeremy Law said. “We wanted to have a good showing at home. We’ve never beaten Oklahoma at home before, so this was a big weekend for us.”

Law went with goaltender Bailey Stephens in the crease on Thursday night. Stephens hasn’t been playing as well over his past three starts, stopping only 112 shots of 125 faced. A save percentage of .896 is not something that a head coach likes to see from a number one goalie.

“I have a lot of trust in Bailey — he was our backbone last season,” Law said. “The key for him and us is just getting consistency.”

Stephens would stop 43 of the 46 shots he faced against the Bronchos.

“With the system that we run in the defensive zone, it gives teams a lot of perimeter,” Law said. “With our system, we don’t allow many shots to be taken in the house.”

Thursday night’s biggest star, was forward Travis Barrett. Barrett recorded a hat trick on just four

Obediah Church, a senior forward who was released from the Missouri State men’s basketball team on Jan. 28, thanked fans, coaches and teammates in a statement from his private, personal Twitter account on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 3. He said in the statement he will continue to support those who remain on the team.

“I believe they will do great things, and I fully support them all,” the statement read.

Church’s last game with the Bears was Dec. 18 at Arkansas State. He only played eight minutes and hadn’t been on the bench since. On Jan. 28, head men’s basketball coach Dana Ford released a statement saying Church and the program had parted ways.

Church will remain on scholarship and is expected to graduate in May. “Although my time with the men’s basketball program has ended earlier than expected, I will forever be a Bear!” Church wrote.

E

The Missouri State Lady Bears moved into first place in the Missouri Valley Conference after defeating Drake 85-79 on Friday, Feb. 1. Prior to the game, the Bulldogs and Lady Bears were tied for first in the conference.

MSU continued a winning weekend just a few hours north at Northern Iowa. The Lady Bears defeated UNI 63-58 for their 12th-straight win, the second longest winning streak in NCAA women’s basketball.

They sit behind Oregon, who has won 14 straight.

After a rocky start to the season against several top-tier teams, Missouri State found a way to learn and turn a 1-7 record into a 13-7 record.

Just before conference play started, the Lady Bears played in the Roo Holiday Classic at UMKC on Dec. 21-22. Those two games in two days were the turning point, and MSU has been off to the races ever since.

The Lady Bears are 9-0 in MVC play. They have defeated every MVC foe at least once, and now they have a target on their back — they are the team to beat.

ESPN bracketology expert Chris Creme moved Missouri State up to No. 14. Drake moved

TH

AMANDA SULLIVAN Sports Editor @mandasullivan14

Obediah Church releases Twitter statement after parting ways with basketball program

S TAT E U N I

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

MSU head coach contract breakdowns Dave Steckel, football

DEREK SHORE Sports Reporter @D_Shore23

Missouri State head football coach Dave Steckel, who initially signed a five-year contract with the university in 2014, now holds a contract that extends to January 2022.

Steckel makes a base salary of $270,000, but his financial benefits did not change after his extension was announced on June 27, 2017. He made $600,000 as Mizzou’s defensive coordinator.

If the football program meets or exceeds the NCAA Multiyear Cut Score, Steckel would be paid an additional $5,000.

If he helps lead the Bears to their first-ever MVC Conference title, he will receive $10,000.

Steckel will be paid an additional $2,500 for any season Missouri State finishes with eight wins or more in a season.

His base salary would also be increased by $25,000 if the Bears reach the FCS College Football playoffs.

He will be paid an extra $10,000 per playoff win and could earn up to 82,500 from all other incentives, which includes winning the national title, coach of the year and an increase in attendance numbers.

The four highest-paid coaches at Missouri State come from the four major sports on campus: men’s and women’s basketball, football and baseball.

Each of those coaches’ contracts come with a lot of security, guaranteeing them being under contract with the university until at least 2021.

Dana Ford, men’s basketball

Missouri State head men’s basketball coach Dana Ford signed a five-year contract on March 22, 2018, leaving Tennessee State after four years as the program’s head coach.

The Bears paid $190,500 to buyout Ford from Tennessee State.

Ford’s base salary is set at $375,000 for the first two seasons at Missouri State. The final three years, Ford will be owed $425,000 annually.

If the men’s basketball team meets or exceeds the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate’s Multiyear Cut Score, he will be paid an additional $2,500.

The NCAA APR score is a program established to track student-athletes’ chances of graduating.

Missouri State will also pay Ford $10,000 if the team finishes as Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champions or regular-season co-champions.

If he guides Missouri State to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999, Ford would earn $10,000 for a tournament bid.

He would then earn an additional $20,000 for each win in the tournament. Ford would be paid $5,000 for each victory if the Bears were to make the National Invitational Tournament.

Other incentives include being paid an extra $5,000 for an MVC Coach of the Year honor. If he were to be named a national coach of the year by any reputable organization, Ford would earn an extra $20,000.

As Ford continues to try and increase fan support at games in JQH Arena, he’ll be rewarded if he accomplishes that.

He will be paid $10,000 if the av-

Graphic by KRISTINA KHODAI/THE STANDARD

The graphic shows the base salaries of head coaches of the four most popular sports at MSU. Head men’s basketball coach Dana Ford makes the most. erage attendance is 8,000 for the team The new contract resets the fiveseason. He will be given $20,000 if year term, ending in April 2021. the average attendance spikes to It gives a slight boost to her base 9,000 for a season. If the attendance salary to now $246,640 per year. grows to 10,000, he will be rewarded There is also a retention incentive $30,000. written into the contract, which includes a payment of $100,000 in April.

If the women’s basketball team meets or exceeds the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate’s Multiyear Cut Score, she will be paid an additional $2,500.

Missouri State head women’s basHarper would also receive ketball coach Kellie Harper received $10,000 if she guides the Bears to a new contract with the university an MVC regular-season championafter a trip to the NCAA Tournament ship as well. two years ago.

She could earn an additional The contract replaces the old deal $10,000 for winning the tournament Harper had, which was to run through championship.

April 2020 and paid a base salary of She would also receive an extra $10,000 for earning an at-large bid, $230,000 per year.

Kellie Harper, women’s basketball

$7,500 for a first-round win and increases to $100,000 for winning a national championship.

Harper could also earn $2,500 for each game appearance in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

She could make $5,000 for being named the MVC Coach of the Year by the league coaches or media and/ or $20,000 for being named Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

Her contract includes attendance incentives as well based on average attendance.

She would receive $2,500 for an average of 4,000 or more per game, $5,000 for an average of 5,000 or more, 10,000 for an average of 6,000 or more and $15,000 for an average of 7,000 or more.

Keith Guttin, baseball

Missouri State longtime head baseball coach Keith Guttin, who has been with the university since 1982, recently received a new contract extension after leading the Bears to a second-consecutive NCAA Tournament.

His new contract will keep him through the 2022 season with a base salary of $113,419.

The deal carries over some details from the old contract, like extra payments Guttin will receive for specific achievements.

He could earn up to $2,500 for winning the MVC championship and $1,400 for a co-championship.

Guttin would be paid $700 for each game appearance in the NCAA baseball tournament as well as bonuses based on how far the team progressed, up to $50,000 for winning the NCAA College World Series.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

THE STANDARD

Jasmine has proven to her coaches, team and fans that she deserves a starting spot.

“She’s done everything we need her to do,” Harper said. “I’m really pleased with where she is at, and she’s only going to get better.”

Since November, the biggest improvement Jasmine has made in Harper’s eyes, is keeping herself on the floor and out of foul trouble. Jasmine fouled out in five out of the first 10 games.

“Early on, we didn’t get to see Jasmine Franklin,” Harper said. “We didn’t get to see what she could do.”

Around that same time, Jasmine fractured her cuboid bone during the Roo Holiday Classic.

That didn’t stop her from playing.

Jasmine currently wears an Aircast outside of basketball and she isn’t allowed any contact in practices. But that hasn’t stopped her. Since the injury, she has had four double-doubles.

“I just play through it,” Jasmine said.

“Get over it and finish the game, its forty minutes. I’m going to keep going until I can’t.”

And that’s the way the coaches see it as well. Harper, along with team trainers, are working on managing her injury and getting her well while still allowing her to play.

“She’s a tough kid,” Harper said. “Just to be able to see that one, she wants to play through a little bit of pain and two, that she

can do it. She’s been really mature about it, and I think we’re on the right track.”

Since coming to Missouri State, Jasmine had a hard time adjusting to college academics.

“It was a smack in the face,” Jasmine said.

Jasmine said it took awhile for her to adjust managing her time as well as deadlines. She said that in high school, they would let her slip by a little with deadlines, but in college, not so much. Basketball became a little new as well, Jasmine said.

She said that girls got bigger, meaner and tougher. The pace of game got quicker.

“It’s one step above in every aspect,” Jasmine said.

She said the hardest part about being a college athlete is trying to find time for yourself.

Between class and practice and film, the days mesh together. Jasmine said between classes, she’ll meet up with some teammates and go get food or just hangout at someone’s apartment. Sometimes they will go to the men’s games or shopping.

“You really just have to create time for yourself,” Jasmine said.

Jasmine said that the pluses of being a college athlete are staying in shape, meeting so many new people, getting free clothes and shoes and being recognized on campus.

“I’ll be on the street and someone will recognize me,” Jasmine said with a smile.

“I kind of like that.”

After basketball is all said and done, when she hangs up the jersey, Jasmine still wants to be involved with basketball.

As a sports management major with a minor in sports administration, Jasmine said she would love to be a director of basketball operations and work behind the scenes.

She said her role models — mom, dad, and big sis — have helped her become who she is and who she wants to be.

So, who is Jasmine Franklin?

Jasmine Franklin is tough.

Jasmine Franklin is energetic.

Jasmine Franklin is competitive.

And Jasmine Franklin might be the Lady Bears’ next big star.

TRUMBLE

What I mean by that is that for this woman in the film, a whole lot of bad things are happening all around her, but this isn’t some dramatic noble story. To Cleo, this is simply her life. It is the way things are. Even though it isn’t mundane or boring, it is the norm. If a car crashed every single day outside your house, eventually you wouldn’t freak out about the accidents. The same thing is happening in the life of Cleo. It’s her everyday.

Not special, not in color.

The second reason is that the black and white makes it more difficult to spot the difference in class. It’s harder to tell who is the servant and who is the boss with no color applied to the film. We can

take this to mean that beneath the artificial divides we put up, there isn’t much of a difference between who has money and power and who is without money and power. The film seems to asks us why we treat each other so differently.

All in all, “Roma” is very non-confrontational. Any messages in the movie are subtle and meant more to build the world of this working woman. This might is definitely the goal of the director and writer, but it does make it difficult to get into.

Excellently assembled, “Roma” is definitely an Oscar contender but probably isn’t something you’re going to watch at your next movie night. 9/10

File Photo by BILL SIOHOLM/THE STANDARD

Emily Gartner and Jasmine Franklin celebrate a teammate’s shot.

FRANKLIN Continued from page 6

Continued from page 5

When a movie uses black and white, it is either a powerful artistic choice that has a specific purpose, or it is to look cool. If you make a movie in black and white because it looks cool, your movie probably sucks. So in a film like “Roma,” what’s the purpose? Like many of the directorial choices in the film, the reason behind it is subtle. My best interpretation is that it is meant to do two things — the first is that it’s meant to dull the image, and to dull the action.

THE-STANDARD.ORG 9

TRACK Continued from page 6

200-meter dash with a 12th place 24.89 time. Bamigbade finished with a season best 25.24 mark, allowing her to place 21st. Williamson placed 26th with a personal record of 25.37. Gunn also used a season-best performance to finish 37th.

The mile run saw sophomore Erica Wollmering set a new personal best. She finished 13th with a time of 5:02.88. Junior Paityn Howat and Dar also placed 18th and 23rd, respectively.

Senior Kayla Fallis set a new career best with a 2:16.29 time and 15th place finish in the 800-meter. Junior Madeline Saville placed three places behind Fallis with a 2:18.52.

The 3,000-meter run had Breiten place at 13th with a 10:13.23 mark, while junior Jordyn Capra finished 19th

with a 10:25.81 time.

Competing for the Bears in the 4x400-meter relay was Bamigbade, Smiley, Williamson and Gunn. The team earned a season-best 10th place.

The Bears now have one more meet before they head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Feb. 23-24.

“Everybody circles the conference championship as the big one,” Fife said. “So, we know everybody is going to bring their best. We haven’t seen our best quite yet, but I feel confident over the next couple of weeks we’re going to put ourselves in that position. Then we’ll be ready to have our best when we need to have it.”

Missouri State will compete in the Gorilla Classic on Feb. 8-9 in Pittsburg, Kansas.

BAILEY VASSALLI/ THE STANDARD

Brady Griffin blocks a shot attempt. The Ice Bears were able to come away with a weekend sweep.

ICE BEARS Continued from page 7

Game two of the series wound up having the same result as the first. Getting the start in net for the Ice Bears, though, was goaltender Brady Griffin. Even in a backup role, Griffin had a rough go over his past five starts, with a save percentage of .891 and a goals against average of 2.6.

Missouri State got a solid start from the 22 year old, as he stopped 38 of 39 shots faced. While goaltending was key to another Ice Bears’ victory, the penalty-kill on Saturday night was key. The Ice Bears managed to kill all eight of the Sooners’ power plays.

“Frustrations were high, for both teams Saturday night,” Law said. “The key for us was blocking shots. We’ve got guys that aren’t afraid to get hurt and block a 90 mph shot from the point.”

The Ice Bears netted both of their goals late in the first period, with the first coming from Cooley. The winner came from off an unassisted goal from forward Chad Lounder.

The Ice Bears will hit the road on Feb. 8-9 for games against the University of Alabama before returning to Mediacom Ice Park on Feb. 15 to face the University of Arkansas.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019