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Welcome to The 1909, the podcast that takes an in-depth look at The State News’ biggest stories of the week, while bringing in new perspectives from the reporters who wrote them.
(Lily) Welcome to the 1909 your home at the state news for everything happening on campus and around Lansing. I'm Lily Guiney. This week we'll be looking at campus and City News including efforts to make change for transgender and non binary people, a new MSU museum exhibit and income counting participation and an opioid lawsuit. We'll also learn about the disparities between men's and women's basketball during March Madness and how MSU students feel about it. Then we'll have a q&a session with our spotlight reporter Dina Carr about her most recent story A look into how an East Lansing Catholic Church is hoping to change the narrative surrounding the pro life movement. So let's get into it.
At 1pm On Wednesday, March 22, Michigan State University police informed students of a person's seen with a knife at or near West Circle Drive through an MSU alert. The suspect was located by El PD and was taken into custody before 1:30pm incident left many students on campus feeling tense, reliving the feelings that came with an emergency alert on February 13. The February 13 mass shooting on campus prompted the university to require MSU ideas to get inside many academic buildings between 6pm and 7am. Meaning academic buildings were still open to the public during the time that the alert went out. Journalism senior Brooke Miller was in a lecture in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building when her professor paused the class to ask students what was going on. Her professor then told the class to stay on top of the alert and let him know have any updates. We were kind of tense but we just kept going Miller said and In a video posted to Twitter at 2:01pm police chief Chris rosmond said there was no danger to the public and the suspect had been taken into custody by police. He said the department acknowledged that the alerts sent out in response to Wednesday's incident may have triggered emotions.
We know that this incident may have been impactful for many and the alerts that we sent may have invoked a range of emotions. Rosman said we validate that and acknowledge that we're wanting to provide an accurate update at the same time. For resources the MSU counseling and psychiatric services or caps is available 24/7 by calling 517-355-8270. Following results from the no more campus survey released in January at members of the relationship violence and sexual misconduct expert advisory workgroup hosted the first of four input sessions to gather feedback on campus services, prevention efforts and policies on March 20. The survey evaluated the levels of relationship violence and sexual misconduct or RVSM on campus, and our students, faculty and staff about their experience with and perceptions of RVSM on campus, along with their knowledge and use of campus resources. The input sessions are led by RVSM advisor Rebecca Campbell along with representatives from various support groups on campus.
After viewing the results of the 2022 survey, the workgroup opened the session for questions and feedback. Much of the discussion surrounding the surveys results which showed a disproportionate amount of RVSM victimization for transgender and non binary students, faculty and
staff.
Campbell said this concern had already been addressed with the university administration. When I look at these data, I say I'm worried I'm concerned for our trans and non binary students, faculty and staff Campbell said Lydia Weiss, an administrator for the prevention Outreach and Education Department said members of her group and other inclusion groups on campus have initiated conversations with MSU administration regarding the survey data. She said there's a lot of follow up needed to make progress. A list of questions and demands has gone to the President and the chief diversity officer why said in response to the survey results MSU SafePlace has strengthened its relationship with the gender and sexuality Campus Center and acting weekly meetings to implement improved services for transgender and non binary individuals. Were working on gathering data to do peer led support groups with those experiencing RVSM or stalking that are trans or non binary MSU SafePlace director Holly Rosen said Center for Survivors director Tana fedewa said a primary focus of the unit, new university health and wellbeing department will be inclusivity and recent meetings have addressed gender affirming care for students. While the survey results suggest improvements in the helpfulness of campus services, survivors continue to speak out. One attendee said she's concerned with the disconnect she sees between the survey results and what she has heard from individual stories. She said it seems like quote, the news is exposing issues that often a survey cannot. Campbell said it's necessary to look at both anecdotal stories and survey results to better address issues of RVSM at the university as they provide quote different levels of analysis. She said personal stories in the survey both represent points of view and experiences at the university. At the end of the input session, Campbell said that the data is needed from both the University and individuals in order to create change on campus. She said the no more survey data and information from the listening sessions will be used to reevaluate the RVSM strategic plan. Additional sessions will be held on March 27 and 28th and are open to all students, faculty and staff. Psychology sophomores Hannah Greenspan and Karen craft heifer are creating an exhibit in collaboration with the MSU museum to memorialize student experiences from the February 13. mass shooting.
The pair held an event Sunday March 19. Together stories for the exhibit. The project was inspired by Kraft heifers blog Spartan stronger, which she created as a space for students to share testimonies about February 13 procraft heifer and Greenspan the goal of the event in the larger project was to give students an opportunity to share their stories and heal together. Regardless of what you're feeling or what you've experienced indirectly or directly craft ever said, your experiences and feelings are valid. Your story will not be the same as the person standing to the left or the right but as equally as important. The event was held and demonstration Hall field and included caps volunteers available to help students in need. Volunteers handed out index cards for students to write down their experiences, which will later be given to the MSU Museum and saved in the MSU archives. Digital Storytelling freshman Ed Ansari attended the event alone, something she said she felt anxious about doing but thought was important for herself and others.
Ansari said the opportunity to have your story remembered is an amazing thing. I really liked writing down my story on sorry, said it was very therapeutic for me to write it out. I like how the event was very quiet and you had time to sit with your thoughts. Caps Associate Director and Director of psychiatry Swapna Hemingway volunteered at the event to support students. The process of writing down a traumatic experience can help organize difficult to process memories anyway said Greenspan and CAFTA offer wanted to highlight the wide variety variety of student experiences from February 13. For a SMSU Council of Students with Disabilities representative Madeline Toko it was important to highlight the experiences of disabled students to say to run hide fight, especially for disabled people that is disingenuous choco said, What are you thinking saying that to somebody who might not even be able to run HIDE or FIGHT In what world does that make sense? In addition to recording her own story, Togo wanted to attend the event to provide support for other students. I honestly hope that students are able to reflect and heal even though I know that's a long process and it's hard to go said, I'm rooting for every single student and that's why I'm here. Greenspan said knowing the event helps even one student process their trauma was extremely validating. Students who didn't attend the event or didn't feel comfortable sharing their story at the time can still participate in the exhibit. Greenspan and craft effort said on campus Dropbox locations will be designated so that other students can include their story at a later time. Spartans may enter this exhibit in their process of healing and to find that they're not alone. Greenspan said non Spartans manager at this exhibit to see firsthand what it looks like for a community of 40,000 individuals to mourn freeze, thaw and overcome.
In some City News the Ingham County Health Department will be participating in an opioid lawsuit settlement targeted at funding prevention and treatment efforts during the opioid epidemic proposed multibillion dollar settlements from a national lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals. Our Gen pharmaceuticals, CVS pharmacy and Walmart pharmacy are being joined by the state of Michigan, which could bring in 446 million to the state's municipal governments over 13 years. According to a press release from state attorney general Dana Nestle's office. municipal governments are eligible to participate if it is currently legit litigating against the defendants or has a population of 10,000 people or more. Each Michigan county is eligible and Ingham County has signed on as a participant. According to ich de Public Information Officer Victoria coin control and county health department is working with the County Board of Commissioners and our community partners to explore how we can best utilize funds that we receive from the state and this opioid settlement to have the biggest impact on our community. Coconut Oil said the amount allocated to the state and its municipalities is partly dependent on the amount of participation of local governments according to the statement, spending priority would be placed on treatment and prevention the release read.
Engineering Professor Yuming dang was found not guilty on three card charges of criminal sexual conduct on by a jury on March 17. Deng was found not guilty on two counts of criminal sexual conduct of the second degree by a jury on March 17. He was also found not guilty by the judge directly on his remaining charge criminal sexual conduct of the first degree on March 16. And an email to the state news Deng said he was falsely accused of criminal sexual conduct quote, based on lies and revenge from an individual with whom he sought to end a platonic relationship. These past 18 months had been incredibly challenging for me and my family as we fought against these false accusations being said in the email, I am in fact a true victim in this situation and hope that such an ordeal never happens to another member of the Spartan community.
Dan was placed on administer Try to leave from the University on September 30 2021. He said in the email that he is looking forward to quote rejoining Spartan nation with his head held high. Resources for Students and survivors of sexual assault are available through the MSU Center for Survivors counseling and psychiatric services. And the university ombudsperson. The NCAA announced that the women's division one tournament was allowed to use the term March Madness in their title in 2022. The iconic phrase has been a part of the men's tournament since 1982. The same year the NCAA expanded the Women's March Madness to 68 teams competing in the tournament, the men's tournament was expanded to 68 teams in 2011. There has long been a discourse surrounding how female collegiate athletes are treated compete compared to their male counterparts. Some students believe there's still a long way to go to make the NCAA more equitable for women. Elementary Education sophomore Tristan Guerrero said the injustice that women face in the sports industry is absurd. And it's clear to see from an outside perspective, investigators found that for a 2021 men's tournament the NCAA spent around $125.55 per player in the first two rounds, whereas for the women's tournament, the organization spent $60.42 per player.
According to a report by the New York Times the money they spent included signage and decor items such as banners and posters. Human Biology sophomore Andy Kuo, who played competitive basketball until high school and has consistently watch college basketball for years, believes that the NCAA shows favoritism to men, especially when it comes to the March Madness tournament. I think that men get a lot of favoritism when it comes to watching and promoting the sports close at MSU women's team is fantastic. They're under appreciated all the time. They don't get a fair chance at the same advertisement and promotions that our men's team does. The CapitaLand report and assessment that the NCAA created was constructed to track the gender disparities between the men's and women's tournaments. The budget for the 2019 March Madness tournament was one was just one aspect of the report. The NCAA spent 28 million on the men's tournament well a budget 14 point 5 million for the women. The budget included advertising promotions, games and more. The report concluded that quote the NCAA is organizational structure and culture prioritizes men's basketball contributing to gender gender inequality, but other ethical questions have been raised about how inequity is created for female athletes.
The NCAA has a revenue distribution for men called the basketball fund according to the Copeland report. The fund in simple terms gives colleges and universities more revenue if they go farther in the tournament. However, there is no equivalent Fund for Women. The men's tournament is broadcast through CBS broadcasting and Turner Broadcasting whereas ESPN broadcast the women's tournament. CBS and Turner support all 90 NCAA championships and markets and so the NCAA is corporate sponsor program. On the other hand, ESPN broadcast 29 championship games CBS and Turner control the sponsorship rights for all NCAA championships but incentivize men's basketball. CBS and Turner deprive women of sponsorships which leads to less revenue. CBS and Turner also operate the March Madness Live app, which includes updates about men's games only. The way that the NCAA has allowed this bias is quote completely unfair. Guerrero said. An article by Sports Illustrated reveals that the NCAA potentially left 10s of millions of dollars on the table by neglecting to recognize the earning power of the women's tournament.
The Kaplan report also said that ESPN which broadcasts the women's games does not allow for much free time during women's games such as pregame and postgame features and interviews. Kubo and Guerrero agree that a simple way for MSU students to help gain support for the women's team is just to show up to the games which are free for students who said the support would cause a drastic change. Students have a few solutions that they think may solve the problem of the favoritism between men's and women's basketball teams, lowering ticket prices, playing more games on TV and not overlapping the March Madness game so that it's easier to watch both tournaments. I think that if the NCAA does this there will be progress. Last year the Women's March Madness Final Four was the most watched Final Four weekend since 2012 for the women's tournament, with 3.4 6 million viewers. In addition, the 2022 Women's March Madness finals were the most watched finals for women's college basketball since 2004. With 4.8 million viewers on the US Penny ESPN networks.
That's it for our news roundup for the week. Now I'd like to welcome our spotlight reporter Dina Kaur. Hi, Dina.
(Dina) Hi, Lily. Thanks for having me.
(Lily) Thanks for being here. So you just had a story come out that I know has been a couple months in the making. Tell us a little bit about St. John's Church and what they're hoping to achieve with their programming.
(Dina) Yeah, so St. John's is located right off Mac Ave ma c. And they it was really interesting actually getting to talk to them. I talked to five leaders within the church, had our long conversations with them and really got to understand what they stood for. And I mean like that. So they believe that, you know, their pro life, that's the whole thing their whole, you know, mission, I guess. And that extends from just conception to also natural death as well. And that means no, they don't believe in euthanasia, they don't believe in like, shortening your life in any way, as well. So because of them being pro life, they had an initiative to help all mothers and all women, regardless of if they're in favor of abortion rights or not. So they created this walking with women in need, program that actually already exists, but they created a chapter at their own church. So they want to emphasize that they're trying to be pro mother and the child, not just pro one or the other. And also, just because a lot of people just assume that, since they're pro life, they don't really do anything to help like mothers or anything like that. So they wanted to really seek out resources and stuff like that, that it could be a place of support for women. So they offered help, whether that's, you know, taking someone to go get their checkups while they were pregnant, or, you know, going to get food, groceries, having a place for them to do their laundry, stuff like that. They wanted to offer that support within their own church. So, yeah,
(Lily) so one of the notable parts of your story is how church leaders feel that perhaps the way many people view the pro life movement, as you just mentioned, isn't really indicative of how they actually approach the issue of abortion. So how did they tell you that they hope their views would be perceived by others?
(Dina) Yeah, definitely. So they emphasize that a lot of the times they're called, like, you know, petty, full of hatred, small mindedness, stuff like that. They want to emphasize that this is not the case at all. And a lot of the times they think people assume they shut out women who've had an abortion. And this wasn't the case that it seemed to me, they were what they were telling me, they said, they actually want to provide love and support to all women, and even those who have gone through the abortion. And you know, sometimes they were saying they've had women come to them, and they feel a sense of regret as well, after having an abortion, which is something they didn't like you don't really hear a lot about, which I thought was interesting, because they said that they, you know, we're there to love and support that one regardless, because if they were to shut out that woman, then it would not only lead her to like not getting the help and support she needs, but also like, for them, they thought it would end up that one baby's life, but also countless other babies lives like in the future as well. So they just hope that people would perceive them as a place to come and like, you know, be comfortable with sharing, and they just want to spread love. In the end. That was what they were trying to say their mission is so.
(Lily) So in the story, you also note that St. John's offers a lot of student targeted programming for MSU students, what kind of services are available to students through the church?
(Dina) Yeah, definitely. And so they offer student programming, which includes like maths throughout Sunday at different times, which I believe they have on their website. They have Bible study groups as well. But not only just that, they're open to all students, regardless of whatever your beliefs may be. They want to emphasize that some students often feel ostracized from their own classes, like because they hold pro life beliefs, you know, and that might not be the case of their professor or other students in their class. Sometimes, they had an example of a student coming to them, saying, you know, I, there was a discussion in my class, and I felt like I was unheard and silenced in that way. So they want to be a place where students can have those viewpoints and come share and talk. And not only just that, but they said the priests in campus ministry were available to listen to whatever problems or anything they had, that they wanted to come talk to whether that is abortion or non abortion related, they're available to talk.
(Lily) So we know that we've seen a lot of division amongst young people regarding abortion issues in the past, I know during election season, it was pretty common to see groups advocating both for and against proposal three on or near campus. Did St. John's get involved at all in this advocacy?
(Dina) Yeah, definitely. Um, they were actually I asked them about, you know, how they felt with proposal three and everything like that, because it was something that was like Michigan specific, we have that. And they were not in favor of it at all as a church, for sure. Because they said it, you know, it kind of hinders the line of where a child they, their their biggest argument was that a child could go and get an abortion or, you know, do make a mistake that they maybe hadn't thought through, and apparently would have no say in that case. And that was like one of their big arguments, I remember. But other than that, they did go and advocate and within their church as well as they had countless young people they said go to door to door and knock on doors and educate people and inform them on what they would be voting for if they voted in favor or against proposal three, so they just wanted to incorporate that and educate individuals on that. Was there making.
(Lily) So that kind of wraps it up? Thank you so much for joining us today, Dina.
(Dina) Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me.
(Lily) Yeah. So with that we have wrapped up today's episode of the 1909. Tune in every Monday wherever you get your podcasts and signing off from East Lansing. I'm Lily Guiney.