Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Host Lily Guiney recaps the Board of Trustee search for new interim president, Dublin Square's new buildings construction and gunshots near Grove Street parking ramp.
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 Guiney 0:10
Welcome to The 1909 your home at The State News for everything happening on campus at around Lansing. I'm Lily Guiney. When this episode airs, it will be the last day before election day, so this is going to be our super election episode, we're going to do a brief news recap of everything we've had happen on campus for the past week or so. And then I'm going to bring in my special guest, who we've actually had before on our first episode of The 1909. We've got a campus administration reporter Vivian Barrett with us today. Hi, Vivian.
Vivian Barrett 0:39
Hi, Lily. Thanks for having me back.
Lily Guiney 0:41
Yeah, so we're gonna news recap real quick. We've got several different things a lot of campus news this week to recap, so let's get into it. So this will be the final time that I will ask the age old question is Sam Stanley, still president of Michigan State University and the answer when this podcast airs will be no. Certainly announced his last day would be Friday, Nov. 4 steering committee meeting on Nov. 1, The Committee received and discussed Provost Teresa Woodruff's recommendation for president of the university interim president and responded to comments made by trustee Pat O'Keefe. The committee consists of faculty senate members, representatives from the Associated Students of MSU and the Council of Graduate Students and committee chairpersons.
Lily Guiney 1:28
President Stanley wrote that he's confident in Woodruff's work, and would be available to her and university leaders in this transition to MSU. As next president, he said in his email, thank you to students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and friends for the opportunity to be your president. The positive impact that MSU has on our region, state country and the entire world is truly remarkable. And you have my deepest admiration for the work you do every day to make that happen.
So our next president for the interim will be Provost Teresa K. Woodruff. This is a decision that has come with a lot of support from both faculty and student groups sort of with a lot of turmoil happening right now between the Board of Trustees and as MSU, the decision to appoint Woodruff as interim president was supported by both groups who by the time this airs actually we will be in MSUs I want to say fifth presidency in the last four or five years, though there's going to be a lot of changes coming to MSU.
Lily Guiney 2:25
And the Board of Trustees has given us some preliminary information about the search for the next permanent president of MSU. And we'll get to that later when we talk to Vivian and other news, one person was injured after gunshots were fired near the Grove Street parking ramp last Sunday morning. The incident occurred around 2:35 a.m. and left one person with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, according to WLNS. The suspects were reported to have left the area and a follow-up alert to the Michigan State Community Center at 4:29 a.m. The case is still an ongoing investigation.
Lily Guiney 2:57
Those with information surrounding crime can contact ELPD Sargent Tony Fuller at (517) 319-6897. Now for the news that I know a lot of the MSU community has been buzzing about this week. Developers have proposed the construction of new high-rise buildings including parking ramp apartments and commercial office space on the sides of Dublin Square Irish Pub and property along evergreen Avenue. Oh my god.
Lily Guiney 3:23
The new proposal has plans for Dublin Square new home to be inside a 12 story building, which would mean we would see Dublin's building as it currently stands right now razed to the ground and redone inside of this new complex. So the proposal for the Evergreen development was presented two weeks ago at an East Lansing Downtown Development Authority meeting by housing developer Michael's organization and city officials. The Dublin square site will have a 12 story building including 209 residential units, with 88 studio apartments, 88 one bedroom apartments and 33 two bedroom apartments. It will also have 5000 square feet of proposed lobby and amenity space and 6000 square feet of restaurant and retail space according to the city.
Lily Guiney 4:05
A seven-story student housing development behind the Dublin Square site is to include 201 residential units. units include 50 Studios, 126 one bedrooms and 25 two bedrooms as well as 5000 square feet of lobby and amenity space and around 12,300 square feet for study spaces. That's a lot of space for study spaces. So we've seen you know Dublin has been around for a hot second. My aunt and uncle actually got engaged at Dublin before it was Dublin. It was some sort of fancier restaurant back in the 90s I guess. But um, and so we're you know, we'll have to see where this goes. We haven't seen confirmation yet if this development proposal is going to be put into place. So when we know we will let you guys know, State News is on that one. So now I'd like to just reIntroduce our guests again, Vivian, Hi.
Vivian Barrett 5:00
Hi Lily.
Lily Guiney 5:01
How's it going?
Vivian Barrett 5:03
It's going well, how are you?
Lily Guiney 5:04
Oh, I am tired. So, fun fact, Vivian and I are going to be sort of The State News election strike team tomorrow. So we're gonna kind of walk you guys through what we're looking at this election. And can you just start us off by telling us a little bit about on a ballot for the Board of Trustees this year?
Vivian Barrett 5:22
Yeah, absolutely. So there are four candidates for two seats on the board of trustees this year. We've got two Republican candidates and two Democratic candidates. So our two Republican candidates, we have Travis Menge and Mike Balow. So Travis Menge, he's an orthopedic surgeon, he actually went to Michigan State he studied at Lyman Briggs. And some of his key values that he talks about with The State News that he is in opposition with the university's vaccine mandate, he thinks that it should be less of a one size fits all mandate. He also wants to improve the quality of students education in relation to the cost. And he overall just hope to spring a more conservative perspective to the board. He also noted that he's opposed to Critical Race Theory.
Lily Guiney 6:07
That's interesting that you bring up the vaccine mandate because I know, we've both filled out that form for our vaccines, quote, unquote, mandate. And I think one of the things that many students sort of thought was interesting when we filled that out is we didn't really have to provide any concrete proof did not it was sort of just you know, putting the date you were vaccinated in which vaccine you got. And it was optional if you wanted to provide the lot number for your vaccine. So I wonder if that's been a conversation that's come up at all with the trustee candidates, but.
Vivian Barrett 6:41
I'm not sure what that's a good point, I have to think about that.
Lily Guiney 6:44
Because every time I hear the vaccine mandate brought up I'm I wonder if the people who the adults who are talking about it, the non-MSU students who are talking about it know what we actually did? Yeah. Because when I was filling that out, I was like, it would be so easy to lie on this form.
Vivian Barrett 7:00
Yeah. And I think that's it. That's a general consensus among students. I feel like I've had that conversation with a million students about how it doesn't feel very strict.
Lily Guiney 7:09
No, it does. Absolutely not. And I I know I've heard stories from friends when I was in the dorms last year that of people they knew who lied on the form. So that's an I wonder if if he's elected to the board. I wonder if that will come up in front of him at all?
Vivian Barrett 7:23
That's good question. Moving on. The next Republican candidate we have is Mike Balow. He is a MSU parent currently, and he's also a veteran. If you have ever tuned in to the Board of Trustee meetings, you have probably seen Mike speaking on behalf of the reinstatement of swim and dive his daughter Sophia was a member of the former swim team, she still attends Michigan State. That's one of his big priorities going into, as we'll see on the board is advocacy for the return of the swim and dive team. He's also said that he is for removing mandatory remote learning and mask mandates. So kind of similar. I don't believe he said anything on the vaccine mandates specifically, but he did not mask mandates. He also hopes to avoid raising tuition and prioritize in-state students. And then overall, he's said multiple times that he wants to improve oversight and accountability and administrative leadership.
Lily Guiney 8:16
So in terms of this swim and dive, this has actually been kind of a big week for MSU swim dive or the movement to reinstate MSU swim and dive. Do you want to give us a little bit of a recap on that view?
Vivian Barrett 8:27
Yeah. So on the Oct. 28 meeting for the Board of Trustees, Trustee Melanie Foster told swim and dive that they should expect to hear from the board by the end of the semester about the possibility of the reinstatement of swim and dive. It hasn't- nothing's been confirmed. But there is a confirmation of a conversation, which is a big step for swim and dive.
Lily Guiney 8:48
Yeah, we're hearing that they're supposed to be meeting with Athletic Director Alan Haller at some point between now and the end of the semester. And talking about getting that reinstated, which this brings sort of a, maybe an end date to what's been a three I want to say two or three, year two, three, something like that. It's been multiple years of this battle for MSU. swim and dive. So I'm sure there are a lot of people who are really feeling their work paying off right now with that. So continue with the Board of Trustees.
Vivian Barrett 9:19
So shifting over to some Democratic candidates, so we have Dennis Denno, who's a researcher, and he has spoken out about improving transparency and cap campus safety a lot. So wants to give MSU employees a $15 minimum wage, and is fighting for budget priorities. Fun fact about Dennis is that he used to be a staff for Michigan Legislator for I believe, 17 years. So that's a while. So it's definitely a lot of experience that he's bringing to the board. And our last candidate that we have is currently on the board Renee Knake Jefferson, who was appointed by Governor Whitmer in 2019. So she is campaigning for re-election for her seat, essentially. And she has spoken a lot about encouraging transparency and accountability within the University. She's given some specifics regarding that as to make revisions to the faculty discipline policy, improve the status of nontenure track faculty members, and increase campus safety and survivor resources for students. She's also helping to encourage more initiatives and partnerships that will reach a larger, more diverse range of students across the state.
Lily Guiney 10:28
So that's our Board of Trustees, candidates, if you haven't already voted via absentee ballot or early voting is great information to take with you to the polls on tomorrow when this airs. That's, that's just really crazy. To me, I can't believe I've been thinking about election day for months and months, and it's been a long time. We're finally on the eve of it, which is crazy. So these are seats that frequently people sort of overlook their bottom, they're down-ballot races, they're things we Michigan is actually the only state in the country that still votes on public university boards of trustees or regents. Oh, can you tell me just a little bit about why it's important, you know, to make sure you're filling out this section of your ballot, even if you're not super informed on what the boards of trustees might do?
Vivian Barrett 11:18
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, it really, it really is a big deal, Ellie and I did it before I became an administration reporter You know, I didn't know anything about the Board of Trustees, I didn't know that it was an elected position. I didn't know that everybody in the state of Michigan votes for them, not just Michigan State students, everybody votes for them. So it's a big deal, and you have a voice in who's going to be on your board. And that's really important. So overall, if you don't know what the Board of Trustees is, essentially, it serves as the governing body of Michigan State. They provide oversight to MSU. And there's no one above them. They're the, they're the top dogs, okay, they are elected positions, and they serve for eight years.
Vivian Barrett 11:56
So they have really long terms. And I don't think anybody knows that. And that's really important to keep in mind. So, they are a part of some of the biggest decisions that are gonna affect Michigan State students. And if we're looking at this year, specifically, you know, it's extra important, following the president Stanley stuff, they, the board that we elect, they're going to be the people who decide the next permanent president. And we're hoping that they're going to take input from the campus community, but at the end of the day, they're the ones who are going to put that person in that seat. So having a say, and who's on the board this year is essentially having a say in who's going to be the next permanent president of Michigan State. And so it's really important to look into those candidates, figure out what values they have, and if they align with yours and to vote for them.
Lily Guiney 12:42
Yeah, so that was a really great point. And I'm really glad you brought it up that these, these are the people who are going to decide our next president. And historically, I know one of the things and this isn't just typical of MSU, this is typical of a lot of universities, I think students and the student body and the people who are on campus feel a huge disconnect with the Board of Trustees. I mean, we see them once a month, I know we here at The State News, think about them a lot. And see them a little more frequently because, you know, working on covering them. But, for the average student at MSU, they probably have never met any members of the board, they've probably they probably don't even know most of their names. And most people, you know, they're sort of just this all-powerful entity sort of hovering above the school making these decisions without often having a lot of student input. So do you think that like, one way for students to sort of have this connection to the board is getting out and voting and being informed on their candidates?
Vivian Barrett 13:40
Absolutely, I think it's it's just so important to remember that they aren't, well, they are the overarching governing body of our university. They are not untouchable. And we do, as students, have a hand in putting them on that board. And you know, we have ways to keep them accountable. And so it's just important to remember that they are not God, you know, we have a piece in that. So really looking into who the candidates are. And, you know, finding, finding people who say that, you know, student employees important to them, and accountability and transparency is important to them, you know, putting those people on the board that that's going to be your your big step into getting that student employee and those big decisions.
Lily Guiney 14:23
Yeah. And so if you've been following the Board of Trustees saga this semester, if you felt any feeling whatever feeling you felt about that, the best way to act on that feeling is to go and make sure you're voting on November 8. These are the type of decisions and I talk about this a lot, not necessarily in terms of university politics, but in terms of just state and local politics. These are the types of races that are they're gonna have more of an impact on your day to day week to week life here in East Lansing than, say, voting for governor or voting for your congress members will because these are the people who will decide whether or not your tuition gets raised, these are the people who will decide, you know, if you need to go remote learning at some point or if you need to come back to campus.
Lily Guiney 15:10
So this is the type of thing that will affect you, regardless of how you feel about it. Everyone will be affected. How many students are on this campus? Almost 50,000. That's a lot of people. So Imagine if everyone who was able to vote on this campus went out and did it on Tuesday, and that would be a huge, huge thing.
Lily Guiney 15:30
So I'm going to kind of just get into a little update on some of our state and local races happening around here in the Lansing area. So um, the one that everyone is watching Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and a Republican challenger Tutor Dixon are pulling tight, but only to a margin of about six points. So um, Governor Whitmer has out-fundraised Dixon at pretty much every checkpoint in this campaign cycle. But we're predicted to see sort of a nail-biter on Tuesday night. And one of the things that I want to remind everyone is that with the sort of prevalence of mail-in ballots right now, it's likely that we won't see results on some of these key statewide races and congressional races until the day after the election.
Lily Guiney 16:15
So just remember that it's a little bit of a process. And we might have to do a little bit of waiting in these race for State Attorney General between Dana Nessel and Matt Deperno. Nessel is pulling about five, four or five points ahead of her opponent. This is another situation where these two have had the tightest margin in the entire campaign cycle. And this is actually a little bit of a widening gap for Nessel to be up to five points because she's been, she's been more narrow than that at a couple of different points in the race she has raised again. This is just the craziest statistic to me that Nessel has raised, I think, almost seven times and I don't want to exactly quote that number, but I believe he's raised almost seven times the amount of money that Matt Deperno has. And so that's, that's, that's a lot of money. And for, for her to only be pulling about five points ahead of him. That's still outside of the margin of error.
But it's, you know, it's a narrow gap. It's going to be it's this is going to be one of the races to watch, I would say on Tuesday night and going into Wednesday. And that's going to be another one where we're really going to have to sit and just wait.
Lily Guiney 17:25
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is currently pulling eight points ahead of her Republican challenger, Kristina Karamo. Karamo has actually been in the news recently this week for a challenge she has posed in court to systems in the city of Detroit and the Scot and a lot of pushback from Detroit voters in Detroit organizations saying that this is direct voter disenfranchisement. Karamo says it's election security. So that's definitely something that could have an impact going into Election Day. And we'll see I guess who's going to be in charge. I mean, Secretary of State, you're going to be in charge of all of Michigan's auctions for the next four years. So Karamo has made it pretty clear that she is all about election integrity and election security. So far, it hasn't been pulling too well. Her favorability ratings are just so so, and Benson has been able to stay within this eight to 10-point margin ahead of her for most of the race.
Lily Guiney 18:22
So that's sort of an update on our statewide races here in Lansing being pretty — actually the tightest — congressional race in the country right now between Elissa Slotkin and Tom Barrett. Slotkin just currently pulling six points ahead of Barrett in the seventh district. And she actually held an event at East Lansing high school last week with Congresswoman Liz Cheney from Wyoming. So that event is interesting because it marks the first time that Liz Cheney has ever campaigned for a Democrat if you're not familiar with Cheney. She is the chairwoman of the House Committee on January 6, and she was defeated in her primary over the summer. So she's when she's done in January. She's done in the house. Um, so she's campaigning right now for Democrats, which is a really interesting thing to see. And the theme of that rally was sort of you know, we're trying to get in here, and in real talk about bipartisanship, both candidates are both representatives, sorry. Slotkin is the only candidate.
Lily Guiney 19:22
Both representatives were talking about how January 6 sort of brought them together, and how, you know, there, there's a lot of stake in this election. For many people, democracy is on the line. So once again, I just can't emphasize how much how important it is for college students to get out and vote. Whoever MSU students vote for in this congressional race is going to win. Slotkin or Barrett. So this is your moment to make a decision. Let's just go over real quick.
Lily Guiney 19:53
You can vote, and you can register to vote in person up until Election Day in Michigan. So if you are finding yourself on Tuesday, November 8, thinking 'oh my god, I'm not registered to vote,' you can go do that. You can register and vote in the same place at the same time. You just have to figure out what your polling place would be based on your address. And if you're a college student, you can register in East Lansing, even if you if it's not your permanent address. You can make sure that you're registered as long as you're you haven't been registered in your hometown first, you still have time to register to vote in East Lansing. So with that, that brings us to the end of our episode of The 1909 for today. We are kind of we're you know, we're in the countdown to election day. So, Vivian, I got to close it out. How are you feeling?
Vivian Barrett 20:36
You know, I'm tired Lily. When this airs on Monday, I can tell you that I'm going to be tired tomorrow.
Lily Guiney 20:43
Yes. I'll be tired and will be even more tired when this airs.
Vivian Barrett 20:48
Yeah, but I'm feeling good. I'm feeling hopeful. Yeah, I'm feeling excited to vote and I hope everybody listening is so yeah, you know, I'm looking. I'm looking forward to the results. Yes.
Lily Guiney 21:02
And you can stay with The State News all night. On Tuesday night for Election coverage. We are, the two of us will be here all night here. We will be in our office and we will be doing election coverage for you. And I guess, just make sure that you're you know you're keeping up to date on everything and that we're gonna close out our episode for this week. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts airing every Monday. And signing off from East Lansing. I'm Lily Guiney.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai