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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.
Welcome to the 1909 your home with the state news for everything happening on campus and around Lansing. I'm Lily Guiney. So this is our second to last episode of the 1909 for the school year. Wow. We've come a long way since our humble beginnings in September. So today I'll be updating you on some big changes affecting MSU beginning this fall, a presidential candidate who's visiting campus and a review of marijuana revenue policy in the city of East Lansing. So let's get into it.
First up, the MSU academic calendar Task Force evaluated the fall and spring semester calendars in 2022 and will implement five permanent calendar changes affecting the start and end dates of the semester and Spring Break according to an email from the Office of the Registrar. The calendar changes will take effect in fall of 2023. The Fall 2023 semester classes will begin Monday August 28, as opposed to the previous Wednesday start date. There are no other changes to the fall calendar, but the email announced that the spring 2024 semester will contain one less instruction week than usual. Because of this, spring break, the end of classes, final exams and commencements will all occur one week earlier. Spring break will be from February 26 to march 1 of 2024 classes will end April 19, with final exams taking place April 22 to April 26. Finally, spring commencement will take place between April 22 and April 28.
Michigan colleges and universities may be able to start selling alcohol on campus during football, basketball and hockey games if a bipartisan group of lawmakers have their way. Senator Sean McCann of Kalamazoo introduced the bill to the Senate last Tuesday April 11. This is not the first time a bill permitting campus alcohol sales has been introduced as former Senator Chris Rotella of East Lansing introduced a similar bill last session, but it was never taken up for a vote by the Senate. McCann said the failures of pass bills has not deterred him are the other sponsors and wanting to advance it again and give it another try. McCain said he can never speak to the prospects of a bill passing when it's advanced again in the Senate. But with extra time in this legislative session, not taken up by the midterm election season, they could get this bill to quote the finish line. And then it will be an overall enhancement of the fan experience, McCann said it's part of professional sporting events and is increasingly becoming a part of college events. We see it at a number of other university venues doing this already. And I think it's a change that's advancing across sports and entertainment. MSU athletic director Alan Haller was open to the idea of selling alcohol on game days to enrich the fan experience when it was introduced in the last legislative session. Haller did not believe that it would cause problems in venues and was hopeful that the Senate bill would pass. Associate Athletics Director Matt Larson declined to comment and a press release. Representative Graham Fuller of Clinton said the bill would promote safety and fairness on game days. Giving universities the option to serve alcohol at their sporting events is about freedom, fairness and recognizing the responsible consumption of alcohol inside the stadium is much safer than the binge drinking that goes on in the parking lot Fuller said in a release. Fuller is the sponsor of the House bill. McCann said he wants the bill to pass because he doesn't want to lose students to other state universities outside of Michigan due to game day experiences they could find elsewhere, looking to lead the pack and having quote great college experiences. The bill has now been referred to the regulatory affairs committee chaired by Senator Jeremy Moss of Southfield.
Marion Williamson, author and spiritual leader turn presidential candidate will appear in a discussion event hosted on campus by the Michigan State University College Democrats on April 26. The event will take place at 6:30pm according to College Democrats president and International Relations junior Dhyey Dalal, Williamson's appearance at MSU is the first one with the student group hopes will be a series of guest speakers during the 2024 election cycle. Williamson, who ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 but dropped out to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders, launched her second campaign in March of 2023. In spite of Williamson's status as a longshot candidate for the Democratic nomination, College Democrats executive board member and political theory junior Liam Richichi said the student organizations members think the event will be valuable for any students and community members wanting to be more informed about candidates for public office. Regardless of whether or not she's going to win, it's still a great opportunity for everyone to get together and learn about her platform, Richichi said and you never know it's super early in the cycle. March poll place Williamson's favorability ratings around 8% Overall, but among voters under 25 years old, her approval rate rose to 18%. Richichi said he hopes Williamson will address issues that matter to young people something she's gained attention for on social media platforms like Tik Tok in recent months. A lot of the attendees of this event are going to be college students, he said. So it's important to kind of hit on the issues that are important to us student loan reform, what role we play in the economy after we graduate. Where do we go from here jobs, those are all important things. In her campaigns infancy, Williamson has advocated for progressive policy stances, including student loan debt relief and anti corruption measures. Early in the 2020 campaign cycle, Williamson faced criticism in the past for comments made regarding vaccines and antidepressants. College Democrats declined to comment on a Politico article from March in which 12 former campaign staffers accused Williamson of creating a toxic workplace environment in which they experienced quote, emotional and verbal abuse. In an email to The State News, Richichi said that while the group invites many guest speakers to campus, it is not endorsing any candidate at this time. An RSVP form for the event is available on the MSU College Democrats social media pages.
So MSU, you guys, we have a new student body president for next year. Social Relations and policy senior Emily Emily Hoyumpa was elected student body president by the Associated Students of MSU at 11:20 On the night of April 18. Emily HoyumpaI is ASMSU's current associate vice president of internal administration, and she received praise during public public comments at the beginning of the night. In a public comment statement, the registered student organization students demand action said it's clear Emily cares about her community and she's great at connecting with those around her. Hoyumpa outlined her goals in the speech to the General Assembly, working on cohesion between the five different facets of as MSU and just bringing departments closer together, building strong relationships and having inclusivity in this environment, Hoyumpa said. She said she wants to hit the ground running. She said she knows there's a lot of advocacy points and a lot of different points of view and backgrounds, but that she wants to make sure everyone is heard and feels included in these conversations.
On to some East Lansing news as tax revenue for marijuana sales increases the East Lansing City Council is reviewing how the money has been allocated in the past to advise how it will be used in the future. According to Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Gregg. When the city first opted into state licensing regulations that would allow the city to bring marijuana retailers into the East Lansing, the council had to determine where the money from tax revenue on marijuana would be allocated. The state imposed a 10% excise tax on the sale of marijuana of which the municipalities where the dispensaries are located receive a portion. Revenue generated from the distribution of the state excise tax would be added to the city's general fund by default. However, the city has allocated funds instead to the 54th.district court, Gregg said. A portion of East Lansing allocated excess tax revenue was put towards the court for quote Drug Abuse Counseling and treatment assistance for low income and moderate income citizens. Other parts of the tax were used to staff the courts specialty treatment programs and facilitation of the assistance program according to the council's 2023 preliminary budget and fee schedule. Jesse Gregg said using the marijuana taxes to fund that program seemed appropriate. Greg says this was an attempt by the city council to acknowledge that the tax revenue has come from a source that is a formerly illegal substance and at the persecution of marijuana crimes has disproportionately affected marginalized and low income people. A drug court was approved to use the funding to quote provide financial assistance for costs not covered through private insurance or entitlement programs, according to documents related to the funding. The allocations purpose was to aid in securing assessments, testing, rehabilitative treatment and other supportive programming designed to improve the quality of life for the recipient, their family and their community. according to the policy resolution. I can see the courts being involved just not in a way where the amount of revenue increases and then that increase just continues to go to the courts, council member Dana Watson said. Watson said as the revenue continues to grow, she's interested in other places for the funds to be allocated in addition to the courts. Rather than just kind of let that money disappear into the general fund, she's asking that we separate it out and that we treat it with a bit of dignity, Gregg said. The city of Kalamazoo has enacted a marijuana social equity policy that allows a targeted focus on disproportionately impacted individuals and city neighborhoods and reduces barriers to entering the marijuana industry for Kalamazoo residents as stated in the city Commission's document. The policy calls for fee reductions of marijuana business permits, zoning code exceptions and a use of a portion of the business permit fee to educate residents who have been disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibition in the past. Watson said she's exploring this type of framework for East Lansing but does not yet have a proposal. Gregg said the money has also been used to facilitate an expungement clinic in which individuals convicted with marijuana related drug crimes were able to have their criminal record expunged if not rescinded. It's still a polarizing thing since it used to be illegal and it still has a lot of connotations from being an illegal drug, Gregg said. Due in part to the polarization caused by marijuana retail and use, Gregg said special use permits are used by the city council to make sure that the city's zoning rules are respected. marijuana businesses meet the standards of the council. The permits include regulation on where the plant can be grown, processed or transported. And it's informed by both East Lansing and the state's licensing regulations. Gregg said it's a way to create the opportunity for marijuana businesses to exist in town but without fully opening our entire town or the entire zoning district to that business.
Following the highly publicized indictment and arraignment of former President Donald Trump on April 4, legal experts and ordinary Americans alike have raised questions about what the criminal prosecution of a former president could mean. For the moment though there aren't a lot of concrete answers according to two experts. Jordan Cash, a professor of political theory and constitutional democracy at MSU said that people are correct to marvel at the indictment. It's completely unprecedented for a former president to be the subject of a criminal trial. Cash said that not only would a Trump trial have serious legal implications, but it could also have an outsized impact on the 2024 presidential election cycle. Cash said that it's not only a huge event for American legal and political history, but it's going to have very real implications on our electoral process, with the way that the likelihood that this will come to trial in the middle of next year's election cycle is pretty high. The contrast between Trump as an ex president and Trump as a current candidate will likely complicate how a trial unfolds, and some have expressed concerns that Trump's political status could keep him from a fair trial. Brian Kalt, an MSU law professor whose research includes a structural Constitutional Law in relation to the presidency, said in an email to The State News that keeping politics out of the legal process in Trump's case would be impossible. Anything to do with the president is inherently automatically politicized Kalt said. Prosecuting Trump is a political act, not prosecuting him would be a political act. Politics greatly complicates this whole process, but that's unavoidable. Trump's presence in American politics is already dominated news coverage of the indictment, from bird's eye video of his private plane leaving Florida to turn himself into authorities in New York to analysis of his facial expressions during arraignment. Cash said a media environment devoted to speculation around the indictment and possible trial might not be helpful or conducive to keeping the process fair.
Cash said part of the role of law requires is to be dispassionate to look at the facts to look at what's going on separate from public political debates. He also noted that beliefs surrounding Trump's criminal activities are largely split along party lines, which he said can be harmful to the integrity of the legal process. As for how the court might go about keeping political discourse out of a trial, Kalt said that will be a challenge and it will mostly come down to the jury that selected called said he's guessing that they'll use a larger than normal pool of potential jurors and be very careful about who they allow onto the jury. But he says he thinks that can be done. One of the most pervasive questions throughout the indictment and arraignment process has been whether prosecuting Trump or any former president would pose a threat to the constitutional powers of the presidency itself. Kalt and Cash both said holding former presidents to the standard of the law shouldn't have a great effect on the ability of future presidents to actual an office called said that well, it does constrain the presidency. It's a quote good and important thing. He said that having criminals in office diminishes the presidency. Allowing them to avoid accountability may help the individual but it does harm not good to the institution of the presidency itself. Cash said that the Constitution's protections of presidential power are strong enough to withstand the prosecution of a former president. He said the constitutional presidencies constitutional authority is going to be there regardless of what happens to Donald Trump.
Following the mass shooting on February 13, Michigan State has developed a new Office for Student Support. The Office of resource and support coordination is a new addition to the university modeled after similar concepts at different universities that have been through tragic events. The office is co director Dave Brewer said our office will serve as a central point of contact for victims of the February 13 shooting their families and proximate witnesses. Brewer's working side by side with Natalie Moser to establish resources for those who were affected by the shooting. Some of these include community building events between affected people and making them aware of other university resources. Brewer was formerly the director of building services for MSU is infrastructure planning and facilities and as a member of the University emergency operations. Well, Moser is a current director of the MSU psychological clinic and a founder of MSU trauma services and training network. The Office will serve as a place to help provide trauma informed guidance to different programs, activities and policies directed towards February 13. Moser said we fully recognize that our entire community went through what she would call a community based trauma and that everybody is impacted in different ways and at different points in their journey. Students will soon be able to go to a website in order to utilize some of these resources. For now they can reach out to ORSC at msu.edu for more support. So that is it for our news roundup today. Thanks for tuning in. Remember to catch us for one more episode next week on Monday, wherever you get your podcasts. Signing off from East Lansing, I'm Lily Guiney.