January 17, 2013

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www.themsureporter.com Minnesota State University, Mankato Thursday, January 17, 2013 INDEX: DJ’s take over Red Sky Lounge this weekend See Page 9 A&E SPORTS CLASSIFIEDS INDEX: 9 12 15 H 21 L 12 THURSDAY H 35 L 25 FRIDAY H 36 L -4 SATURDAY facebook.com/msureporter @msureporter Southern Minnesota considered ‘hot spot’ for Influenza ELISE KONERZA staff writer Southern Minnesota is the site of the state’s lastest flu epidemic, as country experiences early flu season Making the Grade Minnesota receives ‘D’ grade from Students First ERIC PERRINE staff writer Minnesota has received a D in the 2013 Students First State Rankings on education. Students First, an organiza- tion headed by former Washing- ton, D.C., chancellor of public schools Michelle Rhee, advo- cates stricter tests for teachers nationwide as a requirement to keep their jobs. The grades were contingent on three aspects: Elevating teaching, empowering parents, spending wisely and governing well. Elevate teaching meant to hold teachers accountable for student’s test scores. Other steps, including eliminating tenure and other measures were evaluated. Minnesota received a D plus. The Empower parents aspect was based on the ability parents were given within states to pur- sue the best education available for their children. According to the Students First Website, one of their main goals is “to make sure all families have a range of high quality schools to choose from, because our kids shouldn’t have to rely on a lottery or the ZIP Code of their home to get a great education.” Minnesota received a D- in this aspect. Spend Wisely and Govern well is the last aspect taken into consideration. Ac- cording to the website, this measures the ability of states to be flexible in terms of financing so students can be well-served. Minnesota received a D- in this aspect. More than two-thirds of the states either received an overall grade of D-plus or lower. No state received an A, while Loui- siana and Florida were the only states to receive B minuses. Education Minnesota Presi- dent Tom Dooher downplayed the rankings. “Minnesotans need to remember that these ratings have absolutely no connection with how well schools educate students. If they did, Minne- sota and Massachusetts would be at the top and Louisiana High fever, aches, head- aches and pain – it’s flu sea- son, and southern Minnesota is welcoming it with rapidly increasing cases of the viral illness. Southern Minnesota has been designated by the state’s Department of Health as the leading region in the state for influenza-based hospitaliza- tion cases per capita. Yet, it’s not the number of cases that makes this year’s flu virus so dangerous. Ac- cording to the Minnesota Department of Health weekly statistics, 23 deaths were confirmed during week one of the flu season. Since then, 27 influenza-related deaths have been confirmed. What came as a bitter shock to many Minnesotans were the ages of influenza fatalities. One of those being Carly Christensen a 14 –year- old girl and ninth-grader at St. Louis Park High School, confirmed dead last Thursday. Family members had noted she was a healthy teenager. The Minnesota Department of Health has reported a hike in flu hospitalizations, but Ruth Bolton, a Mayo Clinic Urgent Care doctor is has- tened to point out this flu sea- son is not any more dangerous than any other. “Two years ago, more people died than now,” Bolton said. Health officials say the current vaccine includes three strains of inoculations, two from the A family and one from the B. The A strain has been proven to be more ef- fective than the B. Although the vaccine is not 100 percent effective for everyone, the Health Department and Bol- Influenza / page 2 web photo Influenza has hit Minnesota harder than many states. The state has experienced 27 flu-related deaths this year, while citizens are being reminded that the vaccine is not 100 percent effective. web photo Despite Minnesota’s low grade no state received a grade higher than “B,” while many have questioned the system’s effectiveness. Pictured is the founder of Students First, Michelle Rhee. Education / page 2

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MSU Reporter

Transcript of January 17, 2013

Page 1: January 17, 2013

www.themsureporter.comMinnesota State University, Mankato

Thursday, January 17, 2013

INDEX:WINTER CAR CARE ISSUE ADVERTISERS ON PAGES 5-7 A&E SPORTS CLASSIFIEDS

INDEX:

15 21 26

H 86L 66THURSDAY H 86

L 66FRIDAY H 86L 66SATURDAY

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

INDEX:DJ’s take over Red Sky Lounge this weekend See Page 9 A&E SPORTS CLASSIFIEDS

INDEX:

9 12 15

H 21L 12THURSDAY H 35

L 25FRIDAY H 36L -4SATURDAY

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Southern Minnesota considered ‘hot spot’

for Influenza

ELISE KONERZAstaff writer

Southern Minnesota is the site of the state’s lastest flu epidemic, as country

experiences early flu season

Making the Grade

Minnesota receives ‘D’ grade from Students

First

ERIC PERRINEstaff writer

Minnesota has received a D in the 2013 Students First State Rankings on education.

Students First, an organiza-tion headed by former Washing-ton, D.C., chancellor of public schools Michelle Rhee, advo-cates stricter tests for teachers nationwide as a requirement to keep their jobs.

The grades were contingent on three aspects: Elevating teaching, empowering parents, spending wisely and governing well.

Elevate teaching meant to hold teachers accountable for student’s test scores. Other steps, including eliminating tenure and other measures were evaluated. Minnesota received a D plus.

The Empower parents aspect was based on the ability parents were given within states to pur-sue the best education available for their children. According to the Students First Website, one of their main goals is “to make sure all families have a range of

high quality schools to choose from, because our kids shouldn’t have to rely on a lottery or the ZIP Code of their home to get a great education.”

Minnesota received a D- in this aspect. Spend Wisely and Govern well is the last aspect taken into consideration. Ac-cording to the website, this measures the ability of states to be flexible in terms of financing so students can be well-served. Minnesota received a D- in this aspect.

More than two-thirds of the states either received an overall grade of D-plus or lower. No state received an A, while Loui-siana and Florida were the only states to receive B minuses.

Education Minnesota Presi-dent Tom Dooher downplayed the rankings.

“Minnesotans need to remember that these ratings have absolutely no connection with how well schools educate students. If they did, Minne-sota and Massachusetts would be at the top and Louisiana

High fever, aches, head-aches and pain – it’s f lu sea-son, and southern Minnesota is welcoming it with rapidly increasing cases of the viral illness.

Southern Minnesota has been designated by the state’s Department of Health as the leading region in the state for influenza-based hospitaliza-tion cases per capita.

Yet, it’s not the number of cases that makes this year’s f lu virus so dangerous. Ac-cording to the Minnesota Department of Health weekly

statistics, 23 deaths were confirmed during week one of the f lu season. Since then, 27 influenza-related deaths have been confirmed.

What came as a bitter shock to many Minnesotans were the ages of influenza fatalities. One of those being Carly Christensen a 14 –year-old girl and ninth-grader at St. Louis Park High School, confirmed dead last Thursday. Family members had noted she was a healthy teenager.

The Minnesota Department of Health has reported a hike in f lu hospitalizations, but Ruth Bolton, a Mayo Clinic

Urgent Care doctor is has-tened to point out this f lu sea-son is not any more dangerous than any other.

“Two years ago, more people died than now,” Bolton said.

Health officials say the current vaccine includes three strains of inoculations, two from the A family and one from the B. The A strain has been proven to be more ef-fective than the B. Although the vaccine is not 100 percent effective for everyone, the Health Department and Bol-

Influenza / page 2

web photoInfluenza has hit Minnesota harder than many states. The state has experienced 27 flu-related deaths this year, while citizens are being reminded that the vaccine is not 100 percent effective.

web photoDespite Minnesota’s low grade no state received a grade higher than “B,” while many have questioned the system’s effectiveness. Pictured is the founder of Students First, Michelle Rhee.

Education / page 2

Page 2: January 17, 2013

Page 2 • Reporter News Thursday, January 17, 2013Thursday, January 17, 2013 News Reporter • Page 3

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wouldn’t be held up as a model,” Dooher said.

Louisiana is ranked 23rd when it comes to education qual-ity in a Quality Counts Nation-wide ranking.

“Students from Minnesota and Massachusetts were among the very best in the world in math and science when the re-sults of the prominent Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study were released last month,” Dooher said.

“Students First doesn’t care about that. Instead, its report card praises Louisiana for a voucher program,” Dooher said.

Voucher programs are certifi-cates issued by the government that parents can use to finance a private education for their children.

“Students First has been pushing a narrow, divisive agenda around the country and this report card only represents its assessment of how well politicians have fallen in line,” Dooher said.

Critics like Dooher contend that Rhee is pushing an ideology

that has made her unpopular at the end of her tenure as Wash-ington’s chancellor of schools.

As chancellor, Rhee closed 23 Washington schools, fired 36 principals, and eliminated 121 positions. The moves were part of her goals to increase top to down accountability and to in-crease focus on helping students.

Rhee also proposed another controversial measure. Teach-ers making $62,000 annually would receive a $10,000 pay raise if they gave up seniority and tenure.

Rhee is an outspoken critic of teacher tenure.

“I don’t think there is a need for tenure,’’ she said. “Teach-ers need to understand they are not going to be discriminated against. If they feel they’ve been unfairly terminated, they need to have a process by which they can address that issue. School districts need to ensure firings are not happening in an unfair manner. But all of those things can happen without tenure being in place.”

ton said it is the best method of prevention.

Bolton said the vaccine this season is about 60 percent effective. Influenza shots are available in two forms: nasal-spray mist and injections. Bolton said there really is no difference in the two forms except that the mist contains a part of the virus – which is actually better for the im-mune system. The problem is that the mist is approved for use in only healthy people ages 2 through 49 who are not pregnant.

“This season more people are getting ill, the little ones from 5 years on up, not so much,” Bolton said.

Bolton attributes southern Minnesota’s heavy hospital-ization to living in a tight area with various surrounding institutions, but is hastened to note there are universities all around Minnesota.

This season, f lu shots were encouraged right after Labor Day.

“We were not shy or wait-

ing around this year, we began giving shots in late August and early September,” Bolton said.

Bolton said the best way of prevention is to get the f lu shot and keep exposure at a minimum.

“It is important to keep your own immune system healthy,” Bolton said, “And sleep, most of us don’t get enough sleep and I can’t stress the importance of getting enough sleep to stay healthy.”

For those at home with the f lu; do not go out until the fever has passed for 24 hours without the use of Tylenol or any other type of acetamino-phen drug. The Centers for Disease Control and Preven-tion suggests covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and if you don’t have a tis-sue nearby – use your upper sleeve or elbow, not your hands.

Always, and continuously, wash your hands and do not touch your face, Bolton said.

For those looking for a natural at home remedy, there isn’t much one can do, but honey may be your best choice to treat the symptoms, and, of course, a heavy dose of sleep, Bolton said.

“If there were really a natural method everybody would use it,” Bolton said.

However, pharmacists do suggest taking zinc tablets the minute you feel sick.

Bolton said the Mayo Clinic has enough f lu shots of both forms to go around, and people are encouraged to get the vaccine if they have not done so already, even if they have the f lu right now.

Flu shots are also available at Student Health Services at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Appointments can be made by calling 507-389-6276, or online on the Student Health Services website.

For more information visit the CDC, Mayo Clinic and the Minnesota Department of Health websites.

INFLUENZA “It is important to keep your own immune system healthy,” Bolton said. “And sleep, most of us don’t get enough sleep to stay healthy. continued from 1

EDUCATION “StudentsFirst doesn’t care about that. Instead its report card praises Lousiana for a voucher program, Dooher said.” continued from 1

Page 3: January 17, 2013

Page 2 • Reporter News Thursday, January 17, 2013Thursday, January 17, 2013 News Reporter • Page 3

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Jack Links brings new sponsorships toVerizon Center

Minnesota State Univer-sity, Mankato and the Ve-rizon Wireless Civic Center have been making moves to increase attendance at hockey games with planned renova-tions to the arena and more promotional activities.

During the earlier years at the Verizon Wireless Civic Center, MSU’s attendance was only an average of 9,686. In 2007, the MSU attendance at the Verizon Wireless Center was the most it has ever been

at an average of 85,388. Now in 2012-2013, the MSU atten-dance has rapidly decreased to 45,346.

Stomper has been cruising around on an ATV, the pep band is back and advertisers for Jack Links have been at games giving away their deli-cious, popular product.

MSU and the Verizon Wireless Center are always working towards targeting the audience for the events and even though it is a fantastic place to get together, there’s always room to improve.

The Verizon Wireless Civic

Center has planned many renovations for this summer that will get fans excited. They will be replacing the ice f loor, installing new dasher boards, and remodeling the concession stands. The concession stands will have countless menu changes and they are bringing in a whole new type of food. which will keep the fans and customers coming back.

“The renovations will de-fiantly improve the customers experience,” said Burt Lyman, Executive Director of the Verizon Wireless Center.

MOLLY HORNERstaff writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The young man stumbled into the emergency room late one night after a house party, saying his heart wouldn't stop pounding and he could barely breathe after downing liquor mixed with energy drinks.

Emergency physician Steve Sun soon found the patient was so dehydrated he was going into kidney failure — one of many troubling cases Sun says he has treated in recent years tied to energy drink consumption.

Sun's changing caseload ap-pears in line with a new gov-ernment survey that suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide during the past four years.

"Five years ago, perhaps I would see one or two cases every three months or so. Now we're consistently seeing about two cases per month," said Sun, assistant medical director of the emergency department at St. Mary's Medical Center, on the edge of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

From 2007 to 2011, the gov-ernment estimates the number of emergency room visits involv-ing the neon-labeled beverages shot up from about 10,000 to more than 20,000. Most of the cases involved teens or young adults, according to the survey of the nation's hospitals released late last week by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Ser-vices Administration..

The beverage industry says energy drinks are safe and there is no proof linking the products to adverse reactions.

Several emergency physi-cians said they had seen a clear uptick in the number of patients suffering from irregular heart-beats, anxiety and heart attacks who said they had recently downed an energy drink.

"A lot of people don't realize the strength of these things. I had someone come in recently who had drunk three energy drinks in an hour, which is the equivalent of 15 cups of coffee," said Howard Mell, an emer-gency physician in the suburbs of Cleveland, who serves as a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physi-cians. "Essentially he gave him-self a stress test and thankfully he passed. But if he had a weak heart or suffered from coronary disease and didn't know it, this could have precipitated very bad

things."The findings came as con-

cerns over energy drinks have intensified following reports last fall of 18 deaths possibly tied to the drinks and so-called energy shots — including a 14-year-old Maryland girl whose family filed a lawsuit after she drank two large cans of Monster Energy drinks and died. Monster says its products were not responsible for the death.

Two senators are calling for the Food and Drug Admin-istration to investigate safety concerns about energy drinks and their ingredients.

Late last year, the FDA asked the U.S. Health and Human Services to update the figures its substance abuse research arm compiles about emergency room visits tied to energy drinks.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad-ministration's survey was based on responses it receives from about 230 hospitals each year, a representative sample of about 5 percent of emergency depart-ments nationwide. The agency then uses those responses to estimate the number of energy drink-related emergency depart-ment visits nationwide.

The more than 20,000 cases estimated for 2011 represent a small portion of the annual 136 million emergency room visits tracked by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The FDA said it was consid-ering the findings and pressing for more details as it undertakes a broad review of the safety of energy drinks and related ingre-dients this spring.

"We will examine this ad-ditional information ... as a part of our ongoing investigation into potential safety issues sur-rounding the use of energy-drink products," FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said in a state-ment.

Beverage manufacturers fired back at the survey, saying the statistics were misleading and taken out of context.

"This report does not share information about the overall health of those who may have consumed energy drinks, or what symptoms brought them to the ER in the first place," the American Beverage Association said in a statement. "There is no basis by which to understand the overall caffeine intake of any of these individuals — from all sources.”

Popular energy drinks linked

to healthconcerns

Page 4: January 17, 2013

Thursday, January 17, 2013 News Reporter • Page 5

Ed/OpThursday, January 17, 2013

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JUMPING THE GUN

Guns are not the problem. Despite being the means through which the lives of 20 young Americans ended in a barrage of lead and blood just days before Christmas, the evidence remains abun-dantly clear: guns are not the problem.

Just ask the NRA.No, guns are not the prob-

lem. Movies are the problem. Video games are the problem. News media is the problem.

Or, if you’re outspoken political chauvinist Ann Coulter, immigrants are the problem.

That wasn’t a joke. I wish it were a joke, I wish that such comments were the exception rather than the startling and sickening rule in todays political discourse, but shock aficionados have no problem spouting such hateful rhetoric, not when

there are ratings to consider. In truth, the NRA and its

constituents have rushed to point the finger at a number of major industries, except their own.

And while Coulter’s ridiculous statements hardly bear mentioning, the NRA’s represent another alarming trend; ignoring established research.

To date, no study has ever shown a link at any level be-tween violent entertainment and violent tendencies.

Blaming the video game industry, which has been the model of self-regulated ef-ficiency since Mortal Kombat brought the issue of violence in the medium before con-gress, is as absurd as it is old-fashioned.

The video game industry has been self-regulating since the early 90’s, when game makers began adopting their own ratings code, a complete-ly voluntary system, after

public outcry over violent games.

Def lecting blame onto the makers of Angry Birds and Grand Theft Auto is simply the latest in Washington’s long tradition of scapegoat-ing, of demonizing popular culture in defense of the true culprit.

Just as rap music, comic books, and rock n’ roll were the cause of the country’s woes in years gone by, we’ve now singled out the latest pastime of America’s youth as the root of all evil.

Instead of choosing to address the issue head on, instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue in an attempt to facilitate change, the NRA has instead chosen to stick its fingers in its ears, ignoring research, facts, and the rest of the world. They are, it would seem, willing to trample on the first amend-ment to save the second.

And in an overwhelming

show of hypocrisy, the group has chosen to release a game of it’s own as well.

Yes, “NRA Practice Range,” a shooting range simulator, released just weeks after Wayne LaPierre’s controversial condemnation of all-things violent, guns notwithstanding.

In reality, virtually every other industrialized nation in the world has access to the same entertainment prod-ucts enjoyed by millions of Americans.

The violent crime statistics are far less proportional how-ever, with the United States taking a sizable lead in gun violence and, coincidentally, gun ownership.

I have yet to hear a promi-nent Washington politician argue in favor of taking away America’s guns, but what harm could possibly come from universal background checks? From limits on high-capacity magazines and the

sort of weapons designed to maximize human carnage?

The NRA, for all of its talk of the second amend-ment and liberty, serves gun manufactures and lobbies accordingly.

Allowing such a group to dictate public policy not only demeans our democracy, but f lies in the face of everything that our country stands for.

At the heart of it all is the notion that more guns some-how equates with fewer in-cidents of violence, a notion that has been proven f lawed by the number of countries that balk at U.S. crime rates while touting significantly stricter gun control laws themselves.

According to statistics published by the United Na-tions Office on Drugs and Crime, the United States has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, an average of 88 guns for every 100 people, and is light-years beyond the rest of the world in total gun ownership, with nearly 300 million guns in the hands of civilians.

Those totals would seem to imply that the United States has an unhealthy attraction to firearms, an attraction that has led to a paranoid state of constant watchfulness.

Yes, the second amend-ment was drafted as a defense against totalitarian govern-ment, as a means for Ameri-cans to defend themselves from invaders. Those laws however came into existence as a substitute for a profes-sional army, a luxury that the U.S. now enjoys.

While the second amend-ment is certainly a vital part of our constitution, it is by no means the beast that it once was, and the NRA’s unwillingness to engage in even moderate discourse about potential changes to the amendment is having a sickeningly negative impact on our society.

They make odd patriots then, those willing to so callously destroy the first amendment.

The NRA’s hypocrisy is sickening, in more ways than one

web photoNRA Practice Range, available on most iOS devices, allows users play target practice with various guns, while providing gun safety tips. The game’s antiquated design and the controversial timing of its release have generated criticism throughout the industry.

RYAN LUNDnews editor

Page 5: January 17, 2013

Thursday, January 17, 2013 News Reporter • Page 5

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Minnesota lawmakers talk taxes

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — In a prelude to a coming tax debate, Minnesota lawmak-ers began to pore over bills Wednesday that would apply the state sales tax to online purchases and expensive ap-parel.

A state Senate subcom-mittee didn’t take any votes because the Legislature is only starting discussions of how to balance the budget and remake the tax code. With the Capitol now controlled entire-ly by Democrats, proposals to raise taxes are no longer seen as out of reach. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to put sales tax changes on the table when he releases his budget next week.

Of the series of sales tax bills, all from Democratic Sen. Ann Rest of New Hope, the most controversial is one to make clothing sales above $200 taxable.

The sales tax exemption on clothing currently costs the state about $300 million a year. Not all of that would be recouped under the Rest bill because the tax wouldn’t kick in until a clothing purchase exceeds $200, making it hard for finance officials to pin down a revenue estimate. Rest said whatever money comes in could be used to drive down the overall sales tax rate, which stands at 6.875 percent.

She argued that taxing only pricey clothes would help people of lesser means avoid it.

“If you bought an item of clothing for $190 you don’t pay anything,” Rest said. “If you bought an item that cost $210, the sales tax would be imposed on $10.”

Sen. Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, said shoppers will easily be able to game the system.

“When I buy a suit the next time I’ll probably just buy a pair of pants and I’ll buy a jacket and I’ll get them both for under $200,” he said.

Republican Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen, said Minnesota stores would lose a marketing advantage for a pittance in return.

Maureen Bausch, an execu-tive for the Mall of America in Bloomington, said the state’s top tourism attraction — luring 17 million shoppers a year from inside and outside the state — would suffer. She said 50 percent of the sales at

the megamall involve clothes.“If we add this tax on ap-

parel, it will absolutely affect our tourism trade,” Bausch said. “The ability to market Minnesota’s lack of sales tax is absolutely our clear com-petitive edge. And the word ‘no’ is so important. Once we have to add a percent — whether it’s 1, 5, 10 it doesn’t matter — you can’t use the ‘no sales tax on clothes.’ We lose our competitive edge.”

Separately, Rest has a bill that would offer Minnesota residents a sales tax credit for clothing purchases that could be claimed as part of income tax filing. The credits would amount to $60 for a family of four, but the total amount would depend on a family’s income.

The online sales tax push has more force behind it. Republicans have backed it in the past, and the ma-jor business groups with a Capitol lobbying presence are on board. Supporters argue that it is not a new tax but a matter of compliance be-cause purchasers are techni-cally required to pay the tax, although few do and enforce-ment is lax.

Roberta Bonoff, CEO of Creative Kidstuff toy stores, said it’s an overdue change in state law. She oversees six stores around the Twin Cities and has an online presence as well.

“A sale is a sale,” Bonoff told the committee. Giving online-only businesses a pass on collecting the tax allows them to offer merchandise at lower prices or entice shop-pers with free shipping.

The requirement to collect taxes would apply to busi-nesses with at least $10,000 in sales to Minnesota residents. The potential state tax col-lection from the law change isn’t great; a Department of Revenue estimate figures it would raise $4.5 million in the first year.

Some have advocated for a federal fix, but Congress has been slow to act. Major online retailers have sued other states that have tried to enact a tax on their sales and oth-ers have broken off ties with in-state solicitors who are involved in e-commerce.

Dayton supports the bill and has advocated for the change as part of previous budget proposals.

The first MSSA meeting of the new semester got underway Wednesday night, welcoming back all returning student sena-tors with discussions of proj-ects for this spring, continuing projects from the fall, as well as a visit from university president, Richard Davenport.

President Davenport spoke in front of the MSSA, highlight-ing the recent trip to China that he and several members of the university took in December in order to improve the status

of global education by giving keynote speeches during his visit there.

Davenport also touched on the status of buildings on cam-pus, stating that Gage towers will most likely be imploded during late spring or early sum-mer.

There was also a mention of a possible new “bubble” build-ing by Davenport, which would increase the amount of room on campus for students to exercise. Davenport was looking for input on whether or not it would be something the school would

want to fund.MSSA Vice President David

Schieler gave his address to the student senators, speaking about the new textbook reserve pro-gram, saying that the program is still growing and is looking for comments or complaints on the issue in order to further improve it.

Senator Sam Turner high-lighted the College of Social and Behavioral Science’s continuing efforts to require its interna-tional relations majors to travel overseas for a degree in the department.

CHRIS HOUCKstaff writer

MSSA

Page 6: January 17, 2013

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Charities worried that new taxes on wealthy will impact donations

WASHINGTON (AP) — Char-ities and nonprofit organiza-tions are worried that new limits on tax deductions for high earners will hurt dona-tions just as charitable giving is starting to rebound from the depths of the recession.

Experts doubt the new limits on deductions will have much impact on giving, but some major nonprofit organi-zations fear they’re a sign that the charitable deduction is no longer sacrosanct on Capitol Hill, just as Congress is prom-ising a broader effort later this year to overhaul the tax code.

The limits on deductions are part of the new tax law Congress passed on New Year’s Day. They reduce the value of all itemized deduc-tions for individuals making more than $250,000 and mar-ried couples making more than $300,000. Advocates are con-cerned the limits will reduce the tax incentive for people to make donations to charities and nonprofits such as reli-gious institutions, colleges and groups that help the poor.

“The charitable deduction incentive is different than any other deduction or credit in the tax code,” said Sandra Swirski, executive director of the Alliance for Charitable Re-form, which lobbies on behalf of donors and private founda-tions. That’s because the de-duction encourages people to give away income, while other deductions and credits encour-age people to buy things they can then write off, she noted.

Charitable giving in the U.S. increased in 2010 and 2011, according to the latest data. But it has yet to fully return to pre-recession levels, according to data from the Giving USA Foundation and the Indiana University School of Philanthropy.

Charitable giving by indi-viduals, foundations and cor-porations topped $298 billion in 2011. In 2007, it was $337 billion, in inflation-adjusted dollars.

The new tax provision reduces the amount of item-ized deductions a taxpayer can claim by 3 cents for every dol-lar of income above the thresh-old. For example, if a married couple has an adjusted gross income of $400,000, that’s $100,000 above the threshold, so the itemized deductions would be reduced by $3,000.

Itemized deductions cannot be reduced by more than 80 percent, under the provision.

In this example, if the couple had a total of $60,000 in itemized deductions, they could claim only $57,000. If they were in the 33 percent income tax bracket, the provi-sion would increase their taxes by $990.

The provision is a revival of the “Pease” limitation, first enacted in 1990 but phased out in 2010 as part of the massive package of Bush-era tax cuts. It is named after a deceased congressman, Rep. Donald Pease, D-Ohio, who wrote the measure.

Experts say there is no

evidence that the limitation re-duced charitable giving in the past, and no reason to think it will have much of an impact going forward. Charitable giving steadily increased in the 1990s, when the economy flourished.

One analysis estimates that, on balance, charitable giving will increase slightly because of the new tax law. That’s be-cause high earners facing the increased tax rates have more incentive to seek deductions, and those deductions become more valuable.

The new law increases the top income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on tax-able income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. It also increases the top tax rate on long-term capital gains for taxpayers with incomes above those thresholds.

Both provisions increase incentives for people to make charitable donations, accord-ing to the analysis of the law by the Urban Institute Center on Nonprofits and Philan-thropy.

For example, if a married couple has a top income tax rate of 35 percent, a $1 deduc-tion will lower their tax bill by 35 cents. If that same couple has a top tax rate of 39.6 per-cent, a $1 deduction will lower their tax bill by nearly 40

cents, making the deduction more valuable.

Similarly, the higher tax rate on capital gains increases the incentive to donate securi-ties to charity as a way to avoid those taxes, said Eugene Steuerle, a fellow at the Urban Institute who worked on the analysis.

The Pease limitation, mean-while, should have a negligible impact on charitable giving because it is based on income, not on the amount of deduc-tions, Steuerle said.

Nevertheless, nonprofits and charities are wary of any provision that could limit the charitable deduction.

“We just know that this change is definitely not going to be helpful,” said Gloria Johnson-Cusack, executive director of Leadership 18, an alliance of CEOs of charities, non-profits, and faith-based organizations. “We don’t think now is the time to be experi-menting with a policy that has the potential” to reduce the incentive to donate.

Charitable organiza-tions fear that even more tax changes could be coming as momentum builds in Congress to overhaul the tax code, to make it simpler and more transparent. So far, lawmak-ers have been wary of publicly targeting any tax break for elimination, to avoid gener-

ating opposition before the process gets started.

Still, interests groups of ev-ery stripe already are lobbying Congress to protect cherished tax breaks.

Leadership 18 is part of the Charitable Giving Coalition, a broad group of nonprofit organizations dedicated to preserving tax incentives for charitable giving.

“We are trying figure out the best way to address any kind of changes that they may be talking about that would act as a disincentive,” Johnson-Cusack said. “We’re real wor-ried about it.”

Taxes can play a role in how much people donate to charity, but other factors play a larger role, said Patrick Rooney, associate dean of the Indiana University School of Philan-thropy.

“When you ask why people why they are donating, taxes are fairly far down on the list,” Rooney said. “The key motiva-tions are really to do things like feed the hungry and house the homeless and to support one’s religious organization or to improve the quality of one’s alma mater.”

“The single biggest factor that would change giving is an improvement in the overall economy,” Rooney said.

Page 7: January 17, 2013

Page 6 • Reporter News Thursday, January 17, 2013Thursday, January 17, 2013 Advertisement Reporter • Page 7

Page 8: January 17, 2013

Page 8 • Reporter Advertisement Thursday, January 17, 2013

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Turn-tables may be outdated for listening and playing recorded music to some people, but it’s being kept alive and well thanks to two men in the Mankato area.

Friday night, a birthday party is being thrown for Brian Tackmann (bet-ter known as DJ ATack), which will continue Saturday night. Joining DJ ATack on the decks will be long-time cham-pion of dance music in southern Minnesota, Tom Wendinger, who has made a name for himself under the moniker Digital T. Being billed as “3 DJs, 6 Turntables,” Tackmann and Wendinger will be in charge of tune selection on Friday night, while I (OCiE is my DJ alias, if you’re wondering) will be added to the lineup on Saturday (possibly Friday as well, to be determined).

“What I’m most excited for this weekend is having the three of us on stage at the same time,” said Tackmann.

“We’re going to have 6 turntables up and run-ning at the same time, and that’s an element not found in most DJ shows. I’m excited.”

“There will definitely be a wide variety of stuff played both nights,” says Wendinger.

“Originally, I had Sat-urday booked for “Planet Rock” (an electronic dance music party hosted by Wendinger). I was con-tacted by Rudy (Stroup, owner of Red Sky Lounge)

to see if I could fill Friday as well. I knew Brian’s birthday was coming up so we decided to throw one big bash.” He says to ex-pect lots of “bass heavy” tunes.

I have had the pleasure of sharing the same stage as Wendinger and have done multiple shows DJing with Tackmann; going back-to-back and taking turns mixing over a four hour span. Both DJs bring a different style, but do an incredible job of compli-menting each other. Tack-mann comes from a top 40 and mash-up background, often merging vocals of popular songs and having underground bass lines getting partygoers moving their feet. Wendinger, on the other hand, has been involved with the dance music scene for years, but started DJing in 2007.

In 2006, Wendinger began working as an intern for the now defunct radio station B96 in the Twin Cities. He worked with disc jockey and radio personality,Peter Parker, while learning the basics of DJing. The following summer, Wendinger got his own set of turntables and the rest is history.

Tackmann, who turns 31 next week, is an Eau Claire, Wis. na-tive who has been a DJ since 2001 and is show-ing no signs of slowing down. He began his work as a mobile DJ in the western Wisconsin area, handling mostly high school dances. He then moved disc jockeying on public ra-dio and found success there. About 5 years ago, Tackmann added turntables to his set up to “challenge himself” and add another ele-

ment to his arsenal. Wendinger, 26, started

electronic dance music themed nights known as “Planet Rock,” which have been a popular venture over the last few years at the Red Sky Lounge.

The New Ulm native put out a release on Dec. 12 of last year on Beatport titled “The Grimey EP,’’ which features original moombahton tracks (a dance genre which tem-pos ranging from 108-112 beats per minute) pro-duced by himself and The Kid Vicious, with remixes by CyKosis, 2Deep and OktoRed.

“The EP has been well accepted by a good amount of moombahton DJs. I tried to represent the subgenres of moom-bahton; moombahcore and the more jump-up style of moombahton,” said Wendinger during a phone interview on Wednesday.

He notes that the 2Deep remix of the title track ‘Grimey’ have gone over “exceptionally well” due

to the fact it’s a trap re-mix; the newest sensation of dance music.

It has been played at underground raves and the biggest clubs from Los Angeles to New York City. It has been dubbed “trap” because it noticeably takes after the traditional trap genre, a subgenre of hip-hop, made famous by artists such as Three 6 Mafia, T.I. and Young Jeezy; only with an electronic f lavor.

Chopped vocals are found throughout the songs, with rolling hi-hats and massive kick drums and bass than can make any sound system shake.

Both nights of “3 Djs, 6 Turntables” are at the Red Sky Lounge, are 21 plus and free. The parties start at 9 p.m. and go ‘till bar close.

If you’re looking to dance this weekend with DJs who love their craft, the records will be spin-ning and the drinks will be f lowing.

A&EThursday, January 17, 2013

[email protected] | (507) 389-5157

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IN THEATRES:Gangster Squad .................... January 11Broken City ............................ January 18Parker ................................... January 25

IN MUSIC:Dropkick Murphys .................... January 8Everything Everything ............ January 14A$AP Rocky .......................... January 15

Keeping the Art of DJ Alive‘3 DJs, 6 Turntables’

EVAN O’CONNORstaff writer

• From top to bottom, DJ OCiE caught in deep focus, DJ aTack scratching away, and

DJ Digital T utilizing the switchboardcourtesy of Carla-Marie Uber contributed by Evan O’Connor

Page 10: January 17, 2013

Page 10 • Reporter A&E Thursday, January 17, 2013Thursday, January 17, 2013 A&E Reporter • Page 11

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Have you ever thought of dating someone you’ve never met before? Like someone who added you on Facebook, from a different state, with zero mutual friends?

This concept doesn’t appeal to most; who would want to date some-one without seeing them, hearing them, touching them or even meeting them? Could it really be a relationship if two people had never met?

It’s more common than you think. MTV’s Catfish shows viewers that yes; relationships can exist through cyber space.

To some extent. Catfish: The TV Show

was inspired by Catfish the documentary. In the documentary, Nev Schul-man is in a relationship with a woman he had nev-er met before. Megan, the daughter of a woman he met through his art, and Nev fall in love through phone calls and Face-book. Nev desires to meet Megan in real life. He and his brother make a sur-

prise visit to Michigan to finally meet Megan. Nev had a feeling that Megan might not be real and he was right.

Megan’s mom, An-gela, had been behind the whole thing. She took pic-tures from a Washington women’s Facebook page, made a fake profile and carried on the relation-ship.

Angela told Nev that “Megan’s” personality and stories were fantasies; Megan was everything that Angela had wished she was. She also admit-ted to Nev that Megan had been estranged from the family for many years.

MTV and Nev have now teamed up to help other cyber-daters find out the truth.

The show, which

premiered on Nov. 12, 2012, shows Nev and his friend Max reading hope-ful emails from people around the country who need their help. Some couples have been talk-ing for months and some couples have been talking for years. Some couples really take it far and talk about getting married and starting a life together.

The duo then journeys to the person, checking out the profile, text mes-sages and anything else they have received and they begin working to discover if the person is real or a “catfish.” They use background checks; Google image checks and contact Facebook friends to find out whether or not the person is who they say they are.

Nev and Max set up a time for the couples to meet and the results are sometimes shocking. Every episode is different. Here are the most shock-ing ones:

Kim and Matt: The two had been talking for over 10 years. Kim was in a re-lationship with Scott, but Scott knew about Matt. Kim feels the need to meet Matt before she and Scott take the next step in

their relationship. When Matt finally agrees to meet Kim, she visits him at his home. Matt, who is severely obese, told Kim that he was afraid to meet her because he was inse-cure with his weight. Kim and Matt are no longer romantic, but they remain friends.

Jasmine and Mike: For two years, Jasmine and Mike had been communi-cating through texting and Facebook. Mike refuses to speak to Jasmine on the phone, and Nev and Max find this very suspi-cious. When they arrange for Jasmine and Mike to meet, Mike turns out to be a girl named Mhissy. Mhissy created this fake profile and phone number to get back at Jasmine for not leaving her boyfriend alone. Viewers were shocked at this ending; who would spend two years of their life continu-ing on a lie for revenge purposes only?

Kya and Alyx: This one is pretty interesting. Kya had started out using a fake name and pictures. After talking to Alyx for a while, she felt the need to confess that she had been lying and Alyx for-gave her. They both agree

that they are in love even though they had never met. When Nev, Max and Kya go to meet Alyx, they find out that he is trans-gender. Alyx, born Dani, is making the transition to become a male. While this would scare most people, Kya accepts it and the two of them continue their relationship.

Tyler and Amanda: This episode premiered this past Monday, and it was mind-blowing. Tyler is attractive, smart and lovable. Viewers won-dered, “Why is this guy dating someone he’s never met? He could get anyone he wanted.” The pictures of Amanda show an ex-tremely attractive blonde girl, but when Tyler finally meets her, it turns out to be a man named Aaron who had a crush on Tyler.

If your mind is going a million miles a minute after reading that, check out the show on Monday nights. On a channel that is usually filled with mindless junk, Catfish is the most real and thought-provoking show they have.

Are you being cat-fished?

The MTV ‘Catfish’

TRISH BJERKEstaff writer

• web photo

Page 11: January 17, 2013

Page 10 • Reporter A&E Thursday, January 17, 2013Thursday, January 17, 2013 A&E Reporter • Page 11

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The big disconnect with the Oscars since, well, let’s say the beginning of time for the heck of it, is that they’ve gained the reputation of representing the best that cinema has to offer in any given year, yet many of the nominees aren’t even known to the public, thanks to their frantic release schedules. Some aren’t even released in more than 20 theaters in the country. Now that the nominees have been an-nounced, here is all that is known by this commoner about where and when you can see these films close to home.

Of all the nominees for best picture, Amour is easily the most difficult to find. The heart-wrenching story of an elderly husband coping with his wife’s declining health and imminent passing was given a very limited release. But then again, not much more was to be expected from a foreign language art film with such a downer of a subject matter

(consider the holiday season and what type of films audiences want to see then). Look for it on video sometime in March or April, but unless you’re willing to seek out the single theater in Minneapolis that is playing it, don’t expect to see it in theaters around here.

Argo, the recent upset winner at the Golden Globes in both Best Director and Best Picture - Dra-ma, is one of the more available nominees to see out right now. Ben Affleck’s CIA thriller about the efforts to extract six escaped embassy workers in the Iranian hostage crisis opened back in mid-October to great praise all around and enjoyed a long stay in theaters. While it had since left, Cinemark Movies 8 in River Hills Mall has brought the film back for an extended run and is now playing once again. If you’re the patient sort, Argo is set to hit home video on Feb. 19, a healthy five days before the Academy Awards.

Beasts of the Southern Wild isn’t the most widely known

nominee, but it’s available to get acquainted with. The realistic fantasy about a little girl named Hushpuppy and her grounded, yet whimsical journey of self-dis-covery was technically released back in June, a time when block-busters ruled the land. While there’s talk that it may return to theaters in a limited release, the best route is to catch it on home video (available now!).

Quentin Tarantino’s “bloody slavery revenge spaghetti west-ern” (a unique category if there ever was one), Django Un-chained has been in theaters just over two weeks and is still blast-ing holes in the box office. Don’t expect Django to break free on home video until late spring/early summer, so until then the movie can be seen at Movies 8.

Singing a similar tune, Les Miserables recently opened alongside Django and has also seen much vocalized praise. Word on the inter-web-nets is that the screen adaption of the widely popular musical may actually hit home video sometime in March.

But if there is a movie of these nine that the big screen compli-ments (there are two), Les Mis is one. Les Miserables is currently playing at Carmike Stadium 6.

Life of Pi was a film that seemed to dash out of theaters with haste. Luckily, similar to Argo, Movies 8 has brought Ang Lee’s visually lush adaption of the supposedly un-filmable novel about a young man shipwrecked with a Bengal tiger back for another shot. The perceived frontrunner in the technical cat-egories is coming out on Blu-Ray in early March (the 5th or the 12th depending on who you ask at this point), but this is the other nominee that really springs to life in theaters.

The perceived frontrunner in all the other categories (the major ones), Lincoln, has been no less than shocking in its performance. Here we are, more than two months since Spielberg’s look at the passing of the 13th amend-ment opened and it’s now ready for its tenth weekend at Stadium. How long it can hang in there

is anybody’s guess, but for now Lincoln is still in theaters before its all but confirmed home video debut on March 26.

On a more disappointing note, it does not appear that Silver Linings Playbook will be playing in Mankato in the foreseeable future. Employees at neither the-ater expressed plans to show it in the coming weeks, with Carmike even stating they once had it lined up but plans fell through. The only options at this point are driving to another town (Eden Prairie has it, FYI) or waiting for home video, which is a shame because David O. Russel’s sharp yet sweet rom-com about finding a silver lining in all the craziness is really one to see this awards season, or just in general.

And finally, the ever contro-versial Zero Dark Thirty made its wide release debut last Friday and judging by how it trounced the competition at the box office, the signs look favorable that it will stay in theaters for a while. Zero Dark Thirty is playing at Stadium 6.

Where or When You Can See the Oscar Nominees

Page 12: January 17, 2013

Thursday, January 17, 2013 Sports Reporter • Page 13

SportsThursday, January 17, 2013

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Wild will rely on fresh faces to take over Western Conference in short 2013

With superstars Zach Parise and Ryan Suter joining the squad in the summer along with up-and-comers like Mikael

Granlund, the Wild know they have the talent to compete with the best in the National Hockey League.

RYAN LUNDnews editor

web photo Parise and Suter made headlines everywhere around the fourth of July in 2012 when the two decided to take their talents to St. Paul.

When the puck drops at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday, it will have been 199 days since free agent superstars Zach Parise and Ryan Suter put pen to paper and vaulted the Minnesota Wild from postseason after-thought to cup hopefuls.

199 days since Craig Leipold injected the organization with it’s first true shot of hope since the Wild’s miraculous run to the Western Conference Finals in 2003, instantly raising the profile of one of the West’s most embattled franchises.

Finally, after flushing away a staggering 510 regular season games, including a highly antici-pated Original Six showdown between Toronto and Detroit, Leipold and company have ham-mered home a shiny new collec-tive bargaining agreement.

The I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed, new regulations governing lengthy contracts of the sort that made Parise and Suter two of the NHL’s richest men are in place and hurried training camps are already in

session.And while Leipold may have

been at the bitter center of Gary Bettman’s latest work stop-page, trading barbs with Donald Fehr and a resurgent union, his Wild hope to be at the center of a shortened season. A sprint to the finish as teams jockey for playoff positioning over the course of a quick 48-game schedule.

And while the owners may not have won themselves any-thing but ill will from fans, the excitement surrounding the Wild is building once again as head coach Mike Yeo puts his new weapons to work.

Parise, the prodigal son of Minnesota Hockey, brings his talents home for the first time since 2004, when the son of former Minnesota North Star J.P. Parise left the University of North Dakota to join the New Jersey Devils.

Now, seven years later Parise returns as one of the league’s most prolific scorers, having registered at least 30 goals each season since his sophomore campaign, aside from a lost sea-son in 2011 after a knee injury

sidelined the Devils’ captain.Parise will likely line up on

Minnesota’s top line alongside all-star center Mikko Koivu, and former University of Wisconsin foe Danny Heatley. Collectively the trio form a lethal scoring line, with Parise and Heatley both capable of recording 40 goal seasons, while Heatley has twice hit the 50-goal mark.

2013 will also see the debut of another highly anticipated forward; dynamic Finnish su-perstar Mikael Granlund.

The ninth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Gran-lund is a four-year veteran of Finlands SM-liiga, considered one of the strongest leagues in the world by the International Ice Hockey Federation.

After playing out the remain-der of his contract with Helsin-ki’s HIFK, Granlund made his North American debut with the AHL’s Houston Aeros, pacing the Wild’s top affiliate with 21 points in 21 games.

Granlund is the consensus choice to center the Wild’s second line, where he should provide plenty of secondary

Dinged up Wolves need new answer to finish out season

The entire team is plagued with injuries to say the least, so will the Timberwolves respond in the second half of the season to get over the hump and make a possible run to the playoffs?

Timberwolves / page 14

TIM FAKLISstaff writer

Towards the end of the lock-out-plagued 2011-12 NBA sea-son, Timberwolves fans shared a collective shriek of fear and torment when they saw Ricky Rubio go down, attempting to take a charge on Kobe Bry-ant. He was clutching his knee and anyone who had seen an ACL injury, while perhaps not admitting it at the time, knew what it was. He had torn his ACL, and the excitement of the Wolves’ first playoff push had come to a sudden and screech-ing halt.

Even despite the efforts of then-MVP candidate Kevin Love, who also eventually got hit with an injury, the Timber-wolves could not get over the

loss of Rubio, and their pursuit of a postseason berth was over.

Once the offseason hit, there was work to be done, and it was done quickly. Long story short, the Wolves ended up with defensive wiz Andrei Kirilenko, rookie sharpshooter Alexey Shved, Rick Adelman-favorite Chase Budinger and former All Star shooting guard Brandon Roy. The four of them, while not names that were going to light up the major media headlines, got the Wolves nation buzzing in a way that hasn’t been seen since the days Kevin Garnett roamed the halls of the Target Center.

Then, the pushup heard ‘round the world hit Minneso-ta. Kevin Love broke his hand, supposedly in the midst of a set of knuckle pushups, and

was ruled out of action for two months. With Rubio already out until the holiday season, the expectations of a playoff berth for a team that hadn’t seen that fate since 2004 had dwindled.

Right away, it didn’t seem to completely affect the Wolves. They got off to a great start, including a big early win against the Brooklyn Nets, giving them their first loss since moving out of East Rutherford. With the contribu-tions of breakout stud Nikola Pekovic, with help from Andrei Kirilenko, Chase Budinger and JJ Barea, the Wolves were looking like a team playing with a chip on their collective shoulder.

The Wolves were on a won-derful start, and sat as high

as fifth best in the Western Conference, but the injury bug caught onto the Wolves, and to this point, they have not recovered.

First, it was Kevin Love’s pushups. Then, it was Brandon Roy re-aggravating his knees, then it was Chase Budinger’s knee, and this is just the month of November. All of them were out for extended periods of time, and to this point, neither Roy nor Budinger have seen the floor since their injuries. With a weak supply of wing players, the Wolves went out and signed veteran Josh How-ard. He stepped in and filled the starting shooting guard role for a small period of time and rather successfully at that, that is until he too had a knee injury, tearing his ACL.

This is the second time he has suffered this injury, only this time it occurred on the other knee. Shooting guard and second-year pro Malcolm Lee, who also spent some time starting at shooting guard for the Wolves, had season-ending knee surgery earlier this week.

Even despite all this, the Wolves somehow managed to stay in the playoff hunt. The early return of Kevin Love, and the return of Ricky Rubio gave the Wolves the spark they needed and despite Love’s rusty play, and Rubio’s minute limit, their presence gave the players and the fans hope.

That hope diminished quickly when Love re-broke his hand after less than a month of service on the court,

Wild / page 14

Page 13: January 17, 2013

Thursday, January 17, 2013 Sports Reporter • Page 13

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Dinged up Wolves need new answer to finish out season

This is the second time he has suffered this injury, only this time it occurred on the other knee. Shooting guard and second-year pro Malcolm Lee, who also spent some time starting at shooting guard for the Wolves, had season-ending knee surgery earlier this week.

Even despite all this, the Wolves somehow managed to stay in the playoff hunt. The early return of Kevin Love, and the return of Ricky Rubio gave the Wolves the spark they needed and despite Love’s rusty play, and Rubio’s minute limit, their presence gave the players and the fans hope.

That hope diminished quickly when Love re-broke his hand after less than a month of service on the court,

Championship Sunday: Preview and Picks Flacco, Brady, Kaepernick and Ryan, sports writer Joey Denton explains which of these quarterbacks could lead their team to

a victory in the Conference Championships and ultimately earn a spot in Super Bowl XLVII.

JOEY DENTONstaff writer

web photoAfter 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick led San Francisco to a win over the Packers with his ground and air performance of 444 yards and 4 total touchdowns, the youngster is now expected to take the top off the Georgia Dome and lead his squad to the Super Bowl.

This season’s conference title games consist of a classic, but never boring, matchup of two teams who always seem to be playing in the conference cham-pionship and on the other side; two young and upcoming teams battle each other to finally have an NFC team besides the Packers and Giants in the Super Bowl.

After seeing the Ravens and Patriots win last weekend, the

first thought that came to mind was, not another Patriots and Ravens game. It seems we have to watch these two play each other in the playoffs every year.

But after last year’s AFC Title game between these two, how can you not get excited? It’s because every time these two teams meet there’s the same storylines every time. Can Joe Flacco lead this team? Can the Ravens defense stop Tom Brady?

Talking about these two teams gets pretty boring and

repetitive, but watching these two play never is. In their last two meetings, both games came down to a field goal and the Ravens botched the first one, then “made” the second one. Remember the controversy on the call made by the replace-ment ref? How was that not an entertaining game? And their last four meetings have been determined by three points or less.

Going back to storylines, these two have always played hard nose and emotional foot-

ball and Ray Lewis’ decision to retire makes it an even more emotional game. For Lewis to look across the line of scrim-mage and to see Tom Brady under center for all these years there is no way he wants to go out losing to him.

Coming into this game, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco statistically is one of the best post-season quarterbacks on the road with five victories, tied with Eli Manning. But the Patri-ots are 7-2 in the AFC Champi-onship game and 4-0 at home.

These classic matchups between the Patriots and Ravens have never let any NFL fan down. They have never lacked excitement, emotion and close finishes. The Ravens seem to be the hotter team right now with overtime momentum rolling in to the game, but three things come to mind: Tom Brady, the fourth quarter and Gillette Sta-dium. Enough said.

On the other side of the NFL playoff bracket, there is a new matchup between the 49ers and Falcons. Both teams possess two quarterbacks who broke out in to stardom and are fun to watch. The big question is which defense is able to contain them?

The Falcons offense re-sembles a lot of the St. Louis Rams, back when they had Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. They could spread their opponent’s defense out with athletic receiv-ers on the outside, yet they are able to run right up the middle when needed.

When the 49ers offense was led by Alex Smith they were a great example of a west coast offense, but now it’s Colin Kaepernick’s offense and op-posing teams don’t know what they will do. They are one of the best teams at mixing it up and catching defenses off guard.

If the Falcons want to keep the score close in the fourth quarter they need to be able to keep Kaepernick in the pocket, which is easier said than done. As America saw last weekend against the Packers, if he gets loose, it will be a nightmare for the Falcons.

Since his start on November 19th against the Bears, Kaeper-nick has already defeated Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers and there isn’t any reason he can’t beat Matt Ryan and the Falcons too.

Page 14: January 17, 2013

Page 14 • Reporter Sports Thursday, January 17, 2013

Up to $90 Off Select iPadsfor the month of January.Stop down to the Campus

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scoring behind countryman and fellow Finnish Elite League alum Mikko Koivu.

While not yet a lock for opening night, former Denver Pioneer Jason Zucker spent time with the Wild last season and leads the Aeros with 33 points.

Barring any timely injuries, this Minnesota team will look completely dissimilar to the one that pinned it’s scoring hopes

on Kyle Brodziak and Matt Cullen during last years stretch run, with an influx of new talent ready to lead the Wild into a shortened season.

And with just a few days left to establish a sense of chemis-try before the puck drops with the Avalanche on Saturday, the Wild will need to act fast.

The stretch run starts now.

Wild continued from 12

Timberwolves continued from 12and likely will not be ready to play again around April – right before the playoffs. To this point, Ricky Rubio, who began this craze of injuries, is still on a minutes limit, and his lack of exposure to game situations since his injuries are apparent.

The team that was supposed to be competing for a playoff berth, while not out of it by any means, stand at a meek 16-18 mark, good for ninth in the Western Conference.

They typically only dress 10 players, when 12 is allowed, simply because there are too many injuries on the roster to dress a complete team.

If the Wolves want to see themselves get over the hump in Love’s absence, a few things absolutely need to happen in the coming weeks.

For starters, Rubio needs to start playing like the Rubio Timberwolves fans saw a year ago. It’s tough for ACL recovering athletes not named Adrian Peterson to do that so quickly, and it may not hap-pen this year, but with Rubio’s basketball IQ, odds are his

production will improve at the very least in the coming weeks, as he gets reacquainted with the offense.

Secondly, Chase Budinger needs to return as quickly as possible, simply to get another competent body on the floor.

Lastly, a move will need to be made. The only go-to scorer for the Timberwolves at this point is Nikola Pekovic, and he absolutely cannot do it alone. With Love unavailable, a trade very well may need to be com-pleted. They absolutely need a guy who can put up big scoring numbers who can complement

Pekovic, preferably a perimeter player to work with Pekovic’s inside presence.

That’s a lot to ask from a team that still manages to stay in the hunt. Considering the circumstances, two games be-low .500 is probably exceeding expectations, but if Rick Adel-man, the players, and the fans want to see playoff basketball once again, David Kahn and the front office will need to get on the phones and make something happen, because as well as the Wolves have played at times this season, it likely isn’t enough right now.

web photo With all the injuries taking place in Minnesota’s organization, the Timberwolves have had to rely on the play of Montenegrin center Nikola Pekovic, who is averaging over 16 points a game with eight rebounds.

Page 15: January 17, 2013

(507) 389-1776 www.themsureporter.com

Thursday, January 17, 2013

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NOTICESPOST ROOMMATE LISTINGS, OR just connect with the people who live around you at radrenter.com/social. 4/251 BEDROOM IN 5 BEDROOM house, steps from campus $405 per month includes utilities. Available now. Jim @ 507-345-2049. No pets. 1/245 OR 4 OR 3 OR 2 OR 1 bedroom houses/apartments. Available right now. Some for next year. Many to choose from. Check out our website. www.ottoH.com owner/agent or call 507-625-1010. 6/19CE DA R M E A D OW APARTMENTS Now Leasing 3 Bedroom apartments for August 2013. www.cedarmeadowapartments.com call 507-327-2831 for Info. 2/28

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FREE SHOTOKAN KARATE classes offered Monday 6-8 pm. Tuesday 7-9 pm. Thursday 6-8 pm. Room PH 102. Beginners are welcome. Need not to be a MSU student to join. For info call Brad @ 507-388-5301 or [email protected] or search MSU Shotokan on facebook or yahoo groups. 5/2

HELP WANTED

Grant applications available at www.mnsu.edu/urcQuestions? Contact us at [email protected]

Tuesday, January 22nd12pm – 1pm

CSU 202

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undergraduate research grants are available!deadline: Monday, February 4, 2012 at 12:00 pm in Mh 265

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Page 16: January 17, 2013

Page 16 • Reporter Advertisement Thursday, January 17, 2013