Issuu

STUDY: BMI NOT A HEALTH INDICATOR PAGE 3 PARTLY SUNNY HIGH 29° LOW 23° U OF M

MINNEAPOLIS

WEDNESDAY

ST PAUL

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

BUSINESS

Mpls. weighs city’s wage authority MINIMUM WAGE IN U.S. CITIES

4 7 8 5

NEARLY 75 MILLION AMERICANS MAY BE IN THE WRONG CATEGORY.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM

ADMINISTRATION

Students call for U to divest More than 30 student groups this week demanded the U divest from four corporations. BY TIFFANY LUKK tlukk@mndaily.com

6 9

1. Seattle: $15* 2. San Francisco: $12.25* 3. Austin: $13.03* 4. Boston: $10 5. Chicago: $10* 6. Los Angeles: $10 7. Minneapolis: $9 8. New York: $9 *higher than 9. Atlanta: $5.15 statewide SOURCE: MN DAILY REPORTING

The Minneapolis City Council has asked to explore the “legal gray area” of raising the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

*higher than

BY HANNAH WEIKEL AND ETHAN NELSON

he doesn’t think Minneapolis should have

hweikel@mndaily.com

ion, calling it a “legal gray area.”

directed the city attorney to deliver an opin-

enelson@mndaily.com

“The question is whether a municipality

he Minneapolis City Council request-

in the state of Minnesota has the authority

ed a legal opinion Friday on whether

to introduce a minimum wage,” Frey said.

the city has authority to raise the minimum wage to $15.

While the state hasn’t expressly prevented cities from enacting a minimum wage

In the same meeting, the council agreed

ordinance, he said other state laws could

to commission a study on the impacts of a

imply that cities aren’t allowed to raise the

potential minimum wage increase. Mean-

minimum wage.

while, frustrated advocates for a higher

Frey was the only council member who

minimum wage in the city say they will

voted against the motion at the meeting.

push for residents to vote on the issue in

He said he would prefer that the city make

November.

a decision without consulting Susan Segal,

Ward 3 Council member Jacob Frey said

u See DIVEST Page 3

ST. PAUL

St. Paul mulls regulations to ground AirBnB

the Minneapolis City Attorney.

u See WAGE Page 5

GREEK LIFE

SPORTS

Campus greek life continues inclusion efforts

The city wants to study rules that would ensure safety for guests of short-term rentals. BY TAYA BANJAC tbanjac@mndaily.com

A discussion last week focused on issues with the community embracing diverse members.

into a hockey rink since the Gophers’ men’s and women’s teams played there on Jan. 17, 2014. “There’s a lot of pressure, but you have to have fun with the guys,” said Dan Craig, senior director of facilities operations for the NHL, which handles all aspects of construction and setup for the Stadium Series instead of the University’s regular crew. “Just like a hockey team, we create a team of our guys.” Each venue poses its own challenges, but the setup process takes about the same amount of time everywhere, said Executive Vice President of Events for the NHL Don Renzulli, who has worked on ever y Stadium Series game so far.

St. Paul resident Laura Rice and her wife star ted hosting guests in their two spare bedrooms through AirBnB in July to make extra money for their wedding, but the couple has continued using the service ever since. “Last November, almost ever y single night was booked with someone,” Rice said, adding that the couple made more than $1,000 that month. But St. Paul residents like Rice, who open their homes to travelers, might eventually face tougher restrictions. Amid legal debate over home-sharing companies in cities nationwide, the St. Paul City Council voted last week to study shor t-ter m r ental pr operties such as AirBnB for possible regulations to make renters comply with city ordinances and ensure safety for guests. Ward 3 Council member Chris Tolbert said the resolution was in response to increased use of AirBnB and other shor tterm rental companies in St. Paul. “They are great things, and I think they are great for St. Paul … but they’re also completely unregulated business in the city,” Tolbert said, adding that AirBnB is an affordable travel option he’s used. He said he doesn’t want to make it harder for people to host and said he doesn’t think regulations will affect most hosts. “Most people who use AirBnB, there is no problem,” Tolbert said. “We’re not tr ying to stop that, but there is potential safety issues. There is also fairness issues.” Hotels and some AirBnB hosts pay occupancy taxes, but others do not, he said.

u See STADIUM Page 4

u See RENTAL Page 8

BY ISABELLA MURRAY imurray@mndaily.com

Because many participants in University of Minnesota greek life undergo a formal recruitment process and pay expensive membership dues, some believe it to be an exclusive community. But members say that while theirs is not an unwelcoming place for minority students, it could do more to be inclusive of students of all sexual orientations and races. At a public discussion held at the University last week, members of the greek community focused on the system’s issues with embracing diverse membership. At the University, 85 percent of the greek life is white, and 1 percent hails from outside the U.S., according to a 2015 demographic report. “Fraternity and sorority life has made some room for diversity in membership … [but] I think we have work to do on how inclusive the environments are for those diverse members,” said Keith Garcia, a coordinator for the Office for Fraternity and Sorority Life who identifies as a racial minority and a member of the LGBTQ community. At last week’s forum — called “Tongues Untied: The Intersection of LGBTQIA and Greek Life” — the discussion included issues of identity in fraternities and sororities as well as inclusivity for people of color and those who identify as LGBTQ. u See INCLUSION Page 8

A new movement to take tuition dollars out of companies active in Israel has drawn controversy from University of Minnesota student groups. Students for Justice in Palestine urged the University on Monday to divest from companies involved with certain Israeli interactions with Palestine. Now, other students have promised opposition to the plan. SJP members will present a resolution to the University’s undergraduate student government, the Minnesota Student Association, in March, said SJP officer Sara Halimah. MSA has no say in what the University invests in, MSA President Joelle Stangler said, but an endorsement from the student body would help if they proposed the plan to the University. The UMN Divest campaign specifically targets four major companies — Caterpillar, Elbit Systems, G4S and Raytheon. These companies provide equipment, supplies and weapons for the Israeli Defense Force, according to the campaign’s website. “Those are the types of things that we really, really don’t want our university to be invested in,” Halimah said. The campaign is a part of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, Halimah said. Students participated in a similar divestment campaign at universities around the country in the ’70s and ’80s to protest South African apartheid, Humphrey School of Public Affairs professor Ragui Assaad said.

MADDY FOX, DAILY

Crew members work to set up the hockey rink that will be used for the upcoming NHL Stadium Series game between the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks inside TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday.

TCF Bank Stadium turns to ice The football arena will host the state’s first outdoor professional hockey game Sunday afternoon. BY EMILY NICOLE POLGLAZE epolglaze@mndaily.com

After waiting eight years, 12 stadiums and 13 games, Minnesota will finally get its chance to host an outdoor NHL game on Sunday. The Minnesota Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks will play at 2:30 p.m. at TCF Bank Stadium, with an alumni game featuring former players from both teams taking place the day before. The two-day event will mark the first time the football stadium is transformed

VOLUME 116 ISSUE 75

Daily Review

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

THIS DAY IN HISTORY 1904 Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly premieres at the La Scala theatre in Milan, Italy. HISTORYCHANNEL.COM/TDIH

EAST BANK Wednesday, February 17, 2016 Vol. 116 No. 75

An Independent Student Newspaper, Founded in 1900. 2221 University Ave. SE, Suite 450 Minneapolis, MN 55414 Phone: (612) 627-4080 Fax: (612) 435-5865 Copyright © 2014 The Minnesota Daily This newspaper, its design and its contents are copyrighted. OFFICE OF THE PUBLISHER Marion Renault Editor-in-Chief mrenault@mndaily.com (612) 435-1575 Andrew Kent Business Operations Officer akent@mndaily.com (612) 435-2761 NEWS STAFF Haley Hansen Managing Editor hhansen@mndaily.com Dylan Scott Managing Production Editor dscott@mndaily.com Ben Gotz Sports Editor bgotz@mndaily.com Joe Kellen A&E Editor jkellen@mndaily.com Jared Hemming Assistant A&E Editor jhemming@mndaily.com Liam Doyle Multimedia Editor ldoyle@mndaily.com Alex Tuthill-Preus Assistant Multimedia Editor atuthill-preus@mndaily.com Kendall Moon Copy Desk Chief kmoon@mndaily.com Ellen Fee Assistant Copy Desk Chief efee@mndaily.com Lee Murphy Assistant Copy Desk Chief lmurphy@mndaily.com Max Fulton Head Visuals mfulton@mndaily.com Maddy Bremner Visuals Designer mbremner@mndaily.com Emily Dreher Chief Page Designer edreher@mndaily.com Grant Tillery Campus Editor gtillery@mndaily.com Nick Wicker City Editor nwicker1@mndaily.com Chris Aadland Policy Editor caadland@mndaily.com Ethan Nelson Web Editor enelson@mndaily.com Jessie Bekker Projects Editor jbekker@mndaily.com Jackie Renzetti Projects Editor jrenzetti@mndaily.com =

KATHRYN CHLYSTEK, DAILY

Physiology and global studies sophomore Mariam Salama, right, studies physics in the Commons Hotel with her friend Joe Gobran. Both use the hotel lobby as a study space because of how quiet and comfortable it is.

STATE REPORT DULUTH DIOCESE, ABUSE VICTIMS AGREE TO MEDIATION DULUTH, Minn. — The Diocese of Duluth and victims of clergy abuse have agreed to mediation. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in December, saying it needed to protect assets and pay the victims of abuse. Judge Robert Kressel encouraged the parties to work with a mediator and is expected to approve the appointment of Gregg Zive, a federal judge with experience in diocesan bankruptcy cases. WDIO-TV reports a diocese of ficial has testified the district has assets of more than $5 million and liabilities of more than $12 million. Mediation is expected to begin May 1 in Minneapolis if neither side objects to the appointment of Zive as mediator. Victims have until May 25 to file sexual abuse claims in bankruptcy court.

2 MORE LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST CHILDREN’S THEATRE, CO-FOUNDER MINNEAPOLIS — Two more former students are suing the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis and its co-founder, John Clark Donahue, over alleged sexual abuse decades ago. The two men, both 54, are identified only as “John Doe” in the lawsuits filed Tuesday. The new plaintiffs join six others who have sued Children’s Theatre Company and former staf fers since Dec. 1. Donahue was charged in 1984 with molesting three boys. He served 10 months in jail. A person answering the phone at Donahue’s home told the Star Tribune that on his lawyer’s advice, Donahue will not speak to the press. In a statement, the Children’s Theatre Company said it continues to “suppor t the ef for ts of those who have been victims of sexual abuse to have the tr uth known and to see justice ser ved.” ASSOCIATED PRESS

NATIONAL BRIEFING

Chicago says it will release police shooting videos quickly

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHICAGO — The city of Chicago promised Tuesday to star t more quickly r eleasing footage after police shootings, while activists critical of how authorities handled the videotaped fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald sought to have a special prosecutor take over the case. They’re the latest reactions to the shattered public trust in police of ficers, prosecutors and City Hall: One by attorneys, clergymen and some elected officials who say they’ve lost faith in Cook County’s top

prosecutor, and the other by a mayor tr ying to restore people’s confidence in his office and police department. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has heard repeated calls to step down, said he suppor ted the new video policy recommended by the task force he created after the McDonald footage was r eleased. His spokesman, Adam Collins, said the recommendations would be implemented immediately. The Independent Pol i c e R e v i e w A u t h o r i t y, which investigates officerinvolved shootings, plans to release videos and other

evidence in all new cases as well as cur rent investigations. The videos and other evidence would be released within 60 days, but law enforcement agencies can seek to delay that by another 30 days. “Restoring tr ust between our police and the communities they’re sworn to ser ve is an essential par t of our City’s public safety ef forts,” Emanuel said. Tr ust was a clear factor in the petition for a special prosecutor. The civil rights attorneys and others say they want an outside pr osecutor for the McDonald case and

any fur ther investigation into the shooting because of what they see as Cook County State’s Attor ney Anita Alvarez’s close ties to the officers union. They say they don’t trust her to aggressively investigate and prosecute Of ficer Jason Van Dyke, who is charged with first-degree murder. Alvarez’s “track record has undermined her credibility, created a crisis of confidence in her and her office, and created the appearance that this state’s attorney cannot be trusted to zealously and ef fectively prosecute Of ficer Van Dyke,” the petition reads.

17 govs. announce Changing stop-frisk practices a challenge agreement on energy, transport BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Governors from 17 states said Tuesday that they will work together to develop cleaner energy and transportation as they look to lead a national shift to renewable fuels. The states vary widely in their approach and sources of fuel, but the bipartisan group said its goal is to cooperate on planning and policies. The pact — known as the Governors’ Accord for a New Energy Future — calls for embracing new energy solutions to expand the economy and protect the health of communities and natural resources. “We believe that this is a robust driver of economic growth, not a brake on economic growth,” Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee said in a conference call with reporters. The governors purposely avoided mentioning the divisive issue of climate change and instead concentrated on how states can cooperate, California Gov. Jerr y Brown said. He said that includes building more sophisticated, energy-efficient regional electrical grids; pooling buying power to get cheaper clean-energy vehicles for state fleets; and lobbying the federal government for more research and development on energy storage, clean fuels and the electric grid. Other participating governors are from Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

EXTENDED WEATHER FORECAST THURSDAY FRIDAY HIGH 41° HIGH 51° LOW 37° LOW 36° Cloudy

Rainy

SATURDAY HIGH 49° LOW 33° Sunny

NEW YORK — The federal monitor overseeing changes to the New York City Police Department’s stopand-frisk program said in a progress report Tuesday the department has done good work setting new policy, but putting it into practice will be a challenge. A federal judge ruled in 2013 that the practice violated the civil rights of minorities. Monitor Peter Zimroth said in a report to the judge that the police department has distributed a new patrol guide that prohibits biasedbased policing, and put into use new training for recruits and current of ficers. A new stop-repor t form is being tested. “The progress the repor t details owes much to the hard work of NYPD officials and valuable input from the plaintiffs. All the parties worked diligently, collaboratively, and in good faith,” he wrote. But the challenge will be to ensure the written changes are carried out. Zimroth says he’s discovered in focus groups that many officers and higher-ups do not understand what is expected of them and are unaware of the changes. The message “needs to be communicated and reinforced better, not just at the top, but throughout the department,” he wrote. Street stops are down to about 24,000 annually in 2015, from a high in 2011 of 685,724. Most of those stopped are black and Hispanic men, and fewer than 10 percent are arrested for a crime. But the judge did not outlaw the practice, and Zimroth says that part of the reform must be to make sure the practice is done correctly. “Getting it right means this: that police of ficers understand their lawful authority and limit their activities to what is permitted by law,” he wrote.

SUNDAY HIGH 41° LOW 26° Mostly cloudy

MONDAY HIGH 32° LOW 22° Partly sunny

EDITORIAL STAFF Brian Reinken Editorials & Opinions Editor breinken@mndaily.com Anant Naik Senior Editorial Board Member anaik@mndaily.com BUSINESS Elizabeth Luke Retail Sales Manager eluke@mndaily.com FINANCE Grace Meyer • Controller gmeyer@mndaily.com CORRECTIONS The Minnesota Daily strives for complete accuracy and corrects its errors immediately. Corrections and clarifications will always be printed in this space. If you believe the Daily has printed a factual error, please call the readers’ representative at (612) 627–4070, extension 3057, or email errors@mndaily.com immediately. THE MINNESOTA DAILY is a legally independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and is a student-written and student-managed newspaper for the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. The Daily’s mission is: 1) to provide coverage of news and events affecting the University community; 2) to provide a forum for the communication and exchange of ideas for the University community; 3) to provide educational training and experience to University students in all areas of newspaper operations; and 4) to operate a fiscally responsible organization to ensure its ability to serve the University in the future. The Daily is a member of the Minnesota News Council, the Minnesota Associated Press, the Associated Collegiate Press, The Minnesota Newspaper Association and other organizations. The Daily is published Monday through Thursday during the regular school year and weekly during the summer, and it is printed by ECM Publishers in Princeton, Minn. Midwest News Service distributes the 15,000 issues daily. All Minnesota Daily inserts are recyclable within the University of Minnesota program and are at least 6 percent consumer waste. U.S. Postal Service: 351–480.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Study shows BMI may be off balance Nearly 75 million Americans could be miscategorized based on their BMI. BY HANNAH WEIKEL hweikel@mndaily.com

A person’s weight and height may not be an accurate measure of their health status, according to a recent study. Body mass index, widely used among health professionals for calculating health on a spectrum from underweight to obese, could be inaccurately categorizing nearly 75 million Americans, according to a study released earlier this month by the International Journal of Obesity. Testing a person’s BMI is quick and inexpensive, which is why it’s often used as an indicator for health, said Jeffrey Hunger, one of the

researchers on the study and a recent University graduate. “At what point do we stop letting quick and cheap win out over accurate?” Hunger said. “It’s miscategorizing millions of people as over weight or obese and unhealthy when they are actually perfectly fine when we look at other things like blood pressure and their blood sugar and things like that.” BMI uses a person’s weight and height to calculate a number from about 18.5 to 30 that is then used by major health organizations, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to report obesity trends nationwide and advise weight loss, he said.

More than 30 groups call for U divestment Divest u from Page 1

“It took a lot of activism on the part of the students including sit-ins and other sources of protests until the universities came around to doing it,” Assaad said. “I think it’ll take a lot of work on the part of student groups to convince universities to do it.” He said the University most likely won’t heed the demands of SJP, but he said divesting from companies like Caterpillar wouldn’t greatly affect the University. “There’s so many possible investments out there that divesting from one or two companies won’t affect the University much from a financial point of view,” Assaad said. “But it might affect the University in its public relations reputation with various groups.” As of Tuesday, more than 30 University student groups suppor t UMN Divest, Halimah said. But some student groups

oppose the campaign, saying the goal of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is to get rid of Israel. “I hope that students will really dig deeper to see what this campaign is really about in its effort to not only delegitimize the state of Israel, but it creates a hostile climate towards Jewish students and other students who are supportive of Israel,” Students Supporting Israel President Sami Rahamim said. Students for Justice in Palestine also protested an Israeli speaker last November. “These groups, who are the same groups who are leading the Divest campaign, came to shout him down, to boycott his speech and prevent his voice from being heard,” Rahamim said. “That’s not in the spirit of academic freedom, of progress, of equality or discussion.” He said Students Supporting Israel plans to oppose the campaign in a “swift and clear manner.”

“This really should be the final nail in the coffin for BMI because it’s not working,” Hunger said. “It’s not accurate. So why are we still using it?” And people with healthy habits, such as football players, can weigh more, he said. Eric Klein, head strength and conditioning coach for Gophers football, said the team stopped using BMI to measure players’ health years ago. Instead, the team works with trainers and nutritionists to create a health plan, removing BMI from the equation, Klein said. “If you were to take one of our offensive linemen, he might be borderline obese according to his BMI,” Klein said. “But really he’s pretty healthy.” Still, BMI is used as a

HAVANA — The United States and Cuba signed a deal Tuesday restoring commercial air traf fic for the first time in five decades, allowing dozens of new daily flights to bring hundreds of thousands more American travelers a year to the island as early as this fall. Immediately after the signing, the U.S. Depar tment of T ranspor tation opened bidding by American air carriers on as many as 110 U.S.-Cuba flights a day — more than five times the cur rent number. All flights operating between the two countries today are charters. Barring other major announcements, the restar t of commercial flights will be the most significant development in U.S.-Cuba trade since Pr esidents

Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced in late 2014 that they would begin normalizing ties after a halfcentur y of Cold War opposition. The Obama administration is eager to make rapid progress on building trade and diplomatic ties with Cuba before the president leaves office. The coming weeks are seen as particularly crucial to building momentum ahead of a trip he hopes to make to Havana by the end of March. “Today is a historic day in the relationship between Cuba and the U.S.,” U.S. Transpor tation Secretar y Anthony Foxx said after he and Transportation Minister Adel Yzquierdo Rodriguez signed the deal in a ceremony at Havana’s Hotel Nacional. “It represents a critically important milestone in the U.S. effort to engage with Cuba.” The U.S. Depar tment

meet ‘health’ criteria such as reaching a specific BMI,” the study said. The University, instead, provides price cuts on faculty and staff insurance if they take part in the school’s Wellness Points Program, a pointbased system that involves gym membership and health coaching. Students labeled as overweight face a stigma, which can lead to poor exercise and eating habits, University psychology professor Traci Mann said. Studies show being overweight can also lead to unfair treatment in school and the workforce, she said. “[Weight stigma] also makes people uncomfortable to go to the doctor,” Mann said. “And that in and of itself could lead to worse health problems.”

OBESITY ON CAMPUS USING BMI 64.9%

21%

BMIs of students by category* 9.1%

BMI range for four categories Underweight: less than 18.5 Normal weight: 18.5-24.9 Overweight: 25.0-29.9 Obese: 30.0 and over *2,023 students surveyed

SOURCE: BOYNTON HEALTH SERVICES STUDENT HEALTH SURVEY 2015

Student gov’t groups gain new role Groups like MSA, PSG and COGS are now considered legislative bodies on campus. BY RAJU CHADUVULA rchaduvula@mndaily.com

Until now, University of Minnesota student government groups held no more of ficial power on campus than other student organizations. In the past, the Minnesota Student Association, the Professional Student Government and the Council of Graduate Students advocated student issues to the University to spur policy change. Now, administrators and student leaders sit at the same table. The three government groups recently became official legislative bodies with the authority to join administrators in policy discussions on student issues. “The designation requires the University to consult with the student governments” said Nicholas Goldsmith, president of the Council of Graduate Students.

US, Cuba sign commerical flight deal BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

major indicator of health at the University, where about 9 percent of students were obese in 2015 based on Boynton Health Ser vices survey BMI measures. Boynton Communications Director Dave Golden said the service has no plans to exclude BMI calculations from their data, but refrains from advising students on their weight and health based on the number. And though the school doesn’t offer faculty and staff a discount on their health insurance based on personal BMI, it’s common practice at workplaces nationwide. “The United States Equal Employment Oppor tunity Commission has proposed rules allowing employers to penalize employees up to 30 percent of health insurance costs if they fail to

of Transportation expects to award the new routes by the summer. The winning airlines then must negotiate their own deals with Cuba. Yzquierdo declined an interview request but Foxx said after meeting with the Cuban minister that he believed Cuba was eager to restore commercial air service as quickly as possible. “Every indication I have in the conversations we’ve had today is that the Cubans want to move as fast as we’re able to move,” Foxx said. “People will actually be able to go buy a ticket and fly to Cuba on a commercial airline. That’s a pretty big step. We haven’t been able to do that in 50 years.” The agreement allows 20 regular daily U.S. flights to Havana, in addition to the current 10-15 char ter flights a day. The rest would be to other Cuban cities.

In January, the Office of Student Affairs offered to designate the three groups as “Recognized Student Governance Association[s].” The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly dissolution in May 2015 allowed administrators to rethink the position and function of student governments, said Sara Car vell, OSA associate director. “We asked the presidents of MSA, PSG and COGS what the characteristics of a student government are and what it means to be a recognized governance student organization,” Carvell said. The new designation also formalizes the responsibilities and rights of the three groups, said Kyle Kroll, president of PSG. MSA, the undergraduate student government, was the first to adopt the new title after a Feb. 1 vote. Joelle Stangler, MSA president, said the designation — which she said

“This will set us up for success and a good long-term plan, which will give a clear idea of what types of decision making student government is involved in.” JOELLE STANGLER MSA President

marks the first for mal par tnership between the University and its student governments — guarantees student leaders’ access to University offices. “This will set us up for success and a good longterm plan, which will give a clear idea of what types of decision making student government is involved in,” she said. COGS is expected to approve the new title this Thursday, but some of its members have voiced concern with a few aspects of the agreement, said Goldsmith.

Kroll said despite initial consultation with student groups last summer, most of the agreement’s details were planned without their help. “By the time it reached us, it wasn’t up for revision,” he said. Some members, he said, have pointed out that the agreement doesn’t clearly lay out consequences for student governments that fail to adhere to the document’s terms — but does not cover corrective action in the case that the University should misstep on its side of the deal. Goldsmith said some members found that language to be one-sided, but he said he hopes it’s a work in progress. “The RSGA designation is currently a test drive,” he said. Still, the designation as a whole is a step in the right direction, Kroll said. The designation’s rollout will be reviewed this summer by the executive boards of each student gover nment, who will provide feedback to OSA, Goldsmith said.

Moroccan man freed from Guantanamo slams Islamic State, reflects on torture BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAFI, Morocco — As a prisoner in Guantanamo, Younis Chekkouri learned about the new group of Islamic extremists advancing through Syria and Iraq. Released after 13 years without charges, and free in his home country for the first time in two decades, the 46-year-old vows not to be among the estimated 2,000 Moroccans who have chosen to join the Islamic State group. “Islam is innocent of this group and its actions,” he says. “They are criminals.” Other inmates at Guantanamo also followed the news and widely echoed his condemnations of IS, he adds. He and his younge r b r o t h e r, R i d o u a n e Chekkouri, who was released from Guantanamo

in 2004, sit alongside each other on the terrace of a cafe in their hometown Safi, recounting — and listening — to their shared stories of torture and abuse. According to unclassified appeals documents provided to The Associated Press and written by the elder Chekkouri’s lawyers in 2010, “he suffered serious abuse at the hands of the United States, in detention in Afghanistan.” “Par t of this involved threats made against his younger brother, Ridouane,” the documents say. “They would tr y to use my brother against me,” Younis says, recalling their initial detention in the province of Kandahar in Afghanistan. “They broke his arm,” he adds as Ridouane gazes down. Younis says he went to Afghanistan after a number

of years studying Sufism in various countries across the Mideast, including Sudan, Yemen, and Syria, among others. In court documents, he is quoted as saying he was looking for work as a recently married 31-year-old, initially traveling with his wife. In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, he describes himself as something of a tourist. He was picked up by bounty hunters along with suspected al-Qaida fighters and others in December 2001, and recalls being taken to a room in Pakistan “where I was greeted by people with blonde hair and blue eyes.” “They immediately asked me which terrorist group I belonged to,” he told the AP. None was the answer, but that was disregarded by the U.S. military until 2009.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Sports

@MNDAILYSPORTS

OUTDOOR HOCKEY

Outdoor ice sheet comes to TCF Bank

Stadium u from Page 1

By last T uesday, the NHL crew had begun work on the stadium, putting down a layer of aluminum decking over the field’s AstroTurf that will be used with the cooling system to balance temperatures. A second layer of decking was then added to provide a foundation for the rink before the ice sheet is built. The rink’s framework and boards star ted to go up late last week, but flooding the rink is a slower process. “We take our time. We can really get it done in three days, but we take five,” Craig said. “Because the same people that are building it are here for team skates, the alumni game, rehearsals and the main game. We have to make sure the staf f is healthy and ready to go.” The finishing touches include hanging banners and painting the ice, which happened early this week. The crew had to battle cold temperatur es last week as it built the rink, but an ice system will keep the rink in good shape, as temperatures will likely creep above freezing Sunday. To keep the ice at a cool 20 degrees at all times, a refrigerated truck pumps fluid through the decking under neath the rink as warm air travels back to the truck to be cooled and compressed like a standard refrigerator. While temperature rarely poses an issue for the crew, Craig said, wind can. Gophers head coach Don Lucia said he still remembers the wind when his team played outdoors at TCF Bank Stadium in 2014. “I’m sure the NHL is going to do a great job to get the best ice sheet that they possibly can,” Lucia said. “I think more than anything the ice will be fine. It just depends what kind of day you’re having. The wind plays into it more than anything else.” Former Gophers

MADDY FOX, DAILY

Crew members work to set up the hockey rink that will be used for the upcoming NHL Stadium Series game between the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks inside TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday.

defenseman Mike Reilly skated at TCF Bank Stadium in 2014 and will have a chance this weekend to play outdoors with the Wild, which signed him in July. The former All-American has played in the team’s last four games after being called up from the AHL. “You grow up on the ponds, so in a sense it’s nothing really new or difficult to you,” Reilly said at a press conference for the event in August. “You kind of feel at home playing outdoors.” The NHL will also oversee a free spectator plaza outside Gate A of the stadium with games and live music and the chance for fans to skate on the ice Tuesday night star ting at 7 p.m. The ar ena will then have to retur n to being a football stadium, but Renzulli said all the hard work will pay of f in the end when outdoor

TCF TRANSFORMATION BY THE NUMBERS 11 days

5 days

of total outdoor setup

of rink flooding

18,064

Capacity of Xcel Energy Center

50,805‑80,000:

Capacity of TCF Bank Stadium

On first day of setup

Projected high temperature for Sunday’s game

Approximately 64

crew members

Degrees fahrenheit

SOURCE: NHL

professional hockey comes to Minnesota for the first time. “Over the years, I think players like to come out and see 50,000 people.

They don’t get that experience all the time,” Renzulli said. “They’ve all remarked about that and have said, ‘This is cool. This is once in a lifetime.’ ”

SWIMMING & DIVING

Minnesota to swim for fifth consecutive Big Ten title The Gophers will bring 15 freshmen to compete in the final Big Ten meet. BY TOMMY JAAKOLA tjaakola@mndaily.com

The Gophers women’s swimming and diving team will have a chance this week to add to an already impressive winning streak. Minnesota will compete for its fifth consecutive Big Ten title star ting on Wednesday, after winning a program-record fourth consecutive championship last season. The meet, which takes place in Ann Arbor, Mich., will last through Saturday. “I do think people think there is stress and pressure for us to win a fifth straight title,” sophomore Danielle Nack said. “However, I know the team and I aren’t looking at it as pressure. We just want to go out and have fun.” The Gophers’ roster is much different now than a season ago, with 15 freshmen traveling to the Big Ten meet. The rookies make up more than half of Minnesota’s competitors. The Gophers’ top freshmen include Zoe Avestruz, who has a chance of breaking the school record in the

WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING PREVIEW

BIG TEN SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS WHEN: Wednesday-Saturday WHERE: Ann Arbor, Mich. SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM

100 backstroke swimming after rest. Freshman Rachel Munson won the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award twice this season, and she holds the team’s top times in the 100 and 200 breaststroke this year. “We’re such a young team,” head coach Kelly Kremer said. “There’s a lot of question marks, and with that comes a lot of excitement and a lot of unknown.” The Gophers r etur n two individual champions from last year’s Big Ten meet, including sophomore Brooke Zeiger, who broke the school record in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:03.28 at last year’s Big Ten Championships. “I’m excited to be heading into Big Tens with a young team ready to experience their first championship,” Zeiger said. “It’s really exciting seeing everyone so ready.”

NITI GUPTA, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Sophomore Danielle Nack competes in the women’s 100 backstroke during the 2016 Minnesota Challenge at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on Feb. 6.

The other retur ning individual Big Ten champion for Minnesota is junior diver Yu Zhou, who won the 1-meter and 3-meter events. The Gophers enter the meet ranked No. 24 in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll, sixth among Big Ten teams.

Still, Nack said, the team is confident. “[W]e all know we are ready to throw down some fast per formances,” she said. “I know we are going in as the underdogs, which makes it more fun because there is no stress. You can just go in [and] swim

really fast and make people be like, ‘Whoa, who are these people?’ ” The conference meet will be scored dif ferently this year, with the top 24 earning points instead of the top 16. The change means depth will be more impor tant as ever as

Minnesota competes for its fifth consecutive title. “I think the sky is the limit in terms of what they can accomplish, but we’re going to go in, and our goal is really just to give our best, and let’s see what happens when the dust settles,” Kremer said.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

New shopping cart grows in popularity Target plans to distribute Caroline’s Carts to 1,782 stores across the country. BY OLIVIA JOHNSON ojohnson@mndaily.com

A new variety of shopping carts specifically designed to help families of children with disabilities is popping up in stores across Minnesota. This month, Target announced it would begin using car ts from Caroline’s Cart, a company that makes carts for children that are too big for typical shopping carts offered in grocery stores. The carts are designed with a large, front-facing seat, removing the need for a parent to push around a wheelchair. Kristy Welker, a spokesperson for Target, said the company conducted a number of trial runs with Caroline’s Cart last February. “We had actually heard about Caroline’s Car t through a couple of guests who had called our guest relations team,” Welker said. “They said it would be great if Target offered this cart.” Target will distribute the carts to 1,782 stores nationwide, Welker said. Currently, about 500 stores have at least one of the new carts, and by the end of March, all Target stores will have the specialized cart, she said. Target Express in Dinkytown will not have a Caroline’s Cart, but the store at the Quarry shopping center in Northeast Minneapolis

“I want to make sure there’s some consumer awareness. ... I do hope it leads to something else.” LEANN SHORE Occupational therapy assistant professor

near the University of Minnesota will receive one on March 28, Welker said. The Cub Foods at the Quarry is one of more than 70 locations in Minnesota with a Caroline’s Cart in the store. The store has had one since October, said store director Randy Dresher. Leann Shore, an assistant professor in the University’s occupational therapy program, has worked in pediatric occupational therapy in schools around the Twin Cities for more than 25 years and runs a private practice. Shore said the cart has very few safety features. Caroline’s Cart focuses on kids with special needs who are higher functioning and need less care than those who are low-functioning, she said. “I think what they’re doing is really wonder ful,” Shore said. “But … I didn’t see any consumer-awareness points. I didn’t see any

UN: Stopping Zika may require insect genetic modification BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

GENEVA — The World Health Organization says it may be necessary to use controversial methods like genetically modified mosquitoes to wipe out the insects that are spreading the Zika virus across the Americas. The virus has been linked to a spike in babies born with abnormally small heads, or microcephaly, in Brazil and French Polynesia. The U.N. health agency has declared Zika a global emergency, even though there is no definitive proof it is causing the birth defects. WHO said its advisor y group has recommended further field trials of genetically modified mosquitoes, which have previously been tested in small trials in countries including the Cayman Islands and Malaysia. “Given the magnitude of the Zika crisis, WHO

encourages affected countries ... to boost the use of both old and new approaches to mosquito control as the most immediate line of defense,” WHO said in a statement. WHO says at least 34 countries have been hit by the virus in the current crisis, mostly in Latin America. Meanwhile, the European Union on Tuesday pledged 10 million euros ($11.2 million) to fund research on the mosquito and the Zika virus in Brazil — the epicenter of the outbreak. The pledge came as Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Castro met with representatives of 24 European nations in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia. Next week, WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan will also travel to Brazil to discuss Zika and microcephaly with Castro and other officials, agency spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said on Tuesday.

MADDY FOX, DAILY

A Caroline’s Cart shopping cart sits on display at Cub Foods in the Quarry on Sunday. The carts are designed to accommodate families who have children with special needs, and will be added to Target stores across the country.

cautionary remarks in there for those families that have children that are quite lowfunctioning.” Kids with cer tain disabilities often need a range of devices, from store-bought strollers to custom-fitted electric wheelchairs to support their bodies and keep

them safe. “There’s everything from children that walk independently but simply need someone to guide them for their safety all the way to children who literally need a ver y highly customized wheelchair,” she said. “This is not going to be a substitute.”

Shore said she’s concerned the seat isn’t adjustable and that small children could fall out of it. She said she doesn’t see any head support in the cart, an issue for taller children with head control issues. While Shore is excited about the car ts as a step

for ward for special-needs children, she said she doesn’t want parents to think it’s necessarily the best option for their child. “I want to make sure there’s some consumer awareness,” she said. “I do hope it leads to something else.”

Mpls weighs city wage authority Wage u from Page 1

Fred Morrison, a University of Minnesota law professor and expert in municipal law, said the city attorney’s opinion will hinge on whether Minnesota’s minimum wage law was intended to be the lowest or only permitted wage in the state. Other cities — Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles among them — have passed their own minimum wage increases. “States in the east tend to hold to state statutes and give localities less leeway,” Morrison said. “States in the west tend to give municipalities more power. We’re in the middle.” John Schochet, a deputy attorney for Seattle, said the city didn’t encounter any legal issues with the state when it increased its minimum wage. Minneapolis-area employment law attor ney John Klassen said the city

must comply with state law, and the state government has always regulated employer and employee relations to keep pay consistent. “If other cities followed Minneapolis and star ted declaring dif ferent minimum wages, it would create a confusing patchwork across the state,” he said. “Uniformity is a good thing.” And if Minneapolis raises its minimum wage without guidance from the city attorney, Klassen said, it could have a lawsuit on its hands. In addition to the dispute over local authority, Morrison said the real question will be the economic impact a higher minimum wage would have on the metro area. “What is going to happen economically and commercially if Minneapolis raises the minimum wage to $15 and Golden Valley and Richfield and Edina and St. Louis Park don’t?” he said.

To answer that question, Minneapolis also voted Friday to pay for a nearly $150,000 study on the impact a minimum wage hike to $12 and $15 an hour would have on workers and their employers. Researchers from four institutions, including the University of Minnesota, will complete the in the next few months. Ward 5 Council member Blong Yang, who represents parts of North Minneapolis, raised objections to the study’s price tag at Friday’s meeting. “I don’t know if we have the authority to raise the minimum wage,” Yang said at the meeting. “We need more infor mation from the [city] attorney before spending $150,000 on this.” At Friday’s meeting, Segal, the city attorney, said she’ll need at least a month to deliver the opinion. The opinion will be confidential under attorneyclient privilege, said city spokesman Casper Hill in an email.

Bypassing the council An organization focused on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, called 15Now Minnesota, will star t a campaign next month to include the issue on November’s ballot. At the same time, the group, along with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, will release the results of its own study of a wage hike’s impacts on the area. Kip Hedges, an organizer for the group, said 15Now’s leaders think the Minneapolis City Council has acted too slowly for people who want a higher wage. “There are thousands of workers in the Twin Cities that are having a really rough go of it,” he said. Since 2016 is an election year, he’s said he expects a large voter turnout that will help propel the initiative to the roughly 7,000 signatures it needs to be placed on the ballot.

Editorials & Opinions POLITICS

Online, politics is something to joke about We should look at the content of memes to determine how young people view political candidates.

lthough biologist Richard Dawkins originally coined the term in 1976, the rise of the “meme” as we know it today is a relatively recent phenomenon. Initially referencing the spread of cultural contributions and ideas in a similar pattern to that of individual genes within genetic pools, the common use of the word “meme” now references usergenerated viral images and text within a unique Internet subculture. The Democratic and Republican parties still haven’t nominated presidential candidates, but today’s political discussion — especially among young people on social media — is chock-full of memes. For example, suppor ters of Sen. Bernie Sanders seem to generate many of these memes, often juxtaposing Sanders alongside former Secretar y of State Hillar y Clinton and including comical jabs at her expense. This is no surprise, as young people both over whelming suppor t Sanders and frequently use social media. What I find interesting and notable about the creation of political memes

JASPER JOHNSON columnist

is their contagious and organic nature. Most memes aren’t something a centralized political campaign generates as a piece of propaganda. Instead, it’s social media users who make memes for their comedic and satirical value. The obser vations in memes are still an important part of political discourse, however. Similar to how punchy late-night shows often eclipse traditional political news commentar y for young people, memes are proliferating as a form of political discussion. Never theless, it will take deftness and connectedness to youth for political campaigns to ar tificially harness memes to their advantage. In fact, a lot of the memes actually lampoon Clinton’s inability to connect with young people. A recent example was the #imnotkiddingmaddi fiasco, in which a seemingly desperate email Clinton’s campaign sent out to voters spawned a wide variety of critical commentar y.

I imagine that if many of the Republican candidates tried to capture more of the youth vote via memes, they would fare even worse than Democrats. The dif ficulty of harnessing memes hints at their organic and contagious nature. In contrast to so many other forms of adver tising, such as campaign commercials, we as consumers are willing spread memes to each other. Their selfreplicating nature allows them to diffuse opinions through society in a more unobtrusive way than other forms of media. As I recall, memes weren’t nearly as refined or common during the 2012 election as they are today. It will be interesting to see whether any candidates tr y to capitalize on them. We should also study how seeing political memes shapes voting behavior. If you want a barometer for youth opinion (at least among social media users), keep your eyes on the memes. Granted, Inter net subculture by no means determines the result of an election, but it can af fect campaign strategies and of fer insight into the future of politics in our countr y. Jasper Johnson welcomes comments at Jjohnson1@mndaily.com.

DAILY DISCUSSION Support divestment from unethical corporations We, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University in Minnesota, in conjunction with more than 25 University student organizations and faculty, call on our administration and the Minnesota Student Association to pass a resolution requesting the University to financially divest from corporations that directly profit from human rights violations. By divestment, we mean the University should remove investments from corporations that profit from human rights abuses and violations of international law. We call for divestment from four specific companies: Elbit Systems, G4S, Caterpillar and Raytheon. Investments in these companies show implicit support for their decisions and actions, which many have alleged include violations of basic human rights. By divesting from these corporations, our University would be refusing to be complicit in human rights violations. Our University should uphold a policy of social responsibility that “refuses to … engage in unethical business practices.” Divestment from these companies would neutralize the University in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. It would also serve to continue our legacy of being socially responsible. The call to divest is a response to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, a global campaign to pressure Israel into complying with international law and recognizing Palestinians’ rights. BDS was initiated by Palestinian civil society in 2005 and is endorsed by more than 170 Palestinian political parties and organizations that represent people living in Israel and the West Bank. We call upon our University to dissociate itself from companies that engage or aid in systematic oppression, no matter whether this oppression targets people based on their religion, nationality, gender, race or orientation. The inalienable rights of the Palestinian people should not be infringed upon or disregarded. Sara Halimah Officer, Students for Justice in Palestine CONTACT THE EDITOR Brian Reinken breinken@mndaily.com

Whether one is talking about withholding funding from a student organization or outright prohibiting cer tain speech on campus, I think there are fundamental questions that, in all fairness, need to be answered by those wishing to restrict speech. First, by what standards should speech be measured to determine whether particular ideas are acceptable on campus? What standards should determine whether speech is worthy of support from student service fees? Second, who sets those standards? Third, who determines whether a certain proposed speech meets or fails to meet those standards? Unless those questions can be

EDITORIALS Private investors redirect schools

he University of Minnesota is turning increasingly to private investors in order to fund its research, the Minnesota Daily reported last week. According to Dan Gilchrist, a spokesman for the Office of the Vice President for Research, federal funders such as the National Institutes of Health have lost some of their investment power over the past decade. He said that while federal financial support for University research increased by 17.6 percent over that time, overall funding actually decreased by .4 percent. As a result, corporations and private investors have become more attractive options to researchers in need of money. Since 2006, research awards from businesses have grown by nearly 25 percent. However, reliance on private investors can have serious consequences for academic research. For example, Igor Kolomitsyn, a researcher at the University’s Duluth campus, said the funding arrangements often require him to pitch his research to corporations. Professors should not have to rely on contracts with private corporations in order to make a living. The University must take care to balance the school’s financial and intellectual needs if it wants to maintain its reputation as a haven for creativity, exploration and discovery. Overreliance on private investors can threaten the spirit of free inquiry and, moreover, increase the corporatization of universities. Some people already argue the current system of higher education treats students as customers rather than learners — it seems doubtful that meaningful education will survive if professors become salespeople rather than teachers.

Don’t discard the Paris Agreement

G Helen Teague welcomes comments at hteague@mndaily.com.

STUDENT LIFE

Work together, but succeed alone Professors shouldn’t assume that every student is making an equal effort to contribute to group work.

he majority of students seem to dread group projects more than any other type of assignment. This is especially true if all your group members fail to contribute a substantial amount of work to what is supposed to be a team effort. In my experience, dilemmas such as these happen more often than not. Unfortunately, professors rarely grade group projects according to individual effort. I recognize that there are some extremely valuable reasons why professors often choose to incorporate collaborative work into their curricula. In the workplace, for example, employers could task you to work in groups — and sometimes your partners are people with whom you don’t necessarily work well. Group projects not only teach students how to work efficiently with a group but also help them learn to plan, assign roles and hold each other accountable for getting work done. However, professors should definitely start utilizing a more lenient grading scale when

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Response to “Free speech is the basis for learning”

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

answered clearly and unambiguously, Students for a Democratic Society’s demand for the University of Minnesota to stop funding “hate speech” is grounded on an amorphous and subjective foundation. In my view, no political speech should be banned. But from what I’ve outlined above, at least we could have an intelligent discussion about the subject. lorentjd via mndaily.com

Comment on “Protests planned for Milo Yiannopoulos’ campus visit” As a liberal, I will be watching Milo Yiannopoulos’ speech. Sure, I disagree with a lot of what he says, and I disagree with Students for a Conservative Voice (or just conservatives in general), but I do believe

THE EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS DEPARTMENT IS INDEPENDENT OF THE NEWSROOM

MADDIE EATON columnist

determining group project scores. There are always going to be students who choose to put in more effort than others. They shouldn’t receive penalties simply because their cohorts are lazy and unwilling to dedicate as much energy to the project. Perhaps it would work well for professors to lessen the impact of group projects on final grades. That way, students who put in an appropriate amount of work don’t need to worry about whether they have unreliable partners. This grading system would help students develop a more positive outlook on group work and learn to enjoy it more freely — perhaps allowing them to realize just how important teamwork is to their future careers. Maddie Eaton welcomes comments at meaton@mndaily.com.

they have a right to speak. I plan to listen and perhaps have thoughtful conversations with attendees of Yiannopoulos’ seminar, and I do not want to be with the protesters, whom I see as promoting hate. Ben via mndaily.com

Comment on “Protests planned for Milo Yiannopoulos’ campus visit” If we don’t have a politically neutral meaning of hate speech, then we can never have an honest dialogue about it, can we? Hate speech is not conservative or liberal. It is perfectly appropriate to critique any ideology. It is never appropriate to critique a race or sex. That’s because such racial or sexual critiques are called “group defamation.” And group defamation is always wrong — always.

ov. Mark Dayton has announced that Minnesota will continue its push to enact a clean energy plan despite the Supreme Court’s decision to block the implementation of President Barack Obama’s national climate change prevention agenda. As part of the Paris Agreement, Obama sought to enforce policies dedicated to cutting power plant carbon emissions by onethird by 2030. However, five justices on the Supreme Court have since voted to delay this plan’s implementation while an ongoing dispute over its constitutionality unfolds. Dayton, however, said states shouldn’t require federal pressure to enact environmental protection policies. We commend Dayton for recognizing the urgency of fighting climate change. Additionally, we would like to remind readers that even if experts declare the enforcement of Obama’s plan to be unconstitutional, this would not mean clean energy policies are unconstitutional, nor would it mean states are forbidden or discouraged from developing plans to reduce emissions — it would simply mean the federal government cannot require them to do so. At the same time, while we recognize the importance of judicial review to a healthy democratic system, we feel uncomfortable that a handful of unelected judges could imperil a climate change agreement made by representatives of almost 200 nations. Officials from China and India have expressed that should U.S. fail to abide by the terms of the accord, their countries will opt out as well. Considering the U.S., China and India are three of the world’s largest polluters, this could have disastrous consequences for the Paris Agreement as a whole. EDITORIALS & OPINIONS DEPARTMENT Editorials represent the voice of the Minnesota Daily as an institution and are prepared by the editorial board.

SHARE YOUR VIEWS The Minnesota Daily welcomes letters and guest columns from readers. All letters must include the writer’s name, address and phone number for verification. The Daily reserves the right to edit all letters for style, space, libel and grammar. Letters to the editor should be no more than 500 words in length. Guest columns should be approximately 350 words. The Daily reserves the right to print any submission as a letter or guest column. Submission does not guarantee publication.

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Fail Burton via mndaily.com

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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

CROSSWORD Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 17, 2016

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

HOROSCOPES Today’s Birthday (2/17): Take action for the common good this year. Lucrative opportunities provide new travel and study destinations. Launch a two-year educational adventure.

To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging. Written by Nancy Black

Aries (3/21 - 4/19): Today is a 7 — Stick close to home today and tomorrow with a project. Gather plans and research potential solutions. Get everyone involved with personal incentive.

Libra (9/23 - 10/22): Today is an 8 — Expect two days in the spotlight. A rise in status is possible. Keep your promises. The game gets fun over the next month.

Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): Today is a 9 — Get out of the house today and tomorrow. Study, practice and explore. Assume authority, especially over the next month.

Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Today is a 7 — The next two days are good for expanding your territory. Adventure and discovery call to you. Travel and explore.

Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): Today is a 9 — More income is possible today and tomorrow. Grab potential profits. Stick to your budget. It’s easier to venture forth.

Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): Today is an 8 — Manage finances over the next few days. A lack of funds would threaten plans. Communication practices and creativity pay off.

Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Today is an 8 — You’re more confident today and tomorrow. Personal matters need attention. Put love into your work for rising income over the next month.

Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): Today is a 9 — Partnerships will produce results over the next two days. Begin the process of a potentially profitable month.

Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Today is a 6 — Slow down and contemplate over the next two days. Review the big picture. Rely on a supportive partner. Collaborative efforts thrive this next month.

Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): Today is an 8 — Focus on work for the next two days. The pace is picking up for you. Upgrade your personal image this month.

Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): Today is an 8 — Teamwork wins over the next two days. Group efforts can expand rapidly. Put your love and talents into your work to rising demand this next month.

Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Today is a 6 — There’s more time for love today and tomorrow. Share peaceful activities with your inner circle. Tranquil contemplation soothes over the next month.

ACROSS 1 Way back when 8 __ top 14 Winnipeg’s province 16 Doubleheader half 17 1986 movie set partly in the Australian Outback 19 Shoe parts 20 Loch with a legend 21 One-named singer 24 Biol. or ecol. 25 Under attack 26 Co-star of the 2015 film “Joy” 28 Boot attachment 30 “Bridge of Spies” actor Alan 31 Onion rings are fried in it 34 Worldwide economic org. 37 1988 movie set in a Southern California high school 40 Tam or trilby 41 Pencil tip 42 Time in ads 43 FBI agent 44 __ of influence 46 Start of el año 49 Record players, briefly 52 Improve a lawn 53 Roman baker’s dozen? 54 More sudsy 56 1996 movie set in Nevada’s Area 51 61 Nicks on many albums 62 1967 Temptations hit 63 Like some movies ... literally including 17-, 37and 56-Across 64 Wine competition attendees DOWN 1 “Better Call Saul” network 2 Long-nosed fish

2/17/16

By Todd Gross

3 “Microsoft sound” composer 4 Like cannoli 5 One making amends 6 Mars and Venus 7 Bios are often part of them 8 Vanilla containers 9 “The Simpsons” shopkeeper 10 Star of E! network’s “I Am Cait” 11 Machu Picchu’s range 12 Attorney general under Reagan 13 “Give it __” 15 Novelist Waugh 18 Single show 21 Cookbook measuring words 22 Fourth of 24 23 Run until 25 Calf father 27 Tara family name 29 Harborside strolling spots 32 Without end 33 NFL scores

Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

34 Green climbers 35 D.C. underground 36 Set loose 38 Sample in a product pitch 39 Hard-wired 43 Mourn 45 Summary 46 Have a place in the world 47 Critical inning 48 Down for a pillow

2/17/16

50 Actress __ Pinkett Smith 51 Competed in a British bee 54 Flower starter 55 At Hollywood and Vine, for short 57 Crusty dessert 58 Fourth of 26 59 __ Lingus 60 Cloth meas.

SUDOKU Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk.

2/17/16

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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Greek leaders focus on inclusion efforts Inclusion u from Page 1

In October, a number of campus greek councils sponsored a discussion about toxic masculinity and social stereotypes in greek culture. “You still have … members of an organization that have an issue with someone being openly gay in a fraternity,” said Nathan Bakken, who is president of both the Multicultural Greek Council and Delta Lambda Phi, a fraternity founded in 1987 by and for gay, bisexual,

transgender and progressive men. Bakken said that while he’s content with the perception of greek life on campus as a social space filled with events and community building, he believes members and nonmembers alike should continue to tackle some of the system’s deeprooted problems of racial and sexual discrimination and hostility. “I’m guessing ther e have been some issues with someone not receiving a bid at a fraternity because of their sexual orientation,” he said.

R u t i k a P a d s a l g i k a r, a first-year student and member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority, said she believes the University’s range of greek councils — among them historically black and LGBTQ chapters — shows that the community is working toward diversity. Padsalgikar, who was born in Belgium but is of Indian heritage and grew up in Australia, said the University’s greek system provided her with the sense of belonging in college. “I wanted a sense of home away from home and

people that I could count on and count as sisters,” Padsalgikar said. “I’ve had nothing but the best experiences.” Senior Saron Theodros said she similarly found her niche in a sorority in the fall of 2014 when she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, a campus chapter started by AfricanAmerican women. She now serves as its president. Theodros said many members experienced issues of racial discrimination on campus and that the sorority serves as a place they can gather with like-minded people.

“I noticed that a lot of the girls and I had a lot of similarities and the same str uggles,” she said, “So having their support is really important.” Bakken said he has seen progress towards inclusivity on a national scale. When he attended a fraternal leadership conference earlier this month in Indianapolis, he said he had nothing but positive experiences with greek council colleagues. “The executive leaders of all the other councils treated me like I was one of their own, basically. There was no issue with me

being an openly gay man,” he said. In recent years, several national fraternity and sorority chapters and greek umbrella organizations have officially passed nondiscrimination policies. However, Garcia of the University’s Office for Fraternity and Sorority Life said more work needs to be done to carry out those sweeping initiatives locally. “These are huge, strong messages,” Garcia said. “Their arrival in those spaces at the local level may not always match the rhetoric from the national level.”

St. Paul to study AirBnB, short-term rental rules

Obama: No excuse for GOP not to vote on a court nominee

Rental

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that Republicans have no constitutional grounds to refuse to vote on a Supreme Court nominee, and he challenged his political foes in the Senate to rise above the “venom and rancor” that has paralyzed judicial nominations. As Obama cast the dispute over filling the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia as a test of whether the Senate could function, there were early signs that Republican resistance could be eroding. Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley suggested he might be open to considering Obama’s yetto-be named nominee, an indication his party may be sensitive to Democrats’ escalating charges of unchecked obstructionism. “I intend to do my job between now and January 20 of 2017,” Obama told reporters at a news conference. He said of the nation’s senators, “I expect them to do their job as well.” Obama was in California for a meeting of Southeast

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With regulations, all hosts might be required to pay the tax. In 2015, Santa Monica, Calif., passed an ordinance detailing regulations for AirBnB. That law requires hosts to pay transient occupancy tax, have a business license and have at least one person living on-site for short-term rentals. While there are no plans for regulation on shor tterm rentals in Minneapolis, Duluth passed regulations on AirBnB last summer. AirBnB ser vices have expanded in the Twin Cities in the past three years. From 2013 to 2015, the number of hosts has almost tripled. “I don’t want to stop AirBnB. It’s not my intent, but I think there should be some basic licensing around some of the ways that AirBnB is being used,” Tolbert said In an average week, one or two guests stay at Rice’s

house for a night or two, she said, and most come from out of state. If St. Paul regulations required licensing, Rice said she would take their house off the market. “It kind of loses its luster because I don’t think of it as a business; I think of it as us opening our home to people who need a space that’s a lot cheaper than a hotel with people who want to talk to them about the area,” Rice said, adding they can suggest local restaurants and neighborhoods for prospective residents. “I think it’s a really great way to kind of meet more people and get yourself a little side cash,” Rice said. Christal Clemens, a 2014 University of Minnesota biology and public health graduate, used AirBnB on her trip with friends to New York last summer to save money. “There were countless options to choose from that catered to the number of travelers we had and location we wanted to stay in,”

“I don’t want to stop AirBnB. It’s not my intent, but I think there should be some basic licensing around some of the ways that AirBnB is being used.” CHRIS TOLBERT Ward 3 Council member

Clemens said. She said regulations could negatively affect the AirBnB community and dissuade people from becoming a host if there are extra costs associated with it. “I think it benefits both consumer and hosts. … You’re able to live in a home and potentially meet or talk with the host about their home city,” Clemens said. The group studying the ser vices will make suggestions for changes by June 1.

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Asian leaders gathered for two days of diplomacy. But his attention was divided at that conference. Since Scalia’s unexpected death at a Texas ranch on Saturday, White House lawyers and advisers have been scrambling to refine and vet a list of potential replacements, while also devising a strategy to push a candidate through the Republican-led Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he doesn’t think Obama should be putting a candidate forward. The Kentucky senator, as well as several Republicans up for re-election this year, say Obama should leave the choice up to the next president. The November election, they argue, will give voters a chance to weigh in on the direction of the court. Obama dismissed that notion, insisting he will put forward a replacement and believes the Senate will have “plenty of time” to give the nominee a fair hearing and a vote. Democrats say Obama has every right and a constitutional duty to fill vacancies on the court until he leaves office next January.

Obama conceded the dispute reflects years of escalating partisan hostilities over judicial nominations and said Democrats’ hands are not bloodless. Years of bickering have left the public accustomed to a situation where “ever ything is blocked” — even when there’s no ideological or substantive disagreement, he said. “This would be a good moment for us to rise above it,” he said. The pace of judicial confirmation always slows in a presidential election year, as the party that does not control the White House holds out hope that its candidate will fill vacant judgeships rather than give lifetime tenure to the other party’s choices. In the past, lawmakers have sometimes informally agreed to stop holding hearings on lower court nominations during campaign season. Obama argued Tuesday that “the Supreme Court’s different.” “There’s no unwritten law that says that it can only be done in off years. That’s not in the constitutional text,” he said.