THE GREEN LINE, SEVEN STOPS FOR SEVERAL HOURS. POWER PROBLEMS SHUT DOWN TRAINS PAGE 3 ONCLOSED
PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 79° LOW 63°
HEALTH
Smokeless campuses on the rise
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
ST PAUL
TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
SCIENCE
A push to sell research
The University recently went tobacco-free, following a trend of similar policies in the U.S. BY ZOE DICICCO zdicicco@mndaily.com
Before the University of Minnesota’s smoking and tobacco ban took effect, it was subject to years of debate that at times grew contentious. Though the University’s ban just went into effect on July 1, it’s far from unique. Hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide had already jumped on similar restrictions, displaying a trend toward smoke-free campuses that some say is becoming the new normal. The University’s ban — which prohibits any form of tobacco use on all University property — follows in the footsteps of five other Big Ten schools that went entirely smoke-free in the past 10 years. Two others in the conference only allow smoking in select areas on campus, and three Big Ten schools, including the University, prohibit both smoking and tobacco use. In 2008, Indiana University became the first school in the Big Ten to ban smoking and tobacco on its campus.
JULIET FARMER, DAILY
Professor Art Erdman uses the 3D Immersive Touch Table System in the Medical Devices Center in the Mayo Building on Thursday. The center, which uses student and faculty research to create breakthrough medical devices, is a leader in its field.
Initiatives to move research out of University labs and onto shelves are growing thanks in part to a new federal grant.
u See BANS Page 3
BY BLAIR EMERSON AND PARKER LEMKE bemerson@mndaily.com, plemke@mndaily.com
TRANSPORTATION
received backing from the National Science Foundation for the first time.
In Dinky, new debate on bike lane
T
Last year, faculty research helped create
array of courses and programs, the Univer-
15 start-up companies — a figure the insti-
sity is pursuing its goal of steering STEM
Some residents want a bicycle path on 4th St. SE; others say it eliminates parking space.
tution’s officials are looking to expand.
discoveries from the lab to the market.
BY BARRY LY TTON blytton@mndaily.com
Down Fourth Street Southeast, past the McDonald’s arches that mark the road’s intersection with 15th Avenue Southeast, a bicycle lane disappears. The three-lane, one-way road has a bike lane starting near TCF Bank Stadium. But once it hits 15th Avenue Southeast, a bike lane gap lasts until 13th Avenue Southeast, spanning the heart of Dinkytown. Community members and bicycle advocates have taken notice, with many saying it would be practical to add a bike lane in the area of the gap. However, a few Dinkytown business owners aren’t pleased with the discussions, as the change would remove about a dozen parking spots. About 1,050 bicycles traverse this stretch of road on a daily basis, according to Minneapolis city data. “It’s one of the top spots in the city for people biking where there isn’t a bike lane,” said Ethan Fawley, executive director of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition. It would also force the valet ser vice u See BICYCLES Page 6
he University of Minnesota is tak-
Those efforts are supplemented by Min-
ing its “Driven to Discover” mantra
nesota Innovation Partnerships, or MN-IP,
outside of classrooms and labs by arming
which is an agreement that helps existing
faculty and student researchers with new
companies license University-developed
initiatives to turn their breakthroughs into
technology.
businesses.
With that support, along with a growing
And this fall, an intensive star t-up
John Stavig, director of the Gar y S.
course aimed at helping science, technol-
Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship, said he
ogy, engineering and mathematics students
hopes the STEM start-up course will foster
turn their studies into business ventures
an entrepreneurial spirit in the institution’s
u See STEM Page 4
AGRICULTURE
Historic ag. practice could help trees, urban farms Researchers at the U are using a traditional, charcoal-like substance to improve growth. BY ETHAN NELSON enelson@mndaily.com
For centuries, the indigenous communities of the Americas cut down and burned vegetation, using the remains to fertilize the soil underneath. Now, in locations around the Twin Cities, city leaders are working with a local Native American community and the University of Minnesota to test a modern application of the age-old technique.
FOOTBALL
In two separate studies, the updated farming technique uses biochar — a soil addition created by burning wood waste products — mixed with compost to try and shrink trees’ mortality rates and help plants grow. The city’s study aims to discover how soil additions impact urban farms. Officials have added biochar to five gardens around the metro area this year. “We’re interested in promoting healthy foods and getting [the foods] in homes and in bodies,” said Ward 2 City Councilman Cam Gordon, who represents the University and surrounding neighborhoods. At the same time, University researchers are studying the ef fects of mixing
biochar with the soil around nearly 450 trees lining Minneapolis’ streets, said Chad Giblin, a research fellow in the department of forest resources who’s working on the study. The biochar for the two studies comes from a lumber mill in Missouri, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community helps mix it with compost at its recycling facility, said Jim Doten, an environmental services supervisor for the city is helping conduct both studies. Additives like biochar can help hold water in the soil for trees to use, said Gary Johnson, a professor in the forest resources u See BIOCHAR Page 5
Road trip comes to TCF Two high school friends are on a national mission to see every top college football team. BY DAVID NELSON dnelson@mndaily.com
LIAM JAMES DOYLE, DAILY
Mike Fulton, left, and Seth Vander Tuig watch from the sidelines as the Gophers take on Middle Tennessee State at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday.
For Seth Vander Tuig, the journey to the sidelines of TCF Bank Stadium for a Saturday afternoon bout between Minnesota and Middle Tennessee State began almost four years ago, before Mission: College Football even came into existence. Before the inception of Mission: College Football, it was nothing more than one man’s dream to see each of the top 128 college football teams in the United States. But when Vander Tuig’s wife bought him tickets to a Notre Dame football game against Purdue, he started realizing that fantasy. “I know that ‘Rudy’ is Seth’s favorite
movie and he watches it ever y fall,” Emily Vander Tuig said of her husband. “I thought that would be an awesome gift to give him for our wedding to see Notre Dame and all their traditions.” During his visit to South Bend, Ind., Seth Vander Tuig was exposed to more than 120 years of college football tradition. As an Iowa State season ticket holder of nearly 20 years, he found the visit to be an interesting experience. “It was different watching a game that you didn’t have a rooting interest for,” Vander Tuig said. “Suddenly you’re cheering for two teams and just really rooting for a good game and taking in the college football experience.” Over the years, the 32-year-old talked about his experiences watching football with Mike Fulton, a friend from high school and an avid Iowa Hawkeyes fan. u See FOOTBALL Page 9
VOLUME 116 ISSUE 5
2
Daily Review
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1893 Frances Folsom Cleveland, the wife of President Grover Cleveland, gives birth to a daughter, Esther, in the White House. HISTORYCHANNEL.COM/TDIH
FOOTBALL Vol. 115 Tuesday, September 9, 2014, No. 5
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 Cody Nelson cnelson1@mndaily.com Co-Publisher and Editor-in-Chief (612) 435-1575 Andreas Quinn aquinn@mndaily.com Co-Publisher and President Megan Hernick mhernick@mndaily.com Co-Publisher and Business Operations Officer =
=
=
NEWS STAFF Jessica Lee jlee@mndaily.com Managing Editor Josh Jones jjones@mndaily.com Managing Production Editor Betsy Helfand bhelfand@mndaily.com Sports Editor Jack Satzinger jsatzinger@mndaily.com Assistant Sports Editor Joe Kellen jkellen@mndaily.com A&E Editor Grant Tillery gtillery@mndaily.com Assistant A&E Editor Bridget Bennett bbennett@mndaily.com Multimedia Editor Amanda Snyder asnyder@mndaily.com Assistant Multimedia Editor Charlie Armitz carmitz@mndaily.com Copy Desk Chief Allison Dohnalek adohnalek@mndaily.com Assistant Copy Desk Chief Mariana Pelaez mpelaez@mndaily.com Visuals Editor Dylan Scott dscott@mndaily.com Chief Page Designer Tyler Gieseke tgieseke@mndaily.com Policy Editor Marion Renault mrenault@mndaily.com City Editor Meghan Holden mholden@mndaily.com Campus Editor Kia Farhang mfarhang@mndaily.com Projects Editor Nick Fritz nfritz@mndaily.com Web Editor =
=
=
=
=
BRIDGET BENNETT, DAILY
Flags cast a shadow on the field while the national anthem is recited on Saturday afternoon before the game against Middle Tennessee State..
=
=
=
NATIONAL BRIEFING
US to spend $328 million to buy conservation easements BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS — The U.S. Depar tment of Agriculture announced $328 million in funding Monday to protect and restore farmlands, grasslands and wetlands across the countr y. The initiative, using money provided in the new five-year farm bill, will buy conser vation easements from far mers to protect the environment, help wildlife populations and promote outdoor recreation, the USDA said in its announcement. The agency selected 380 projects nationwide covering 32,000 acres of prime far mland, 45,000 acr es of grasslands and 52,000 acres of wetlands. Agriculture Secretar y Tom Vilsack told repor ters on a conference call that the agency received more than 1,450 applica-
tions totaling $546 million wor th of requests covering 345,000 acres. He said the projects selected cover 129,000 acres, with 60 percent being farmland and grassland and 40 percent wetlands. “Obviously this is a popular program,” Vilsack said, adding that other assistance may be available for the projects that weren’t selected and that backers of those proposals can tr y again next year. The USDA said some of this year’s projects will improve water quality and wetland storage capacity in the heavily agricultural Califor nia Bay Delta region east of San Francisco Bay and south of Sacramento. They’re also designed to reduce flooding along the upper Mississippi River and Red River of the North in the Midwest. They also seek to provide and protect habitat for
several endangered and at-risk species including sage grouse, bog tur tles, Florida panthers, Louisiana black bear and whooping cranes. They’re also meant to protect prime agricultural land under high risk of development due to urban sprawl. The money will come through the new Agricultural Conser vation Easement Program, which consolidates three former easement programs into two — one to protect farmlands and grasslands and one to protect and restore wetlands. The new program provides financial and technical assistance to help state, local and tribal gover nments and non-gover nmental organizations buy easements for var ying time periods to protect working agricultural lands and limit their conversion to non-farm uses, as well
as to restore and protect wetlands in farm countr y. Vilsack said the new program r ules provide the agency greater flexibility for choosing projects than the old programs. V ilsack said the program complements another new effort, the Regional Conser vation Par tnership Program. He announced $1.2 billion in USDA funding over five years for that program in May. The agency will raise an equal amount from various par tners to fund locally designed soil and water conser vation projects nationwide. “It’s going to be ver y impor tant for us to continue to look for creative ways to leverage and expand the use of conser vation dollars to make the most and to get the biggest bang out of the buck that we spend and invest,” Vilsack said.
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
EDITORIAL STAFF Martin Jaakola mjaakola@mndaily.com Editorials & Opinions Editor Brian Reinken breinken@mndaily.com Senior Editorial Board Member =
=
BUSINESS STAFF Nan Sinchai nsinchai@mndaily.com Advertising Production Manager Stefani Weimholt sweimholt @mndaily.com Distribution Manager Ze Thao zthao@mndaily.com Retail Sales Manager Tiffany Luong tluong@mndaily.com Classified Sales Manager =
=
=
=
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Jack Harkness jharkness@mndaily.com Human Resources Manager Max Fierke mfierke@mndaily.com Online Manager Paul Lanctot planctot@mndaily.com Information Systems Manager Hannah Cunningham hcunningham@mndaily.com Marketing Director Lucas Whelan lwhelan@mndaily.com Controller =
=
=
=
Little change seen General Mills buying Annie’s mac and cheese for Minnesota’s pheasant hunters BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota pheasant hunters this fall should find similar conditions to last year, but the longterm decline in the rooster harvest is expected to continue, the Department of Natural Resources said Monday. The DNR’s annual roadside survey shows a 6 percent increase in the pheasant population from 2013 despite a severe winter, a slow start to spring and heavy rains in June. But DNR researcher Nicole Davros cautioned against direct comparisons because last year’s roadside survey probably undercounted pheasants due to a late hatch. Minnesota pheasant hunters are expected to kill about 224,000 roosters this fall, which is less than half the harvest during the 2005-2008 seasons when hunting was exceptionally good. The loss of grassland acres protected by the Conservation Reserve Program is the main reason for the long-term decline, Davros said. The DNR expects more grassland to be converted to cropland as farmers’ CRP contracts continue to expire over the next few years. Even though crop prices have fallen below their highs of recent years, many farmers are finding it more profitable to put their land back into production than keep it fallow in the CRP. This year’s statewide pheasant index was 28.7 birds per 100 miles of roadside driven. The highest counts were in southwest, south-central and west-central Minnesota, where observers reported 28 to 62 birds per 100 miles. The DNR said hunters should find good opportunities in these areas. But the overall 2014 pheasant index is 58 percent below the 10-year average and 71 percent below the longterm average. Minnesota’s pheasant season opens Oct. 11 and runs through Jan. 4.
Rainy
THURSDAY HIGH 56° LOW 45° Partly sunny
HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DAILY
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Freelance audio/video: Contact Multimedia Editor Bridget Bennett at bbennett@mndaily.com.
NEW YORK — Packaged food giant General Mills plans to buy Annie’s, the maker of rabbit-shaped mac and cheese, for $820 million, adding more natural and organic packaged offerings as consumers’ tastes change. General Mills Inc., the company behind classic food brands such as Pillsbur y dough, Progresso soups, Yoplait yogurts and Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, has been tr ying to cut cost and has tweaked its recipes as sales stagnate. Sales have suf fered as Greek yogur t and breakfast sandwiches became popular options for the morning meal. General Mills was slow to realize the growing demand for Greek yogur t, which has more protein than regular yogur t, but it has been adding some other options that it hopes consumers will consider healthier. Those include new Fiber One cookies with 5 grams of fiber and 120 calories. Annie’s sales, on the other hand, grew 20 percent in its latest fiscal year. General Mills said Monday that Annie’s “convenient meals” and snacks businesses were particularly attractive. Annie’s also makes other pastas, frozen pizzas, and snacks like crackers and fruit snacks. The Minneapolis-based company is paying $46 per share for Annie’s Inc., which is based in Berkeley, California. Annie’s board endorsed the offer, which is expected to close later this year. The company went public in March 2012 at $19 per share. Annie’s stock jumped 37 percent in aftermarket trading to $45.97. Its shares have dropped 25 percent over the past 12 months. It has dealt with rising costs for organic wheat and noted “material weaknesses” in its financial reporting. Its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said in June that it would resign. General Mills stock rose 99 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $54.50 in after-hours trading. Its shares have gained 8.8 percent in the last 12 months.
Letters to the editor: Email submissions to letters@mndaily.com Guest columns: Emails submissions to Editorials & Opinions Editor Martin Jaakola at mjaakola@mndaily.com.
EXTENDED WEATHER FORECAST WEDNESDAY HIGH 60° LOW 43°
=
FRIDAY HIGH 57° LOW 39° Rainy
SATURDAY HIGH 62° LOW 46° Mostly sunny
All submissions are welcome, but there is no guarantee of publication. CORRECTIONS
A page 1 article, “Fighting the decline,” in Monday’s Daily incorrectly stated the comments of MaryLynn Pulscher, coordinator of the Minneapolis Monarch Festival. She said the total area in which monarchs could be found last year during their winter in Mexico was roughly the size of a suburban backyard. In years past, the area measured more than 40 acres. errors@mndaily.com 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 22,000 issues daily. All Minnesota Daily inserts are recyclable within the University of Minnesota program and are at least 6 percent consumer waste. One (1) copy of The Minnesota Daily per person is free at newsstands in and around the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. Additional copies may be purchased for 25 cents each. U.S. Postal Service: 351–480.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
3
Pound sinks as Scotland races for independence BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — Britain’s main political leaders scrambled Monday to offer Scotland greater autonomy in a last-minute bid to stave off independence, as the pound sank on opinion polls suggesting separatists are gaining ground — and may even be in the lead. A Yes vote in next week’s referendum would end Scotland’s 307-year-old union with England and plunge Britain into uncharted constitutional and economic waters. Many British politicians and business leaders have long considered that outcome unlikely, and for months polls have put the anti-independence side ahead. But the gap has narrowed ahead of the Sept. 18 vote and one survey released Sunday by pollster YouGov showed the two sides nearly even. YouGov’s methodology — which samples from a pool of online respondents who have signed up for the panel and are paid to participate — is not trusted by all poll-watchers, and other surveys gave the advantage to the No side. But the sense that the race is too close to call rattled independence opponents, and energized supporters. “I don’t think there’s any doubt at all the momentum is with the Yes campaign,” said Scotland’s pro-independence Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. “Increasing numbers of people are concluding the best way to protect the health ser vice, create jobs and ensure we never get Tory governments we don’t vote for is to vote Yes.” The leader of the antiindependence “Better Together” campaign denied his forces were panicking. “I’m ver y confident we will win the day,” said Alistair
Darling, a former British Treasury chief. But the sudden move to offer greater powers to Scotland suggests the No campaign is far from confident. Scotland joined England and Wales to make Great Britain in 1707. Now with a population of 5.3 million —one-tenth of England’s — Scotland already has considerable autonomy, with its own parliament and separate legal and educational systems. Britain’s Conser vative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties — all of whom oppose independence — are preparing to offer Scotland even more financial independence, including greater tax-raising powers, in a bid to avert a Yes vote. Many Scots favor that option — known as maximum devolution, or “devo max” — but it is not on the referendum ballot, which asks whether Scotland should become an independent country. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown was expected to lay out some of the proposals later Monday, arguing that “the status quo is not now on the ballot paper.” He planned to say that Scots faced a choice “between a stronger Scottish Parliament and an irreversible no-going-back separatism,” the Labour Party said. Supporters of independence accuse the No side of running a negative campaign that overstates the risks of independence. The “Yes Scotland” campaign argues that an independent Scotland would be a prosperous country whose oil revenue would underpin a cozy social safety net. The approach has won over many Scots opposed to the budget-slashing policies of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s London government.
Smoking ban policies on the rise across colleges Bans u from Page 1
Jer r y Minger, superintendent of public safety at Indiana University, said there weren’t many issues or complaints when the ban was first implemented and he doesn’t hear about the policy ver y often. He said banning smoking and tobacco is becoming popular among universities and colleges and is “a growing trend within all communities.” Ferdinand Schlapper, Boynton Health Ser vice’s director and chief health of ficer, said the University community’s reception to the ban has been overall positive so far, adding that policies like the University’s ar en’t uncommon. When Schlapper first began working at Boise State University a decade ago, he said, there were ver y few smoke-free schools. Now, nearly 1,400 colleges and universities nationwide are smoke-free, according to Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. “The tr end is over whelming in this direction, and not one school has gone in the other direction,” Schlapper said. The ban also had strong support at the Twin Cities campus before it went into place. More than 60 percent of students said in a 2013 Boynton College Student Health Sur vey that they suppor ted a smoke-free campus policy. In that same sur vey, about 10 percent of students said they smoked daily. When the ban began, Schlapper said media outlets asked him why it took the University so long to go smoke-free and questioned why others haven’t yet, which he said “is really an interesting change
SMOKING AND TOBACCO BANS ON BIG TEN CAMPUSES Smoke-free campuses University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign since Jan. 1, 2014 University of Iowa since July 1, 2008 University of Michigan since Jan. 1, 2011 University of Maryland since July 1, 2013 permits smoking in four areas on campus Purdue since July 1, 2010 permits smoking in some areas on campus
Smoke- and tobacco-free campuses Indiana University since Jan. 1, 2008 University of Minnesota since July 1, 2014 Ohio State since Jan. 1, 2014
JULIET FARMER, DAILY
A police officer ushers pedestrians across University Avenue Southeast on Monday following a Green Line light rail power system issue, which affected more than seven Green Line stops. A piece of metal connecting one of the eastbound trains to the power line broke at about 2:30 p.m. near Moos Tower on the East Bank.
Train damage shuts down Green Line for hours Officials stopped service along a third of the rail for most of the afternoon. BY BLAIR EMERSON bemerson@mndaily.com
Green Line light rail service through the University of Minnesota area was temporarily unavailable Monday afternoon after a train was damaged in Stadium Village. A piece of metal connecting one of the eastbound
light rail trains to the power line above it started sparking and caused the train to stop at about 2:30 p.m. near Moos Tower, Metro Transit spokesman Bruce Howard said. Officials evacuated that train and another one near the next stop at the corner of University Avenue Southeast and Huron Boulevard Southeast, Howard said. No injuries occur red during the incident, officials said. Train ser vice was unavailable between seven light rail stops — from downtown Minneapolis to
the intersection of University Avenue West and Raymond Avenue in St. Paul — during Monday’s evening hours. Buses ferried passengers across the stretch of stops where service was unavailable, Howard said. Strategic communications senior Tommy Kraus said he saw the train’s connecting arm take damage as he was walking to class. “The line started sparking a lot, and there was smoke,” he said. The other evacuated
train, which was undamaged, stopped near the WaHu apartment complex under construction near the corner of Huron Boulevard Southeast and University Avenue Southeast. A gas leak at that building around the same time wasn’t related to the light rail shutdown, said Minneapolis Fire Deputy Chief Donald Leedham. On Aug. 31, light rail service also shut down temporarily when a train struck and killed a pedestrian at a crosswalk.
Hemingway journals spur scientific hunt BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COJIMAR, Cuba — Ernest Hemingway’s love of the sea and eye for detail have scientists hoping that a visit to Cuba by the author’s grandsons will open access to his fishing logs, which may be a treasure trove of information about the state of deep-water species before they were diminished by overfishing. Patrick and John Hemingway launched a fiveday mission to the island Monday intent on helping improve U.S.-Cuba ties and gaining permission for researchers to study the aging documents. Traveling with a team of U.S. marine scientists, the two men sailed a massive, gleaming white sportfishing yacht to the seaside village that inspired their grandfather’s Pulitzer-winning “Old Man and the Sea.” An honor guard of aging local fishing boats and a crowd of hundreds cheered the Hemingways as they gathered around a bust honoring their grandfather. “He was a fisherman,” Patrick Hemingway said. He looked at the local men who welcomed him, then added: “He considered
them his brothers.” Scientists are optimistic the trip could allow them to review Hemingway’s fishing logs, which could help them piece together details about the Florida Strait’s deep-sea fish populations over the last 75 years. Such information could improve efforts to protect the species that sustain Cojimar. Researchers gathered little data in the years before industrial fishing devastated populations of tuna and other highly desired big species in the second half of the last centur y. That leaves sport fishermen’s records — typically containing details of the numbers of fish caught, the location of the catch and weight of the fish — as some of the only resources for marine scientists seeking a benchmark to measure population declines. One of the earliest and most prolific sport fishermen in the Florida Straits, Hemingway lived in Cuba from 1939 to 1960 in a villa on lush, orchard-filled grounds in the village of San Francisco de Paula on the southeast edge of Havana. From Cojimar, he often launched his boat, the Pilar, with first mate Gregorio Fuentes, who helped inspire the aging
fisherman who battles a giant marlin in the “Old Man and the Sea.” That has scientists hoping Hemingway may inadver tently have created an unparalleled scientific resource with the logs he kept as he prowled some of the world’s richest fishing grounds for marlin, sharks and tuna. “Hemingway was there in Cuba for 20 years. If he did keep log books for that long, having 20 years — even if it is only for a single vessel — would be ver y valuable,” said Dr. David Die a U.S.-based fishery scientist. “It would be a record of relative changes in the size and the abundance of fish over a period where we do not have any other records. It’s exactly the type of information that we use nowadays when we assess populations of fish in the ocean.” Hemingway assembled thousands of books, photographs and journals, many of which deteriorated over decades of exposure to Cuba’s baking heat and high humidity, and the longstanding neglect of the estate known as Finca Vigia. The logs are now kept by Cuba’s National Cultural
Heritage Council which, in order to protect the fragile documents, only allows conser vators to handle them. The U.S.-based Finca Vigia foundation is working with the Cuban council to preser ve the house and Hemingway’s many documents. Mar y Jo Adams, executive director of the Boston-based foundation, said she has seen some pages of Hemingway’s fishing logs, which list ever ything from what Hemingway and his guests ate for lunch on a certain day to how many fish they caught and the timing of the tides. The foundation is helping Cuban curators preser ve and digitize thousands of the most significant documents in the Finca Vigia. Adams said she believes many of the fishing logs may be bound and at less risk of deterioration since they have not yet been studied closely. Cuba’s National Cultural Heritage Council declined an Associated Press request to see the logs ahead of the scientists’ trip, saying only conservators could enter the storage room where most of Hemingway’s documents are kept.
Not smoke-free campuses Michigan State not allowed to smoke within 25 feet of campus buildings University of Nebraska-Lincoln not allowed to smoke within 10 feet of campus buildings Northwestern not allowed to smoke within 50 feet of campus buildings Rutgers University of Wisconsin-Madison not allowed to smoke within 25 feet of campus buildings Penn State SOURCE: UNIVERSITIES’ SMOKING POLICIES
in the trend.” Though the fall semester just began and the policy is still new, Schlapper said he believes the University’s ban has been successful thus far, and he doesn’t expect any problems. “We’re not getting a lot of angr y pushback, and people recognize that this is the way the trends are going,” he said.
Gambia imposes life sentence for homosexual acts BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ABIDJAN, Ivor y Coast — Gambia’s National Assembly has passed a bill imposing life imprisonment for some homosexual acts, officials said Monday, potentially worsening the climate for sexual minorities in a countr y with one of Africa’s most vocal antigay leaders. The bill amending the criminal code was passed last month and brings life sentences for “aggravated homosexuality,” minority leader Samba Jallow told The Associated Press. That is a charge leveled at repeat offenders and people living with HIV/AIDS. Jallow said that while his National Reconciliation Party did not condone homosexuality, he voted against the bill along with
one other lawmaker. “In our view, (homosexuals) did not commit a crime wor thy of life imprisonment or any treasonable offense,” he said. Homosexual acts were already punishable by up to 14 years in prison under a Gambian law that was amended in 2005 to apply to women in addition to men. The bill now awaits approval by President Yahya Jammeh, an autocratic ruler who in 2008 instructed gays and lesbians to leave the countr y or risk having their heads cut off. Speaking on state television in Februar y, Jammeh said, “We will fight these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malariacausing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively.”
Jammeh, who came to power in a 1994 coup and is famous for speeches condemning Western powers, has not addressed the new bill publicly. National Assembly Speaker Abdoulie Bojang confir med the new bill was passed last month but would not provide further details. A draft seen by The Associated Press contains language identical to a controversial anti-gay bill signed into law in Uganda earlier this year. In addition to “serial of fenders” and people living with HIV/AIDS, both pieces of legislation say examples of “aggravated homosexuality” include when the suspect engages in homosexual acts with someone who is under 18, disabled or has been drugged.
The term also applies when the suspect is the parent or guardian of the other person or is “in authority over” him or her. It was not immediately clear whether there were changes to the draft prior to the National Assembly vote. Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which drew widespread international condemnation, was overturned last month by the countr y’s Constitutional Court, which declared the law illegal because it was passed during a parliamentar y session that lacked a quorum. Human Rights Watch repor ted in May that the legislation had triggered “a surge in human rights violations,” including arrests, police abuse and evictions.
4
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Initiatives to sell research are growing STEM u from Page 1
young scientists. “One of my big goals with the program is really to change the culture across the University, empower the students,” he said.
Boosting student-driven STEM ventures
While many students rifled through syllabi during the first week of school, some were pitching science, technology, engineering and math-centric business ideas. Among the projects were a robot designed to teach coding, a University-focused transpor tation application and a peer-to-peer advertisement site for students. About 30 students are enrolled in the University course, which is a growing program that preps students from pioneering STEM fields for entrepreneurship. This year, a three-year, $300,000 National Science Foundation grant will help support the class. The funding will expand the University’s Minnesota Innovation Corps, which is one of 15 Innovation Corps sites across the country. The grant will, among other things, fund prototypes and customer marketing expenses, Stavig said. He helped launch the class three years ago and said it appeals to STEM students by bypassing business jargon and by focusing on testing their ideas’ commercial potential. “Too often researchers have a technology they fall in love with,” he said, “but if it doesn’t solve a problem, nobody is going to pay for it.” Post-doctoral student Nicholas Baltes said he lacked the entrepreneurial expertise to make a business pitch out of his molecular biology research. “What I like about this course is that it bridges the gap between science and business,” he said. “That’s something we weren’t really trained on, at least in my education.” Baltes’ team hopes to develop genetically engineered virus-resistant plants through a patented method of transferring bacterial immune systems to plants like
JULIET FARMER, DAILY
Innovations fellow mentor Greg Peterson and professor Art Erdman examine the different materials that can be used by the Medical Devices Center’s 3-D printer on Thursday. Each year, industry partners like Medtronic and Boston Scientific purchase some of the center’s inventions.
Cassava, a staple crop in Africa frequently plagued by disease, he said. In the past, the course has boasted a number of successes, including 14 startup grants and five finalists in the statewide Minnesota Cup business innovation competition. Students benefit even if a business plan proposed at the beginning of the 14-week course doesn’t pan out, Stavig said. He cited the case of one neuroscience doctoral student who attempted to create a more efficient system for doctor-patient communication. “She laid out a concept that made a lot of sense, but … it was never going to be realized,” Stavig said. “She actually jumped into another start-up.” Neuroscience senior Ishan Sahu is cur rently pursuing a similar venture
for a secure hospital communication system after he obser ved loved ones of patients nervously anticipating updates from waiting rooms. Sahu said he wants to use skills he learns in the class and apply them to several other ideas, too. “We’re going to apply it to a single idea as a guinea pig,” he said. Since the class’s beginning, Stavig said the STEM star t-up class has grown from five students gathered around a table in front of his office to a full classroom. In that time, 58 teams, comprised of the class’ students and others, have completed the course. “It’s a great way to apply [students’] learning,” Stavig said. “They care a lot mor e than when they’re in their marketing class or their finance class, because they’re solving
their own problems.”
Taking faculty research off the shelf, into markets
In the six years since its establishment, the Medical Devices Center, a center that allows students and faculty across fields like neurology, veterinary medicine and dentistry to create new medical devices, has generated over 150 patent disclosures. Art Erdman, director of the center, said it draws several industry partners each year — like Medtronic and Boston Scientific — that are interested in purchasing the inventions that come out of center’s labs. Through Minnesota Innovation Par tnerships, existing industr y par tners like the U.S. Department of Commerce can license those University technologies.
Close call at SE Como bus stop UMPD arrested a repeat trespasser and two would-be bike thieves. BY NICK WICKER nwicker@mndaily.com
Around noon Thursday, University of Minnesota junior Sara Gorman waited for her bus at the corner of 27th and Como avenues Southeast. As she stood, phone in hand, she said a man approached her and joined her in the bus shelter. Gorman said she thought he was simply waiting as well, but after about a minute, he spun around and began to threaten her with a concealed weapon. “He whipped around and had something in his sweatshirt that he was pointing at me — but it was hidden — and said, ‘Give me everything you have,’” Gorman said. The man continued to threaten her and grew angrier at her awestruck response, Gorman said. As his threats became more vulgar, he pressed the weapon against her face, she said. At that point, Gorman said she realized the object wasn’t a gun and decided to resist when the man reached for her phone. “He was tr ying to grab my phone with his left hand, which is why I’m guessing I could easily grab it back from him,” she said. At that point, the suspect moved on, picking up the victim’s backpack and fleeing the bus stop shelter, according to an email crime alert sent to the University community Friday. It was then that a passerby saw what was happening and
chased down the suspect, Gorman said. The aiding stranger retrieved the backpack and forced the suspect to drop his sweatshirt, revealing the screwdriver it had been concealing, she said. “I don’t know who he was or anything,” Gorman said, adding that the stranger asked if he should stay, but she insisted he catch the bus and go to class. Minneapolis police are investigating the crime and searching for the suspect, who fled north on 27th Avenue Southeast and may have driven off in a gray vehicle, according to a police report.
Man arrested for trespassing in East Bank building
Of ficers repor ted to Weaver-Densford Hall at about 7 p.m. Friday, where they found a man trying to board an elevator inside the building, according to a police report. The University of Minnesota Police Department had received a call that the individual had been “aggressively panhandling and swearing at passersby,” the report said. The suspect was in violation of an existing trespass warning, the repor t said, so police reissued the warning, cited the man and escor ted him out of the area. Because he had been previously warned, the suspect was not allowed on any East Bank campus buildings, University police Deputy Chief Chuck Miner said. “We issue trespass warnings when they’re involved in harassing or threatening or disruptive behavior,” Miner said.
OTHER CRIMES NEAR CAMPUS Crime: When: Where: Info:
Theft from building Aug. 30 Coffman Union A student said he waited several days to report his backpack stolen from the Great Hall of Coffman Union to see if it would turn up, according to a police report. Video surveillance was unavailable for the area, the police report said.
Crime: When: Where: Info:
Theft from building Tuesday Diehl Hall A teaching assistant reported his wallet, along with his credit cards, driver’s license and U Card, stolen from the circulation desk in the basement of Diehl Hall, a police report said.
Crime: When: Where: Info:
Littering Thursday 14th Avenue Southeast and Sixth Street Southeast At about midnight Thursday, police watched a student throw a can of Rolling Rock beer into a nearby yard, according to a police report, and cited him for littering.
Crime: When: Where: Info:
Motor vehicle theft Between 9:30 p.m. Thursday and 8:30 a.m. Friday 14th Avenue Southeast A student reported her moped stolen after she left it overnight at the Marshall apartments. While the vehicle was not secured to anything, its steering was locked, the report said, and the victim said she had the only set of keys.
Crime: When: Where: Info:
Flee on foot, public consumption Saturday 12th Avenue Southeast Just after midnight Saturday, police observed a man not affiliated with the University walking on University Avenue Southeast with an open container of gin, a police report said. When police tried to stop him, the man fled on 12th Avenue Southeast but left behind his backpack, Miner said. Officers contacted the suspect to meet him in person, Miner said, and then cited him. SOURCES: MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT, UMPD
The University’s Building Access Program wouldn’t have stopped this crime since it happened at 6:40 p.m. on a Friday when the doors weren’t set to lock, he said.
Sur veillance cameras aid in multiple citations
Employees of the University’s Department of Central Security were monitoring video surveillance when they spotted two men — neither of whom is affiliated with the
University — attempting to steal a bicycle from racks in front of the Recreation and Wellness Center, according to a police report. They also saw one of those two men, along with a third suspect, urinating on the Minnesota International Center about a block away on University Avenue Southeast, the report said. Police stopped and cited the three men — two with lurking with intent to commit crime and two with urinating in public, the report said.
Erdman helped create a 3-D system used to test prototypes virtually, called the “coffee table.” He said the MN-IP program helped get the product out on the market. “Industry [partners are] really interested in working with us through MN-IP,” he said. Since MN-IP’s creation in 2011, the Office for Technology Commercialization has crafted 123 agreements between faculty members and about 90 companies, said Rick Huebsch, OTC’s associate director of Software and Physical Sciences. He said MN-IP keeps faculty research from sitting on a shelf. Earlier this year, MN-IP created a new component that allows companies to test out University inventions before purchasing them. Erdman said many researchers would rather
focus on their work than the business aspect of getting it commercialized. Huebsch said researchers appreciate MN-IP because it can speed up the transaction process, bypassing licensing paperwork that can sometimes take up to a month. “The biggest thing we want researchers to focus on is their research,” he said. President Eric Kaler previously told the Minnesota Daily that the University’s model for transitioning research into entrepreneurial ventures impressed members of the Norwegian Parliament in his recent trip to the country. “They’re ver y interested in technology transfer and moving inventions out of the universities into the marketplace,” he said. “We excel at that at the University of Minnesota.”
MN-based Cargill rejects calls to move Arkansas hog farm BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Minnesota-based food processor Cargill said Monday that it has no intention to shutter or relocate an Arkansas hog farm, despite concerns from environmentalists who say the operation poses a pollution threat to the nearby Buffalo River. A Cargill spokesman said the company is committed to installing newer technology at its Mount Judea facility in northern Arkansas — including using synthetics to line the holding pond and settling basin and installing a flare system to burn off gasses — and has already self-imposed a moratorium on expansion of hog production in the watershed area. The Buffalo was the country’s first designated national river in 1972, and is a large tourism draw for the state. At least four conser vation groups have raised concerns for more than a year that manure r unof f could affect the quality of one of the state’s scenic crown jewels. The farm is located on a tributary less than 10 miles from the river and has some 2,500 sows and 4,000 piglets, all of which are owned by Cargill. The three families who own the hog farm contract with Cargill, which owns the animals. Mike Martin, a Cargill spokesman, said the hog operation has told the company it wants to stay in the area and that that farmers there have done nothing wrong. “There’s a frustration because there are other things
directly impacting the quality of the river: livestock operations and cattle ranches are all over the place, including near the park boundaries, there’s cattle standing in the river,” Martin said Monday. “There are other things that are impacting water quality, and those aren’t being addressed.” Perhaps illustrating the recent tension between the company and its critics, Mike Luker, the president of Cargill Pork, confessed in a letter last month to the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance that “a solution which satisfies all is probably unrealistic.” Environmental groups congratulated Cargill on its self-imposed moratorium, but pledged to keep applying pressure on the company to relocate the operation. “We assume part of this is about setting a precedent— if they shut this one down, then environmentalists will be clamoring all over the countr y to shut other operations down,” said Gordon Watkins, the president of the watershed alliance. National Parks Conservation Association program manager Emily Jones said in a statement that while the coalition is pleased Cargill has voluntarily committed to the moratorium, an operation such as C&H “should not have been placed directly upstream from America’s first national river to begin with.” Martin said Cargill and conservationists can co-exist in the area.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
5
Historic ag. practice could help trees Biochar u from Page 1
department, adding that urban soil can sometimes lack nutrients. “There are some pretty harsh sites along boulevards,” he said. “We’re tr ying to give trees a head start.” Making sure trees can grow quickly is especially important now because of the recent infestation of emerald ash borers, insects that kill ash trees, Doten said. As the city removes ash trees, he said, they’re replacing them with other tree species and using biochar, which is anticipated to help the replacements grow faster. University researchers and city staff have planted 11 tree species with biochar, and they’ll monitor the ef fects over time, he said. “[Biochar] works really well in depleted soils,” Doten said. “So we’re hoping the trees will grow pretty quickly.”
A rich histor y Burning vegetation over farmland and using the remains to hold nutrients is a technique that dates back hundreds of years, Doten said, and similar products like biochar still have modern uses. For example, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community uses biochar in an urban garden called the Mashkiikii Gitigan, which is Ojibwe for Medicine
AMANDA SNYDER, DAILY
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges signs an initiative with Chair of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Charlie Vig at a local urban garden last Tuesday in Minneapolis. The urban garden used biochar to grow its plants, and the University is one of the first in the nation to research biochar in farming.
Garden. Members of the community grow vegetables and tobacco in biochar-enriched plots. “One of the most impor tant things is teaching the youth how to grow and
har vest food,” said Austin Bar told, an executive chef for a local community center who supplements his cooking with ingredients from the Mashkiikii Gitigan.
Ethiopia to see thousands of new Ebola patients BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONROVIA, Liberia — The United States and Britain will send medical equipment and military personnel to help contain West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, as the World Health Organization warned Monday that many thousands of new infections are expected in Liberia in the coming weeks. The current Ebola outbreak is the largest on record. It has spread from Guinea to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal and killed more than 2,000 people. An “exponential increase” in new cases is expected in the hardest-hit countries in coming weeks, the U.N. health agency warned. “As soon as a new Ebola treatment facility is opened, it immediately fills to overflowing with patients, pointing to a large but previously invisible caseload,” WHO
said in a statement about the situation in Liberia. “Many thousands of new cases are expected in Liberia over the coming three weeks.” So far, more than 3,500 people have been infected, nearly half of them in Liberia. The outbreak has taken a particularly heavy toll on health workers. The World Health Organization announced Monday that one of its doctors working in Sierra Leone has been infected with Ebola. In response to the spiraling disaster, U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday that the military would help to set up isolation units and provide security for public health workers responding to the outbreak. Militar y personnel will set up a 25-bed field hospital in the Liberian capital, Col. Steven Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday. The clinic will be
used to treat health care workers, a high number of whom have become infected in this outbreak. Once set up, the center will be turned over to the Liberian government. There is no plan to staf f it with U.S. militar y personnel, Warren said. Liberia welcomed the news. “This is not Liberia’s particular fight; it is a fight that the international community must engage ver y, very seriously and bring all possible resources to bear,” said Information Minister Lewis Brown. In addition, Britain will open a 62-bed treatment center in Sierra Leone in the coming weeks. It will be operated by military engineers and medical staf f with help from the charity Save the Children, Britain’s Depar tment for Inter national Development said Monday.
Killer whale newborn spotted BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE — Whale researchers are celebrating the newest member of a population of endangered killer whales that frequent Puget Sound in Washington state. The baby orca spotted over the weekend in waters off San Juan is the population’s first calf born since 2012. A researcher saw it swimming between two adult females, most likely the orca’s mom and aunt, said Ken Balcomb with the Center for Whale Research, which keeps a census of the whales. The orca is probably less than a week old, he said. Researchers don’t know yet whether it’s a boy or a girl. The baby is a member
of the L pod, one of three extended families of whales that are closely tracked and photographed by researchers. Its birth is reason to celebrate, Balcomb said. But he cautioned that orcas are still struggling to recover because of pollution, lack of food and other reasons. The newbor n orca brings the number of killer whales in the Puget Sound population to 79, Balcomb said. T wo whales were confirmed missing and presumed dead this year. The unique population, known as southern resident killer whales, numbered more than 140 animals decades ago but declined to a low of 71 in the 1970s when dozens of the mammals were captured live to be
displayed at marine parks and aquariums across the country. Orcas were listed as endangered in 2005, after local and regional ef for ts began in the 2000s to conserve them. “The resident orcas that eat salmon are declining because the salmon population is also endangered,” Balcomb said Monday. “What we have to do is get really serious about wild salmon restoration and recover y, which is the food supply for these guys.” He said billions of dollars have spent on salmon recover y, but orcas are still in decline. “What’s the issue here? Overhar vests? Dams? Militar y exercises? What? We have to figure it out,” he added.
Bar told, who is Native American, said when he was a child his family would cultivate its own garden using traditional burning techniques. Doten said the market
for biochar is negligible right now. But Gordon said if it proves beneficial, he hopes that the product’s use will eventually grow enough to spread across the city.
“It’d be great to see if these gar dens bring bigger yields,” Gordon said. “What we have right now is a pilot, but maybe we’ll create a market for it.”
6
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Credits from for-profits may not transfer At the U, transfer students typically can’t use credits from for-profit institutions. BY CHRISTOPHER AADLAND caadland@mndaily.com
A lawsuit filed against two for-profit colleges has highlighted the pitfalls of transferring credits from those types of schools to their nonprofit counterparts. This summer, the Minnesota Attorney General’s office sued Minnesota-based for-profit college Globe University and its sister college, the Minnesota School of Business, alleging that the schools used aggressive recruiting tactics and misled students about the transferability of credits. Some education officials say public and nonprofit institutions like the University of Minnesota rarely accept transfer credits from for-prof-
it colleges, often leading to discouraged students. The credit transfer problem stems from dif ferent accrediting methods among nonprofit and for-profit schools, the officials say. Some nonprofit institutions — like the University — are reluctant to accept credits from for-profit schools because many of them are nationally accredited colleges that have different standards than regionally accredited schools, said Jeff Pool, veteran services adviser for Anoka-Ramsey Community College. At the University, the accreditation of an institution is one of the determining factors when deciding which credits the school will accept, said Rachelle Hernandez, associate vice provost for en-
rollment management and director of admissions, in an email statement. The University will only consider transfer credits from regionally accredited institutions, she said in the email. “Credit is not normally transferred from specialized or proprietary institutions,” Her nandez wrote in the email. The difference between different accreditation types is something few students understand, Pool said. For-profit recr uiters might tell a student that their college is nationally accredited, he said, but sometimes nonprofit schools are looking for regional accreditation if students want to eventually transfer credits. The lawsuit by the attorney general’s office alleges
that Globe University and the Minnesota School of Business used that confusion to “deceptively blur the distinction between national and regional accreditation.” But for-profit of ficials argue that complications with transfer ring credits aren’t specific to their sector. Nonprofit and public schools like the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system have credit transfer issues, too, said Naomi McDonald, director of communications for Globe Education Network, which includes the for-profit colleges in the lawsuit. She said Globe Education Network has a clear and welldefined credit transfer policy, adding that the institution to which a student transfers
“They’re frustrated, they’re mad ... but most of them still end up enrolling here or somewhere else that has the program they’re looking for, because they want a degree.” JEFF POOL Veteran services adviser for Anoka-Ramsey Community College
ultimately determines which credits count there. “We believe students should always get credit for successfully completed coursework,” she said. Although for-profit students often get credits turned down when they transfer to nonprofit universities, sometimes a few credits will transfer, Pool said. “But it’s very, very rare, and usually it involves having to petition [a denial],” he
said. Ultimately, Pool said, most students who come to his institution seeking to transfer credit from a for-profit “stick it out,” even after they discover that few or none of their credits will transfer. “They’r e fr ustrated, they’re mad,” he said, “but most of them still end up enrolling here or somewhere else that has the program they’re looking for, because they want a degree.”
Debate on Dinkytown bike lane, parking continues CURRENT BIKE LANE IN DINKYTOWN NO BIKE LANE
EAS
STR
EET
SO
UTH
TH
UTH
SO
FIF
T
BIKE LANE
EAS
T
UE
The conflict between people and parking is catalyzed by area traffic, as the opening of parked car doors and moving vehicles can be perilous for two-wheeled pedalers cycling down Fourth Street Southeast. Steven Hedding, a deliver y bicyclist for Jimmy John’s and a University graduate, said he would suppor t a bike lane down Fourth Street Southeast in Dinkytown. “I cer tainly think it’ll improve bicycle safety,” he said. “It’s always a danger passing parked cars.”
AVE N
operating outside Loring Pasta Bar to relocate. Just over 17,000 cars whiz down Four th Street Southeast on a daily basis, with more than a thousand driving down the street each hour during its peak traffic times, from noon to 7 p.m. “I wouldn’t ride [a bicycle] down Fourth any more than I could absolutely avoid it,” said Jim Sander, whose wife owns Kafe 421.
a lot of different ways,” said Bill Lindeke, a geography doctoral student and bicycle advocate, “but the main thing is that you provide safety and comfort to the 90 percent of people that actually walk and bike there.” The bike lane is still in early stages of proposal, allowing for discussions to continue, said Simon Blenski, a bicycle planner for Minneapolis. “It hasn’t gone ver y far yet,” Blenski said. “It’s really just some community interest in connecting the bike lane.”
TH
u from Page 1
Sander said the area has lost close to 300 parking spots because of major construction in the past year. Rob Dettof f, owner of Varsity Bike and Transit on Four th Street Southeast, said he has heard of two solutions to the dilemma. One calls for eliminating a parking lane and replacing it with a bike lane. The other would reduce the road to two lanes of through traffic and convert the third lane into a single parkway that buffers a bike lane along the sidewalk. “You can solve parking in
15
Bicycles
SOURCE: MN DAILY REPORTING
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Iraq goes forward with new Cabinet BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s parliament officially named Haider al-Abadi the countr y’s new prime minister late Monday and approved most of his proposed Cabinet amid calls by the Arab League for its members to combat the Sunni militant group violently advancing across Iraq and Syria. Lawmakers approved all of the candidates proposed for Iraq’s new government, with the exception of a few posts, namely the defense and interior ministers. AlAbadi requested an additional week to name them. Outgoing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and former Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujeifi were given the largely ceremonial posts of co-vice president. Kurdish politician and former Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari was named as one of three deputy prime ministers. Former premier Ibrahim al-Jafaari was named foreign minister. The U.S. and other countries have been pushing for a more representative government that will ease anger among Sunnis, who felt marginalized by al-Maliki’s administration, helping fuel the dramatic sweep by the Islamic State extremist group over much of northern and western Iraq since June. Speaking before parliament, Al-Abadi vowed to “back the militar y operations in all the areas of confrontation against the armed gangs and the forces of terrorism and ensuring their continuation till victory is achieved.” The proposed resolution by the Arab League does not explicitly back an expanded American
military operation targeting the group. It leaves room, however, for it to work with whatever approach U.S. President Barack Obama lays out during his planned speech Wednesday on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. That could give Obama enough leeway to gather suppor t from Arab countries already divided over the Syrian civil war. “There will be no signing on a white paper,” said Mustafa Alani, the director of the security and defense department at the Gulf Research Center in Geneva. Arabs are looking for “equal ef for ts in changing the situation in Syria. Without it, it is a lost war.” The White House said Obama called Al-Abadi on Monday to congratulate him and the Iraqi people on approval of a new government. Secretar y of State John Kerry said the formation of the Iraqi government “is unquestionably a major milestone for Iraq, and what President Obama has made clear will be a cornerstone of our efforts against” the Islamic State militants. Obama was to brief congressional leaders Tuesday ahead of his televised address. Both Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel are expected to visit the Middle East this week to gather support for whatever action Obama unveils. The League’s resolution, issued as a separate statement from a comprehensive one dealing with Arab affairs, reflected a new sense of urgency among the 22-member states to challenge the militant group. The Arab League’s chief has called the group an existential threat to Arab countries that should be dealt with
firmly. The resolution called for immediate measures to combat the group on the political, defense, security and legal levels. It also said the group’s finances and recruitment grounds should be dried up, without elaborating on any of the points. The r esolution also backed the United Nations resolution issued last month that imposed sanctions on a number of the group’s fighters and called on countries to adopt measures to combat terrorism. The council resolution was adopted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, meaning it can be militarily enforced. Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region have been critical of the U.S. reluctance to enter the Syrian civil war— in which Iran, a major non-Arab rival in the region, has been a main backer of the government of President Bashar Assad. Saudi Arabia would vehemently oppose any international action against extremists that strengthens Assad’s hand or clears the path for his forces to regain territor y. The U.S. relying too heavily on Iranian assistance also could torpedo Saudi support for any proposal. Some Iranian Shiites have traveled to Iraq to protect shrines in the country, though the Islamic Republic’s government repeatedly has denied deploying troops there. Saudi Arabia likely would be willing to openly support a U.S.-backed coalition, but may not want to provide ground or air support since this could anger powerful ultraconservatives who despise Assad but view the Islamic State group’s Iraqi advance as a Sunni rebellion against Shiite oppression.
7
8
Editorials & Opinions FOOD
Organic eating on the rise, as is the cost Despite minimal evidence that organic food is really healthier, demand for it continues to rise.
T
he increasing demand for organic foods is causing a dilemma in the produce aisle. Organically grown foods have broadened our options in the market. Today, shoppers can find organic food not only in farmers markets but also in the same locations as conventionally grown foods, including supermarkets and club stores. The growth in demand for organic foods is expected to continue into 2018 with a 14 percent annual growth rate. Not only is organic food good for you, but it’s also good for the U.S. economy. Organic food is an emerging trend across the country, with more than three-quarters of American families reporting that they sometimes purchase organic food. But is it worth the cost? Organic food in supermarkets tends to be more expensive because of costly farming practices such as crop rotation and natural fertilizers. Organic producers gain more of the food dollar when selling directly to consumers. In a recent study, researchers examined the past 50 years of articles on the nutrient content of conventional versus organic
BROOKE BOVEE columnist
food. They concluded that the two food types’ nutrient contents do not significantly differ, though the study is ongoing. However, there are other benefits to buying organic foods, including a lack of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Organic farming benefits the environment by preserving water and soil quality and reducing pollution. Pesticides used in conventional farming to protect crops from diseases and insects can lead to chemical runoff, which can have a toxic effect on aquatic ecosystems. These same pesticides are made from fossil fuels and can also increase the effects of climate change. Use of pesticides on vegetables and fruit is commonly associated with an increased risk of cancer. Fruits and vegetables contain very small amounts of pesticides, and there’s no evidence that suggests these amounts increase the risk of cancer. In fact, people who eat fruits and vegetables have a slightly lower cancer risk. A study by the Environmental Working
Fruits and vegetables contain very small amounts of pesticides, and there’s no evidence that suggests these amounts increase the risk of cancer. Group analyzed residue from pesticides and found that apples are one of the foods that contain the most pesticides, while avocados contain some of the least. If you are still concerned that your produce may contain harmful residue, buying organic apples and conventional avocados could help balance out your spending on groceries. The cost of buying organic food for the sake of fewer pesticides may not be worth the cost, but buying organic food to protect the environment and boost the economy is well worth the cost for those who can afford it. For students, purchasing organic foods at our campus’s farmers market means taking out the middleman, buying straight from the source. This translates to purchasing organic food at cheaper prices, as opposed to what you would find at a grocery store. Please send comments to letters@mndaily.com.
DAILY DISCUSSION
Comment on ‘Increase in wages not enough’
The push for a higher minimum wage is in par t driven by unions, where baseline wages are often pegged to the minimum wage in collective bargaining agreements. From cryptical via MNDaily.com
Comment on ‘State turns focus to Med School reputation’
The Medical School has potential advantage as par t of an Academic Health Center with five highly ranked schools and colleges of the health sciences and professional disciplines: Dentistr y, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Veterinar y Medicine. I cer tainly hope that the committee recognizes and considers this in their recommendations for how the Medical School proceeds to improve. It is, after all, a ver y dif ferent world in the health professions and sciences than just a few years ago. We have an opportunity to innovate which I sincerely hope is not lost. From John_Finnegan via MNDaily.com
ACT requirement will benefit students
A new state requirement will require all high school juniors in Minnesota to take the ACT in order to graduate from high school beginning this year. In an effort to increase the number of graduates who apply for college, Minnesota’s high average ACT test scores will likely remain unaffected, the Minnesota Daily reported Monday. Instead, this new standard will encourage traditionally disadvantaged students to begin preparing for college admissions early on. While not ever yone will attend a university, an increasing number of schools across the countr y accept ACT scores instead of giving preference to the SAT. Moreover, some community colleges are recommending that applicants submit ACT scores along with their transcripts. While it may seem extreme to require all high school students to take the ACT, we don’t see any disadvantages to adding this requirement. It will only broaden opportunities for everyone. The Editorial Board
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled the latest Obama administration plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, especially coal burners — the country’s single largest source of the heat-trapping gas. The new program bypasses Congress and uses President Obama’s authority under the Clean Air Act to achieve greenhouse gas reductions. It will likely raise threats of lawsuits, claims of job losses, higher energy prices and references to the recent pause in global temperatures dating from the beginning of the 21st century. The Obama program on climate change stresses extreme weather events as a primar y motive for action on climate. Such events include storms with “heavy downpours, an increase in wildfires, more severe
EDITORIALS Citizens United ruling helps GOP
A
recent study found that the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has conferred a distinct advantage to Republican candidates in state legislative elections. The 28 states that allowed independent expenditures before the Citizens United ruling served as the study’s control group, while the remaining 22 states were the primary focus for researchers at the University of Alberta, Emory University and Competition Economics, which conducted the study. Overall, independent expenditures have made it 6 percentage points more likely that a Republican candidate will win a state legislative race. In the six most affected states, which includes Minnesota, the likelihood of a Republican victory has increased by 10 percentage points or more since 2010. Additionally, the researchers found that there were an increased number of Republican candidates who ran for re-election, and fewer Democrats who ran for state House elections. For Minnesota’s 2010 election, the study found that two pro-Republican groups — the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce — spent an average of $28,300 on each of their 12 victorious candidates. This represented 34 percent of the money spent in those campaigns, and it surpassed direct contributions to candidates by a 2-1 ratio. At the same time, liberal groups also wield a newfound influence on elections. In 2012, the Alliance for a Better Minnesota, financed by labor unions, spent more than $1.9 million on legislative races. Corporate expenditure on elections necessitates the public’s active participation in the political system. In the hopes of furthering a fair race, we encourage every eligible voter — regardless of his or her political stance — to vote in the upcoming elections this November.
Pack & Give aids in reducing trash Lea Graber welcomes comments at lgraber@mndaily.com.
SAFETY
Increased security is excessive While safety is important for everyone, citations for minor traffic violations seem unfair.
T
he University of Minnesota invested $4 million this year to increase security around campus, with new safety measures including more police officers and additional cameras around the area. Remembering all of last year’s crime, I first thought new security would be a great idea. But now my opinion has changed. Vice President for University Ser vices Pamela Wheelock said informing students about traffic laws is the top priority of campus police officers. Although it is clear that the University wants nothing but safety for its students, it seems like traffic police have been doing more than giving out “warnings” and “information.” Earlier this week, I needed to cross the Green Line light rail tracks to get across the street. When I got there, the green walk sign had just changed to red. I decided to jaywalk — I know it’s illegal, but in my defense, there were no cars, buses or light rail trains in sight. A police officer stopped me and asked for identification. By the time the officer
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Tough action needed on climate change
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
droughts, permafrost thawing, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise.” The EPA directives will allow states to set up their own systems to achieve mandated cuts in CO2 emissions, including setting an overall “carbon budget” for states and leaving it up to them to meet the limits. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the rules will give states “flexibility to develop plans on how to achieve those reductions in a way that’s economically beneficial to them.” The cur rent 21st-centur y pause in global warming has given ammunition to skeptics who will oppose the EPA rules as not necessar y. But climate scientist John Abraham of St. Thomas University explains the reason for the current global warming pause. Much of the missing heat is being absorbed by the oceans, he notes, so that the Earth overall is still warming. Additional CO2 is making oceans less alkaline than in the recent past. This affects
THE EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS DEPARTMENT IS INDEPENDENT OF THE NEWSROOM
DESTANIE MARTIN-JOHNSON columnist
finally came out of the car and abruptly held out a yellow citation for me, I was beyond irritated. Being stopped for jaywalking is one thing, but being given a citation without a warning first is quite another. Four million dollars is a lot. I feel that the school could be doing more than fining jaywalkers and students, many of whom already have their own financial struggles. I’m more concerned with crimes like robberies and molestations than pedestrian traffic violations. We want to feel safe, not harassed. I understand that the officers are just trying to do their job and that sometimes they need to be stern in order to enforce the law. That said, doling out pricey jaywalking tickets just doesn’t seem like an effective way to provide the help or the safe environment they were hired for. Please send comments to letters@mndaily.com.
the oceans’ many calcifiers, coral reefs and shellfish that build structures and shells from calcium carbonate, a process that suffers in more acidic sea water. Warmer oceans will warm us in the future, much as the periodic El Niño induced warmer Pacific surface waters, resulting in a warmer Earth. I suggest that we humans are engaged in a great environmental experiment as we burn millions of years’ worth of stored hydrocarbon fuels, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere from which it came at a thousand times nature’s carbon storage rate. I would feel better if I heard more about tough measures like carbon taxes and using new, safer nuclear plants, such as the Westinghouse AP1000. Four of those plants are under construction in Georgia and South Carolina, and several more in the works in China. We also need more. Rolf Westgard Professional member of the Geological Society of America and guest faculty member on energy subjects for the U‘s Lifelong Learning Program
A
t the beginning and the end of every school year, University of Minnesota students generate an unusually large amount of trash. Moving in and out of campus housing often means leaving behind furniture, appliances and decorations that are still in good condition. The Pack & Give Back program — run collaboratively by the University, the city of Minneapolis and nearby neighborhood associations — is trying to reduce the student waste stream. The program has already rescued about 70,000 pounds of reusable goods from garbage bins, and its operators likely collected more goods this year as the program expanded into new campus-area neighborhoods it didn’t previously reach. All of the rescued goods are donated to charitable organizations or made available for donors and students at the University’s “Free Store” in Southeast Como. Pack & Give Back is a practical way to solve several facets of a complex problem. The program diverts useful products from the waste stream, giving them new life and alleviating trash buildup in dorms and local neighborhoods. In turn, these products can be given away or sold at affordable prices to students and residents who may not be able to afford new furniture or appliances. The program seems to be working well in only its second year, and we hope that Pack & Give Back will continue its successes and growth in future years. 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 600 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.
letters@mndaily.com Fax: (612) 435-5865 Phone: (612) 435-1578 Letters and columns to the editor 2221 University Ave. SE Suite 450 Minneapolis, MN 55414
LOOK FOR ONLINE EXCLUSIVE COLUMNS AT WWW.MNDAILY.COM/OPINION
@MNDAILYOPINIONS
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Sports
9
@MNDAILYSPORTS
FOOTBALL
Student season ticket sales up
Football u from Page 1
“We were talking about maybe making a road trip someday, and last year we went to three games in three days,” Vander Tuig said. Their journey started in the Ohio River Valley, beginning with a Thursday night contest between Rutgers and Louisville. “On Thursday we were talking to a lot of people, and the way Mike tells it is, ‘This is my buddy, and he wants to see all these football teams, and he invited me along for the weekend,’ ” Vander Tuig said. “And Friday it was, ‘Yeah this is my buddy, and he wants to cross off every college football team in America, and I’m going to do about half of ’em with him.’ “And by Saturday, it was, ‘We’re two high school friends that want to see every team in America together.’ ” Fulton came up with the name that ver y weekend. With a Twitter account and a Facebook page, “Mission: College Football” was born.
Two guys from Iowa
JULIET FARMER, DAILY
Fans fill the stands for Minnesota’s game against Middle Tennessee State at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday. The announced attendance for the game was 47,223.
More victories and new marketing initiatives have led to the increase. BY SAM KRAEMER skraemer@mndaily.com
Since his hiring at Minnesota almost four years ago, head coach Jer r y Kill has steadily improved the Gophers football program. The team’s recent success, in addition to an increased marketing ef for t from the athletics depar tment, has helped boost 2014 student ticket sales. In 2012, a year after the Gophers finished with a 3-9 record, the depar tment sold 43,765 student tickets. That was roughly 4,000 fewer than the previous year. But after the team improved to 6-7 in 2012 and
8-5 last year, those numbers have increased by thousands. Marketing efforts from the athletics depar tment, like the Jerr ysota student tailgate lot and the Brick by Brick weekly video series, have captured the attention of football-loving students. As of Sept. 3, the University had sold 49,816 student tickets for the 2014 season. Associate athletics director for strategic communications Chris Werle said the marketing depar tment has placed more focus on social media engagement in recent years. “We’ve tried to make it easier for students to share their experiences, whether they’re tailgating or in the game,” Werle said. This year, the tailgate lot features a DJ, Fris-
bee and bean bag tailgate games, smells of charcoal and enthusiasm for Gophers football. “The environment with things like this [Jerr ysota lot] make it seem like a Big Ten football game,” senior neuroscience major Kristen Kraimer said. Theater and communications senior Katie O’Neill said she bought student football tickets for the first time this year. “I hadn’t heard great things about the games, and the team wasn’t doing so well my first three years,” O’Neill said. She said she decided to buy the tickets because of the improved experience. “People said last year that the games were a lot more fun, and they’re doing a lot better with the marketing,” O’Neill said. Neuroscience senior Tyler Tschumperlin said he is
STUDENT TICKET SALES 48,743
47,799
49,816
43,765
2011
2012
2013
2014* *as of Sept. 3, 2014
SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
a fan of the Jerrysota lot. “I think it enriches the experience,” he said. “It’s better than before when we were at the [Metrodome] when no one could tailgate.” But for many students, buying tickets is a decision
mainly tied to the team’s performance. “The team’s progressively getting better each year. Especially after last year, it wasn’t even a doubt this year,” conser vation biology senior Kyle Pagel said.
MEN’S GOLF
Minnesota places fourth at first tournament Sophomore Jose Mendez paced the Gophers, tying for fifth place overall. BY BETSY HELFAND bhelfand@mndaily.com
Jose Mendez placed first among his teammates in Minnesota’s final five tournaments last season. And on Sunday and Monday, Mendez picked up right where he left off — the sophomore led his team to a four th-place finish in the Gopher Invitational. “Our leader on the golf course came to play,” head coach John Carlson said. Minnesota finished behind Baylor, California and Charlotte at 31-over par. Junior Jon DuToit said the team didn’t finish as strong as it would have liked, but it can only build moving forward. DuToit finished third among Gophers golfers behind Mendez and Tyler Lowenstein, who both finished in the top 10. Lowenstein, who was the top amateur at last month’s North Dakota Open, continued his success in the Gopher Invitational. “I ask all these guys, if you have confidence, [to]
MEN’S GOLF RESULTS
GOLFER Jose Mendez Tyler Lowenstein Jon DuToit Matt Rachey Grady Meyer
RD1 72 73 73 76 80
RD2 72 74 72 83 77
RD3 71 71 78 74 78
TOTAL 215 218 223 233 235
TEAM 1 Baylor 2 California 3 Charlotte 4 Minnesota 5 New Mexico
RD1 289 293 296 294 292
RD2 283 289 294 295 305
RD3 290 296 292 294 289
TOTAL 862 878 882 883 886
*out of 14 teams
SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
ride the confidence. And certainly in golf [that] goes a long way,” Carlson said. Lowenstein was Minnesota’s top golfer at the Gopher Invitational last year and said the course at Windsong Farm Golf Club “sets up well” for him. “[It has] wider fair ways and I can kind of rely on my irons and my putting, which is nice,” Lowenstein said. As a team, Carlson said he was happy with the Gophers’ short game, especially considering the weather conditions. “It was really windy out here the last couple days, so that kind of made it a little more tough with the water coming into play and the deep rough out here,”
ALEX TUTHILL-PREUS, DAILY
Sophomore Jose Mendez swings at Windsong Farm Golf Club on Sunday at the Gopher Invitational. Mendez tied for fifth at the tournament, and the Gophers placed fourth overall.
DuToit said. DuToit called the team’s short game “sharp” but said it could work on driving the ball moving forward. Prior to the Gopher Invitational, Minnesota hadn’t had a “formal practice” yet with its freshmen, Carlson said. Still, five Gophers golfers competed as individuals, including all three of the team’s freshmen. “I wanted them to go out
there and act as a team, and that’s why we had five of them,” Carlson said. He specifically noted the performances of freshmen Riley Johnson and Rúnar Arnórsson, two golfers who could become big contributors for the Gophers. Minnesota doesn’t compete again until Sept. 21, which will give Carlson a chance to learn more about
his young team. “I have to have some time to really assess and break down where ever yone is at,” he said. But for the team’s first performance, the Gophers seem happy with where they are. “I know we have a lot of new faces on our team this year, so it was good to get off to a decent start,” DuToit said.
Neither Fulton nor Vander Tuig ever took the field as a college football player, but both talk about the traditions and pageantry as if they suited up ever y Saturday of their college lives. “Wher e can you go watch an Appalachian State beat a Michigan?” Fulton said. “For me, having the oppor tunity to see something like that … it doesn’t get any better.” While their enthusiasm for college football is similar, the teams they give their fandom to remain very different. “Mike and I talk about this a lot,” Vander Tuig said. “He’s an Iowa fan, and I’m an Iowa State fan. … How do we get along when we’re both rooting against different teams?” But despite their differences, their par tnership still works. “This journey wouldn’t be half as fun if we were both fans of the same team,” Vander Tuig said. “Having an interest in two rival teams is what makes this journey so special.”
A trip to the Bank F u l t o n a n d Va n d e r T uig were on the sidelines Saturday for the Gophers game, taking in the sights and sounds of TCF Bank Stadium and remaining unfazed by the “Who hates Iowa?” chants in the background. Middle Tennessee State and Minnesota became the 49th and 50th teams that Mission: College Football has seen play. H o w e v e r, a s t h e y donned their black Mission: College Football T-shir ts that show of f their new sponsor, Giants Sunflower Seeds, on the back, both said they never intended on having sideline seating for the game. That all changed when the duo sent letters to Gophers head coach Jer r y Kill and Blue Raiders head coach Rick Stockstill. “[The letters] basically said, ‘Hey, we’re looking for ward to crossing Middle Tennessee State off as team 49 and Minnesota off as team 50. Best of luck to both of you,’ ” Vander Tuig said. Both coaches wr ote back to the duo wishing them well, but Stockstill went one step further and invited them to the game as his personal guests. “Being on the sidelines for the first game ever, that was something that I’ll never forget,” Fulton said. With 50 of the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision teams crossed of f the list, Mission: College Football still has a ways to go. But as Vander Tuig said, it’s not about the end goal; it’s about the journey. “I think at some point in our lifetime it’d be great to accomplish that,” Vander Tuig said. “It’s not so much about saying we did it, but … having experiences like we’ve had today.”
10
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
FASHION
Long live fashion week
month of affairs is more fun for consumers anyway.
Envision
Two established shows headline Minneapolis-St. Paul fashion week.
ELIZABETH BRUMLEY, DAILY
Jen Chilstrom, co-owner of Kjurek, prepares on Sept. 6 for the upcoming fashion show Envision 2014 at Showroom MPLS. Envision will show spring/ summer 2014 collections from boutiques and 14 local designers on Saturday.
BY HANNAH GERMAINE hgermaine@mndaily.com
I
n Januar y, nonprofit MNFashion announced that it would stop organizing two of the main shows at Minneapolis-St. Paul Fashion Week. Since the announcement, other events have moved to the September style celebration’s spotlight, even with the absence of the affair’s former organizer.
This season, the event is set for Sept. 12-19, but stylish events are popping up throughout the month. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine and Ignite Models sustain local style aficionados beginning this Friday with their longstanding r unway shows, Fashionopolis and Envision.
Fashionopolis
Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s senior style and shopping editor, Allison Kaplan,
said Fashionopolis is a live component of the magazine’s September issue. This year’s edition is billed “Overexposed.” “What we were struck by was exaggeration — anything with that extra bit of flair and movement,” Kaplan said. She cited trends like metallics, billowing skirts, statement coats and fringe as inspiration. “Another thing that I’m
excited about is pastels for winter,” Kaplan said. Since softer colors are associated with spring, their presence on winter materials, like suede, is striking, she said. During Fashionopolis’ first run last year and again this time around, the event’s tickets have sold out. “We have the benefit of being a known and trusted brand,” Kaplan said. “I think we really know our
audience.” Not all new ventures are as successful as Fashionopolis, but Kaplan said she believes even smaller events can grow and burgeon. “People always want to do fashion shows and events,” she said. “Some might work, and some might not.” Kaplan said the local industry isn’t large enough to necessitate a fashion week in the Twin Cities, and a
Ignite Models’ Envision has been a fixture of Twin Cities fashion since 2006. Last season, the style showcase relocated to Orchestra Hall. “It’s a wide range of people that come out to the event, and I think once we moved it to Orchestra Hall, people really stepped it up,” Ignite Models President Allison Vaillancourt said. “It just added a sense of glamour to the event.” Like Fashionopolis, Envision features current autumn looks. “We do this to connect designers and boutiques with current customers and [so that] people can see what’s in stores now,” Vaillancourt said. Envision functions as an independent entity and sets its own dates, Vaillancourt said. That model contrasts with MNFashion’s exclusive partnership with Ignite Models, which she said can lead to fewer oppor tunities for models and designers not associated with the organization. “We’ve always coexisted with MNFashion,” Vaillancourt said. “We always supported each other. There’s a lot more people that are looking for somewhere to showcase their collections and their work. Doing a solo show can be really expensive and is difficult for designers in Minneapolis.”
Fashionopolis: The Fall Fashion Show Where Aria, 105 N. First St., Minneapolis When 6:30 p.m. Thursday Cost $40-60 (SOLD OUT)
Envision Fall 2014 Where Orchestra Hall, 111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis When 8 p.m. Friday Cost $30-75
MUSIC
JD McPherson: From school to the stage The MFA-holding rockabilly singer from Tulsa combines early rock ‘n’ roll with punk influences. BY JARED HEMMING jhemming@mndaily.com
B
efore he became a full-time musician three years ago, rockabilly artist JD McPherson found creative ways to inject music into his day job as a middle school art and technology teacher. Now on tour and booked to play two nights at the Turf Club this week, the artist, who is based in Tulsa, Okla., looks back on how his wide range of heroes influenced both his music and teaching careers. “I couldn’t keep music out of it,” McPherson said. “If the fourth-graders were doing dictation typing, they’d be typing about Charlie Christian or the Clash. If the kids were learning how to operate PowerPoint, they were seeing a demo about Jimi Hendrix.” Between school nights, the 37-year-old McPherson wrote and recorded his debut album, “Signs and Signifiers,” with Chicago upright bass legend Jimmy Sutton as his producer and bandmate. It was originally released in 2010 on Sutton’s Hi-Style Records, but McPherson’s ’50s-style roots effort was reissued in 2012 on Rounders. “We made that record when I was a schoolteach-
A&E EDITOR
Joe Kellen jkellen@mndaily.com
er; I had no plans to quit [teaching],” McPherson said. “Luckily, I lost my job, and that’s what really got it going.” McPherson’s final push for independent success came with twin life changes: Management approached him for representation, and McPherson discovered that his contract with the Tulsa school wasn’t renewed. “The album was finished, and we had an offer to play a festival in Europe. I was working; I had to ask my boss, ‘I’ve got an opportunity to play this gig in Spain; can I miss parent-teacher night?’” Growing up outside of Tulsa, McPherson spent his adolescence absorbing the early rock ’n’ roll canon reflected in his sound, including artists like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Buddy Holly. “[I was] enamored with the style of rhythm and blues and early rock, but on the other side, you don’t want to make time-machine records,” McPherson said. He avoids staleness by absorbing more contemporary artists. On the album’s title track, McPherson’s distinct vocal tone and guitar tremolo sound like Little Richard covering the Smiths’ “How Soon is Now?” “The best thing is listening to everything,” McPherson said. “Keeping an encyclopedia in your brain about what’s happened since people started singing and playing music.” This mental encyclopedia
ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR Grant Tillery gtillery@mndaily.com
includes the Wu-Tang Clan, according to McPherson’s website. “People always mention the Wu-Tang thing. I think I said that one time, and it ended up on the Wikipedia page. So I’m always getting asked about the Wu-Tang,” he said. Even after earning an MFA at the University of Tulsa in open media and finding a career in education, McPherson continued to pursue his passion for music. “Don’t let anybody tell you that your work isn’t important because you’re doing it on the weekends or in your spare time,” McPherson said. “One of the ways to become a fully realized person is to pursue those interests that are important to you and leave some kind of mark, even if the mark isn’t going to be heard.” And McPherson isn’t insecure about failing to reach music stardom in his 20s, or the fact that his performing career took off later in his life. “Not everybody gets the same success,” he said. “I was an idiot when I was 22 years old. Sometimes it happens really early, sometimes later on.”
JD McPherson with Cactus Blossoms Where Turf Club, 1601 W. University Ave., St. Paul When 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday Cost $20 Age 21+
RADIO K TOP 7
1. Cymbals Eat Guitars, XR 2. Sleep, The Clarity 3. The Bug, Function
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAMANTHA FRANKLIN
Rockabilly artist JD McPherson is bringing his rock ’n’ roll sound to St. Paul’s Turf Club on Tuesday and Wednesday.
4. Twin Peaks, Telephone 5. The Rentals, Stardust 6. This Will Destroy You, Dustism 7. Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), The Promise That Life Can Go On No Matter How Bad Our Losses
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Classifieds
11
RATES PER LINE/DAY • PREPAID: $2.70, BILLED: $3.10, CREDIT CARD: $2.70 To place a Classified linage ad, call: 612-627-4080 or email: classifieds@mndaily.com To place a display ad, call: 612-435-5863 For billing questions, call: 612-627-4080 *$60 minimum billing Linage hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. E-mail address: classifieds@mndaily.com Classified Sales Manager: Brittany Swaine 612-435-2750
The Minnesota Daily must approve all ad copy and reserves the right to request text changes, reject or reclassify an ad. Advertisers are responsible for the truthfulness of their ads. Advertisers are also subject to credit approval. Corrections are accepted until 2 p.m., Mon.-Fri., by calling 612627-4080. To cancel an ad, call 612-6274080. In order to ensure proper credit, cancellations must be made by 1 p.m.; otherwise the ad will appear in the following day’s paper and be charged accordingly. Prepaid ads will be refunded by mail or in person if canceled before the end date. Please check the ad carefully after its first run; linage will not be responsible for any errors after that. The Minnesota Daily discourages sending credit card information through email.
EMPLOYMENT
RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
HOUSING
Part time servers needed for Campus Club, 4th Flr Coffman Union. Flexible hrs, includes weeknds. Able to lift/move up to 40lbs. Great position for students, along with great pay. Prior service experience preferred, but will train the right person. Work with motivated friendly staff and learn about local and organic cuisine! Apply in person, 4th floor Coffman Union.
U of MN RESEARCH STUDY: MEDITATION INTERVENTION TO REDUCE STRESS We are recruiting healthy, 18-35 year old undergraduate students to participate in a research study about how transcendental meditation works in the brain to relieve stress. Half of participants will be taught and asked to practice transcendental meditation for 6 weeks. All participants will have an interview, 2 MRI scans, and a stress measurement. All participants will receive payment. Call 612-626-7635 and say that you are interested in the meditation study.
3BR upr dplx, 1 car detached gar, coin ldry, heat, elec, water and trash pd. no pets. avail 10/1, $1275/mo. Cindy 763-355-4829
Seeking employees who are self motivated to fill stocking/cashier positions at Westwood Liquor. Must be 21 yrs. old and able to lift 50lbs. Afternoon, night and wknds avail. Please Call Jim at 952-544-7878 Great college position
HOUSING DINKYTOWN
FOR SALE
Kymco LIKE 50cc Scooter w/carrier. Less than 650 miles. Blue and white. Top speed 37 mph. Never rained on, maintained by Scooterville. UofM moped sticker. Includes silver helmet, white armored jacket sz 6, white studded boots sz 8. Loved it but am leaving the U. Email enissen@umn.edu
FREE 1st month of rent *2 br Avail Immediately 4 blks to U. 813 University Ave SE. Hdwd flrs, french doors, wifi, garage, Pics: www.813university.com 612-379-1843
Events
HAVE AN EVENT YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROMOTE IN THE DAILY? Submit your event to have it featured here for free. If you would like your event promoted here, go to mndaily.com/contact and fill out the provided form.
UPCOMING EVENTS WHAT: 100 Stories — 365 Days: Immigrants Telling Their Life Stories Opening Reception WHO: Intermedia Arts WHEN: 6 p.m. Thursday WHERE: Intermedia Arts, 2822 S. Lyndale Ave., Minneapolis PRICE: $3 suggested donation We’re all here. We all play a role. We all have a story to tell. Co-presented with Green Card Voices, this exhibit features photographs, written biographies, quotes and first-person narrative videos telling 100 immigrant stories from across the United States. Putting a human face to the current immigration debate, these stories share the experiences of 100 of our nation’s nearly 41 million immigrants. These chronicles are both awe-inspiring and thought provoking, portraying the diversity of the immigrant experience in the U.S.
WHAT: The Rainmaker Opening WHO: Yellow Tree Theatre WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday WHERE: 320 Fifth Ave. SE, Osseo PRICE: $0–35 At the time of a paralyzing drought in the West, we discover Lizzie, whose father and brothers are worried as much about her potential future as an old maid as they are about their dying cattle. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a sweet-talking man appears claiming to be a Rainmaker who — for the right price — can magically bring forth rain from the skies. He also works his magic on the unsuspecting Lizzie, persuading her that she possesses a very real beauty of her own. An enchanting play about love, hope and family that will make you believe in miracles again.
WHAT: Women Powering Business Complimentary Breakfast and Panel Event WHO: Randstad WHEN: 7:30–10 a.m. Friday WHERE: Minneapolis Marriott City Center, 30 S. Seventh St., Minneapolis PRICE: Free Randstad, one of the largest staffing firms in the world, invites you to join them for a dynamic discussion among inspirational business leaders who will share their ideas, experience and advice on how women can thrive in their careers and as leaders of their organizations. The discussion will focus on issues in the news and strategies for helping women grow their careers.
Featured Student Group
HAVE A STUDENT GROUP YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROMOTE IN THE DAILY? The Minnesota Daily promotes student groups here for free. If you would like your student group featured, e-mail studentgroups@mndaily.com with contact person, contact phone, contact e-mail, student group name, group description (limit 250 characters), and a photo if possible. Don’t have a photo? Contact us in advance to take your group photo.
The Minnesota Daily Classifieds page is a service for student groups. Student groups can promote themselves for free in the featured section. Featured student groups run for one week and are published on a rolling submission basis. This page is independent from the Minnesota Daily’s editorial content and is operated by the advertising staff. Group submissions are subject to approval by the Publisher for wording, illustrations and typography. Any content that attacks, criticizes or demeans any individual, race, religion, sex, institution, firm, business, profession, organization or affectional preference shall not be accepted.
12
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
BACKTALK
horoscopes
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.
9/9/2014
Yesterday’s solution © 2013 Michael Mepham. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved.
Today’s Birthday (9/9): Forge lasting connections and clear communications for rewards through 12/23, when Saturn enters Sagittarius for a new 2.5-year homebody phase. Remodel for your family’s future.
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 — Choose personal time and postpone a public outing or travel. Work within the rules. Follow a hunch. Don’t plan to do it all yourself.
Libra (9/23 - 10/22): Today is an 8 — You can do anything you set your mind to. Listen to your partner. Collaboration brings fruitful results today and tomorrow.
Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): Today is a 6 — New directions beckon. Use what you’ve kept hidden. Don’t go shopping until the check clears. Review your priorities.
Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Today is a 6 — A new project demands attention today and tomorrow. Talk doesn’t go far ... action’s required.
Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): Today is a 6 — Group participation wins results today and tomorrow. Things don’t always go as expected. Begin planning a trip (but don’t take off yet).
Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): Today is a 7 — Assert your opinion without clashing with an authority figure. This requires an attitude adjustment. The practical can also be comfortable.
Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Today is a 7 — There’s more work arriving. Consider accepting more responsibility today and tomorrow. Base a gamble on experience.
Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): Today is a 7 — Imagine a firm foundation. Strengthen your household infrastructure. Take on a project with enthusiasm. Quiet determination gets it done.
Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Today is a 7 — Today and tomorrow are great for travel. With discipline and planning, you can go anywhere. A new direction beckons. Use what you’ve just learned.
Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): Today is an 8 — You have a knack for putting words together today and tomorrow. Write but don’t publish. Study and research. Embrace a new phase in leadership.
Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): Today is a 7 — Take disciplined action regarding family finances and advance farther than expected today and tomorrow. Study your hunch ... it could work.
Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Today is an 8 — The next two days are good for making money. Assume responsibility. A loved one offers support. Act on what you hear. Keep watching for openings.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
from the archive
crossword
FOR FOR RELEASE RELEASE SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 9, 11,2006 2006
RELEASE SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 THE Edited Williams THEDaily DailyCrossword CrosswordFOR Editedby byWayne WayneRobert Robert Williams
DAILY CROSSWORD ACROSS Los
From Sexymon
Dear Monster’s Ball, the movie Monster’s Ball sucks, so you do to. You know what MSA stands for? Monster’s Ball Sucks Ass. Net: Haha! Turned that acronym against them! They’ll think twice before using the letters M.S.A again! MSA didn’t give me any money to pay Emperor Bruininks. Net: It’s Darth Bruininks now. You know how I paid tuition? Straight cash, homie. Net: I’m sure the university appreciated a big wad of $20s with a rubber band tied around them. No diggity. Net: Great. Now we’ll never make it to the front page of digg.com. And Net, do you know what the acronym RRMRD stands for? Net: Rail Road Manager Reads Daily?
From TwEaK
Hey net, It had been my hope that the Daily would have gotten a new cartoonist for a new year, Net: Management would have, but no one gets paid at the Daily anymore. but sadly we still have to deal with Elrashidi’s unfunny bullNUTT. The Zombie stuff sucked more taint than a frat and the gopher eating money was as much fun as the rubber glove part of a physical. Net: Unfortunately, some people do find that part of a physical fun. Anyway, since the net has been given some horrible entries, I am going to try to get those creative juices flowing. Net: That’s fine, just as long as you don’t try to slip in any Chuck Norris jokes. First the new facebook is incredibly disturbing, why do I want some tool to know what I did or did not do on any certain day? Net: The Facebook people are just making it easier to stalk others which is really the only use Facebook has. We should all just close our facebook accounts and do more studying so we can graduate in four years and make Fun Bobby happy. Net: Fun Bobby’s never been happy. For all of you bikers who ride on the sidewalk, go NUTT yourself. The next biker who rides on the side walk, next to a bike lane, and cuts me of/almost hits me will get a stick in their tires, Big Daddy style. The sidewalk is for people to walk on, not for dumb asses riding their bikes. Net: And not for
making out in the middle of … or is it? Lastly I would like to thank hot girl camp for returning on time to this wonderful campus. Now all of the collar popping, acid wash jean wearing, A and F endorsing freshmen will have something to look at while they are making drain babies in bio 1001. Net: That has to be one of the worst mental pictures ever. Those out there in Networkia who are freshmen: There is a fair amount of poking fun of you in this last entry. Stand up for yourselves and send an entry in.
From I Like Toast
I can’t stand it anymore net. Net: If that’s how you really feel, then why don’t you leave? at the beginning of each semester we have to deaL wIth freshmen that have the intellect of a doorKnob. Net: That’s not really fair to the doorknobs of the world. it sEems That freshmen can’t read traffic signals at 15th and university. Net: Big red-orange hand equals SUV in your face. when the light fOr university goes red, the cArS coming inTo the u from 15th have the protected green arrow to turn left for 15 seconds before you are given the walk signal. but no. freshmen think that if the light is red and the orange hand is on that they have the right-of-way to cross. WAIT FOR THE DAMN SIGNAL TO CROSS! Net: In a sense, there’s no reason to complain about this, because the consequence of not waiting for the signal could equal death. that includes all of you egotistical bikers who think they are above the law too. Net: Those guys on the double-decker bikes actually are. with that off my chest, i’d like to end with a quote: “show me potato salad!” Net: (blank look)
From darwinistsaredumb
HEY! SEND YOUR ENTRY, NAME AND PHONE NUMBER TO:
I called out their champ-i-an but the monkey man had no plan so he just turned and ran Net: We reject your non-haiku poem. NETWORK@MNDAILY.COM
Minnesota Daily Volume 108, Issue 5 September 11, 2014
Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
ACROSS 11Total number Relinquishes Edited by Rich Norris and 66Female Talk incessantly rhymers 10 Smelly, dirty air 15 14"Tomorrow" "Magic Man" musical ACROSS rockers 16 of an starter 15Tail Gravure 1 Rhubarb desserts airplane 16 __ homo 17 Supports for 5 Blue cartoon critter (Behold the sails 10 Spoiled one man!) 18 Pluviometer 17 Palmer's 14 Mount of Greek 19 6-time U.S. entourage tennis myth 19Open Comparison champion word 15 Old Testament 20 Spotless 20 Garlic unit 21 upbreathe once prophet 21Laced Start to 23again Extinct bird 16 Move like slime 23 Dazzlingly 26 Pride member 17 St. Bernard’s bark 28bright __ Vegas 24 valuable 18 German WWII 29Very "__ Farm" 31paintings Inclined trough threat 29 Drake or bull 33 Kitchen utensil 19 Cowboy boot 30 34Rugged Comic Martin attachment 36mountain __ buco ridges 39 Animation 20 Uninvited guests 31 rcts.not 40Army Amount 34 Gets olderby 23 ’70s-’80s Olympic covered 35 Greek healthisland skier Phil 36 Top-drawer insurance 37 or 25 Suffix with glob 41Buntline Break suddenly 37Disturbed "Two 42Beatty God of love26 “Just as IWomen" 4 Certain 38 by star salts 43Surrounded Mine entrance predicted!” 58Examiner wide ditch $ dispenser 44aRelative size 69Lima's nation 39 trend 27 Gold bad Inrush an unmanly 45Powerful Camera-ready 7 Middle East 40 Of muscular manner? copy guys to 10kingdom Fourth man? 47response Loom operator 8 of Eng. stimuli 32 Irish dance 11Church Borgnine's TV 48nervous Initial letters 9 Temporary 42 onnear the lam series 50One Town 33 Right triangle ratio shelter 45 Hot meal? 12 Florida city Modesto 34 Minor quarrels 46 13Books Trait carriers 53Egyptian Singer Sumac 10 11 38 Egg cell of 18Symbols Dirt 54flower? Author of "The 51 Entrance 22slowness Tahlequah, OK Third Man" 40 “May the __tobe 12 Alternative school 56flooring Rupture 52 off on with you” source 23steam Syrup 58Signed Semi-eternity? 13 lobber 53 By Michael Dewey 24Ova Disk jockey's 59Desktop Bluish-green 43 Fizzy drink 14 Run-down cue 64graphics Patch up in 22 54 2 Prefix with metric 25Pastor's Presidential 65Living Balletaskirt 44 Hemmed assistant 46 Pop’s Ladyin__ plane 66licentious Pavarotti, e.g. 3 Gullet 25 27Tapestry Great success 67lifestyle Fruity drinks48 Flashlight output 55 John __ 4 Jungle journey 30"Hamlet" Reagan 68V.P. Impertinence 26 Take care of Garner in the confidant Ed 69 Additional 49 Thieves 5 Boarded up 44 out 38 More full 27 Downright 56 Future time 55Boot Finishes 44 Able to of 32 Puccini opera tombs of the 6 “__-Dick” 47 good cheer 28 secondary 57 Feelings 57Fragrant "Bang a Gong perceive 34Find Klamath DOWN of ointment 40 hot under corrections 7 Biennial games (Get It On)" 46Get Writing tool relative say 1merriment Half a dance? pharaohs, 48 Parts collar bait 31 soloagcy.subj. 47the bandof Angler's 35Fly News 2 Auction ending 53 Immigrant’s org. 41 32 60pelvises Sine __ non 48Uniting Lizard in of the 37Sloth Oregon 3DOWN Actor Duryea 56 Miss Teen capital __ 49 of marriage 33 14Reporter's co8 World Rise on hind 61Season Bank payt. Old 38Clairvoyant La Scala __ the Red women 57 “John Brown’s 4249Ruffle 62fasting Neither's Reproduce offering 5worker Astral legs, as a horse 50 Slight 43 Form's first 36 Extremely 26Generally partner 51 Borders on 40 Vehicle Cry of Body” poet 9 Femme minute speaking Period Island feasts __63advantage perches for tots 52blank appreciation
Joyce Lewis
9/9/14 Monday’s Puzzle Solved
58 Early arcade 10 “Fiddlesticks!” game with 11 What rookies are pixelated aliens, shown, with “the” and, in a way, 12 Sky shade what 20-, 27- and 13 To the point 49-Across all are 21 Radiation 63 1974 Peace measures Nobelist from 22 Rockefeller Japan Center muralist Hey Doc, If she had any feelings your friend she probably 64 Hersey’s bell town JoséforMaría I have been out of state this summer on an isn’t targeting you specifically to hurt him. What’s 65 Athletic equipment 23 Low-paying ©2014 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 9/9/14 internship (Mechanical Engineering). I have been more likely is she needs to feel wanted again and giant that she knows you willemployment, corresponding (via phone and e-mail) to a woman do that for her. 53 County near 39 Ryan of “When sponsors golfer slangily I used to work with. I like her and I have made this The fact that she contacted you the same day London Harry Met Sally...” Rory Partner ofme kicking clear to her but I have not hung out with her sinceMcIlroy (ouch!) as the24 breakup tells she’s had illicit 54 Twitch 41 Bronco or I returned. thoughts of you awhile,Pan so you have the poten68 This, in Tijuana 28forPeter rival I have tried to hook up for coffee 69 butTwangy she altial for being more than a rebound. 55 Drink with Mustang 29 Numero __ ways has something going on. Well, I am Mytea advice is this: Talk to your beloved and tell steamed milk Self-regard 70past Likethe summer Road sign with a bode42well point where I am sick of trying to get something her you really 30 do like her but it wouldn’t 59 Maine __ cat Factual 71 Marvel going. That being said Monday I stopped calling Comics for your friendshipdouble-tailed with her ex if you acted 45 on it. 60 Flower holder 47 French cleric mutants Tell her you think arrow and e-mailing. it’s wise to wait until everyone 61 Take __: doze Chinese and She sent me an e-mail Wednesday72 andSuccumbed called hasto healed a 31 bit Attack before you go tromping all50 over command today so I think she is interested but shethe didn’t what they had. 62 Simpleton Thai, e.g. sandman word “schedule an appointment” so to speak. All I want If and when you go ahead with this, the polite 51 Property destroyer 66 Hawaii’s 73 Jacob’s twin 35 “CSI” science to do is hang out, it shouldn’t be this difficult. thing would be to let your friend in the loop. Mauna __ 52 Elton John Should I quit trying or just lay off a little? — Dr. Date36 Distress signal 67 College URL collaborator DOWN 37 Speak, biblical— Cowardly Lion ending Taupin 1 “Wham!” Dr. Date, style
Dear Cowardly Lion, The last few days have not been kind to me. I gave you a more appropriate moniker because I’m a French foreign exchange student in Minneyours was lame. sota and I also happen to be very tan. It’s my first Your query reminds me of a lovely ditty by the time outside of France and I have trouble undergreat James Taylor. The lyrics go as follows: “Here standing English when people speak too quickly. is the main thing I want to say/ I’m busy 24 hours My first day here, I decided to go downtown at a day/ Fixing broken hearts/ I’m your handyman.” night, and a girl commented on my tan and she Not that it has anything to do with your situation, was all over me, but I couldn’t really understand but I wanted to throw that out there. what she was saying. The next thing I know, a cop Usually repeated “scheduling problems” are a pulls over and arrests me for soliciting prostitunice way of brushing you off. If she reached out to tion! The girl was actually a male police officer! you independently by e-mail, however, it’s a differI got the whole thing sorted out, but it wasted a ent story. whole night basically. Then, the next day, a girl is My guess is she truly is busy. College is a frightall up in my junk at a lab I work at, but I said “hey fully hectic time, as I’m sure you’re well aware. It’s back off, I don’t have any money!” often hard to find time to eat and sleep, let alone She became upset by my comment and I am have a social or love life. Call her and tell her you’ll now out of a job because I “sexually harassed” a ested in you, and you dig him. This could work around her schedule. Don’t hang up until she female employee, and I may even be kicked out of definitely turn into something more. Myongirlfriend a female gives you a date and time. If she noogs out you schoolis andbecoming sent back to France! again, you’ll know to back off. Dr. Date, Inewly need your help, tell me how Keep on flirting, and if he doesn’t ask bodybuilder, but her built phyPants out, to tell the difference between a prostisique is a huge for me. likecoppingyou — Dr. Date tuteturnoff and a female whoI feel is just a out soon, take the initiative. Women feel. I hear your top 10 lists are informative, can if at ask guys out — that’s a cultural taI’m with a bro, ya know? I want to tell Dear Dr Date, all possible, could you make one? boo that needs to disappear. but I feel like an asshole because About a month ago I met my her, best friend’s Thanks, current girlfriend. We hit it off immediately Don’t worry if things get awkward. It’s I also lift at theAurevoiramerica gym. How do I express on the friends level. Well, even then I knew imperative that you act on your mutual he wasn’t all that into her and they up without Dear sounding Aurevoiramerica, howbroke I feel like a sexist last weekend. She sent me an e-mail with You want me to tell you the difference between interest. When connections like these douchebag? a man her number the same day, I haven’t called. dressed up as a woman and a biological are not pursued, feelings of regret may I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about her female? I’m truly at a loss, mon petit. It seems many times since meeting her but I never said a to me there would be certain characteristics that follow. Listen to your heart. Push past word about her or her interest to my friend. He rewould clue you in to someone who merely dons cently suggested that I give her a call, I declined. a skirt at night for work, i.e. facial stubble,the big fear of a sticky situation and dive Honestly, I don’t want to play any role in their rohands, a mannish look about them, &c. right in even if it scares you. I hate it to you,give but mantic situation. Maybe she sent the e-mail to get to break How about I instead you you’ll a few tips on how back at him? Maybe he threw out his offer to like test a to act appropriately at work? (I don’t sound sexist douchebag any wayquite have my loyalty? Maybe she just likes me and he would the room for a full top 10.) The Good Doctor has you slice it. There is no enough one way a your womlike to see me/us happy? been fortunate to visit land on occaTwo questions: Should I call heran’s and how long sion, and thus be I know relations are a physique should — male-female you should should I wait before doing so? bit different. Allow me to clue you in to our expecWhat’s the best way to approach be happy that your girlfriend is fit and — Please Respond tations stateside. — Never assume that aof girl ruing is “all up in your girls? I want to be successful. I don’t takes care of herself instead Dear Please Respond, junk” just because she’s talking to you. In France want to seem creepy, but I also don’t the fact to that most she’s become anwillAmazon. You have to decide which is more important women you hit on ignore you, but here you: hooking up with this girl or preserving your that is considered impolite. want to get friend-zoned right off of the Look inward at behavior your own shallowness friendship with your best friend. I’m reminded of — Think about your words before you speak before you dothem anything rash.before If her new the phrase “Bros before hos.” and your actions you do them. bat. How do I show someone I’m interYour friend is probably trying to physique convince him- turns—you If you don’t what someone’s ested without coming off as too strong? off sounderstand much, break self how OK he is with the break-up and he may saying, ask them to repeat themselves so you uptowith her. She someone less actually think it wouldn’t bother him see her don’t deserves have a misunderstanding. with another guy. He’s delusional. superficial than— Talkanyway. to someone in your human resources you Seeing his old amour with you, his supposed department about expectations. Maybe they have best friend, is going to feel about as good as a fun video about harassment you can watch. someone spitting pickle juice in his eye. Hope you can stay on this side of the pond, Once you understand that rejection This chick’s motivation, however, is to rebound. — Dr. Date
dr. date
Dr. Date,
—Too Toned
Macho Macho (Wo)man,
—Dr. Date
Dr. Date,
—Awkward Al
—Dr. Date
Dr. Date,
Need relationship advice? E-mail Dr. Date at drdate@mndaily.com.
I met this guy in class. He is basically the whole package: hot, funny and smart. We share similar senses of humor and interests, and ever since the first day we met, it’s always been easy for us to talk to one another. We have really good conversations (with a bit of flirting in between). But could the innocent flirting and classroom small talk turn into something more? I’ve caught him checking me out a few times. How do I show him that I’m interested or that I would like to see him outside of class? I would hate for things to get awkward because it’s the beginning of the semester, and I have to see him every day.
—Anonymous
Take It to the Next Level,
Your job is already done for you. The guy in question has indicated he’s inter-
Friend-zone Foibles,
isn’t necessarily always about you — there are an infinite number of factors as to why a girl might reject you, including your defeatist attitude — it becomes a lot easier to meet women. You strike me as someone who’s a bit socially awkward. There’s nothing wrong with that (lots of girls find awkwardness cute). But if your social problems extend beyond being at a loss for words, take care of those before jumping into the dating pool. Being friendly is the best route to take. Just make sure you inject flirtation into your friendliness. You’ll come across as intriguing instead of polite. Also, don’t think about approaching women. This sentiment has creepy undertones and makes flirting a game instead of a fun interaction between two people. You’ll end up meeting more girls by not having an agenda.
—Dr. Date
Need relationship advice? Email Dr. Date at drdate@mndaily.com.
13
14
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Despite changes, SAE says numbers will remain strong Sigma Alpha Epsilon members are hoping the fraternity’s new initiation process brings in higher-caliber recruits. BY SARAH CONNOR sconnor@mndaily.com
This fall’s newest recruits of the University of Minnesota’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter will sidestep a lengthy pledge process to gain membership in less than a week. The frater nity abandoned the pledge process last spring, leaving some alumni wondering whether the change would af fect membership numbers. But some say the new process won’t decrease bid numbers and will instead draw in higher-quality recruits. The new “True Gentleman Experience” focuses on lifelong membership and education about the fraternity while emphasizing the importance of being a gentleman and an upstanding citizen, said Brandon Weghorst, associate executive director of communications for SAE’s national headquarters. The recruitment process changes came after continuous scrutiny about hazing, alcohol overdose and several deaths at SAE chapters across the nation during the pledge process. Weghorst said the new process is “an important part
of addressing those issues and making people understand that this is not what SAE is about.” With the “True Gentleman Experience,” the chapter initiates members within 96 hours of offering them a bid, which aims to eliminate issues that may have come with the former eight-week pledge process. Timmy Carr, the University’s SAE chapter president, said the change has been a “selling point” for his chapter. So far, its recruitment numbers for this fall are similar to last year’s. “In the past, obviously, frater nities have always had bad raps for a variety of things, and pledging is definitely one of those things,” Carr said. “And this will definitely be something that is helpful and progressive for the future.” Similarly, SAE chapters nationwide aren’t expecting any drop in new members, Weghorst said. Some alumni were initially concerned with the changes, thinking they may hurt membership numbers, he said. But now, most are on board with the new process, Weghorst said, as the fraternity focuses on recruiting
high-quality members. The fraternity is striving to attract leaders and scholars with the new program, he said. “If there is somebody who wants to join a fraternity because he wants to be hazed or because he wants to be put through an ordeal … then SAE is not a good fit,” Weghorst said. T ho u g h the chan g e came at the heels of increased scrutiny, Weghorst said the decision to eliminate the pledge process was not due to any incident in particular. Instead, he said the frater nity’s national board of directors created it in order to reach its own set of goals and visions for the organization. In addition to highlighting the importance of having good character, the new program aims to improve members’ experience by utilizing a “holistic approach” to member education in which they learn about the fraternity throughout their undergraduate career, he said. University Interfraternity Council President Cameron Schilling said the University’s SAE chapter has been doing a “great job” with handling the new adjustments.