September 23, 2013

Leidner leads Gophers past San Jose State

New sports columnist Sam Gordon says Mitch Leidner should start. u See PAGE 10

PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 75° LOW 56°

U OF M

MINNEAPOLIS

ST PAUL

MONDAY

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

STUDENT LIFE

Students jump on new minor

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM

HIGHER ED

U expands int’l efforts The U joined 20 schools to recruit international students. BY HAILEY COLWELL hcolwell@mndaily.com

CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY

Junior marine biology minor Erika Senyk demonstrates how to filter water samples at the Ecology Building on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus Friday afternoon.

A new marine biology minor gives students research and internship opportunities. BY KATELYN FAULKS kfaulks@mndaily.com

Student falls from frat house

demand and feedback from the College of Biological Sciences and the College

of Minnesota student Brit-

of Food, Agricultural and

tany Egeland cared for ot-

Natural Resource Sciences.

ters at the Minnesota Zoo

Today, the University

and researched sharks in

is one of the few Midwest

the Bahamas.

schools that offer a marine

Because the University

Peter Sorensen, fisher-

ogy major, the biology, soci-

ies, wildlife and conser va-

ety and environment junior

tion biology professor, has

had always planned to use

taught a shark ecology field

field studies, research and

course in the Bahamas for

internships to gain experi-

the past six years. During

ence. Now, a new marine bi-

the course, he said, stu-

ology minor includes those

dents have approached him

elements as requirements.

asking where they could

The 15-credit minor was

The 18-year-old was hospitalized after falling from a balcony Saturday.

biology program.

doesn’t offer a marine biol-

BY KIA FARHANG mfarhang@mndaily.com

A University of Minnesota student was hospitalized after falling from the second-stor y balcony of a fraternity house Saturday afternoon. The Minneapolis Fire Department responded to a call at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at 12:41 p.m., MFD Battalion Chief Mike Carswell said. An 18-year-old man had fallen from a bal-

take more classes.

u See BIOLOGY Page 3

Candidates talk development, cops

BY NATHANIEL RABUZZI nrabuzzi@mndaily.com

W ith less than seven weeks until Election Day, mayoral candidates are getting out to tell constituents about changes they’ll make in Minneapolis if elected to succeed Mayor R.T. Rybak. Seven mayoral candidates focused on police misconduct, city zoning and development at a debate Thursday, often offering a variety of ways to address some of the city’s most visible issues. The debate, at Parkway Theater in South Minneapolis, was likely the best-

cony, Carswell said, and was treated at the scene before being taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center. The student was “alert and oriented” when the fire depar tment ar rived and didn’t appear to have any broken bones, Carswell said. It was unclear if the student was intoxicated, but several people at the scene were, a fire department official said. In an email statement, Office for Fraternity and Sorority Life Program Director Matt Levine said University staff have reached out to the student’s family to offer support. Levine didn’t offer any additional details about the incident.

NEIGHBORHOODS

ELECTION 2013

Mayoral hopefuls agreed on problems but not solutions Thursday.

u See RECRUITING Page 7 Several U employees will work with the consortium.

PUBLIC SAFETY

created based on student

This summer, University

The University of Minnesota recently teamed up with 20 other schools to promote the state as a destination for international students. Study Minnesota, a volunteer-r un nonprofit, was established earlier this month so member schools could pool their resources to increase numbers of international student applicants. The consortium is made up of 21 colleges, universities, English language programs and private high schools, and is supported

in par t by the U.S. Commercial Ser vice — par t of the U.S. Department of Commerce — and its state counterpart, the Minnesota Trade Office. “What we found is, if we can have all the schools work together to advertise the state as a whole as an educational destination, it’s a better benefit for the schools as a whole,” said David Edmiston, senior international trade specialist for the Minneapolis office of the U.S. Commercial Service. Study Minnesota is receiving federal suppor t because international students are considered an export, Edmiston said — they contribute to the economy

attended mayoral debate of the election, said Daren Nyquist, a spokesman for the Hale-Page-Diamond Lake Community Association — a neighborhood gr oup that hosted the event. Betsy Hodges, Mark Andrew, Jackie Cherryhomes, Dan Cohen, Don Samuels, Cam Winton and Stephanie Woodruff all participated in the debate, which Nyquist said at least 360 residents attended. Though no candidate received the DFL endorsement, five candidates who participated in the debate are running as DFLers. The other two, Cohen and Winton, are running as independents. u See DEBATE Page 4 Candidates offered various ways to fight police misconduct.

After a decade, church returns home The church has returned to MarcyHolmes in a luxury apartment complex. BY JANE CAMPBELL jcampbell@mndaily.com

After nearly a decade, Andrew Riverside Presbyterian Church returned to its home on Eighth Avenue Southeast last weekend. The original building from 1880 was demolished in 2003 after a wall collapsed, and the church is now housed in the first level of a five stor y, 56-unit Elysian apartment complex. In a letter to the congregation, church staf f said they were excited to be in a building “full of bright, fresh young people.” Judy Maghakian, associate director of church growth, said church staf f want to welcome all members of the community as

JULIET FARMER, DAILY

Associate in church growth Judy Maghakian speaks with pianist Elaine Klaassen on Saturday at Andrew Riverside Presbyterian Church.

a non-traditional place of worship. “The people on the building committee wanted to put a cross out front,” she said. “I said no.”

The congregation focuses on diversity, globalization, collaboration, learning and welcoming students, Maghakian said. During its decade-long hiatus, the con-

gregation gathered at the University YMCA and had u See CHURCH Page 4 Church staff say University President Eric Kaler was a member.

VOLUME 115 ISSUE 12

2

Daily Review

Monday, September 23, 2013

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1875 Billy the Kid is arrested for the first time after stealing a basket of laundry. He later broke out of jail and roamed the American West, eventually earning a reputation as an outlaw and murderer and a rap sheet that allegedly included 21 murders. HISTORYCHANNEL.COM/TDIH

VIDEO Vol. 115 Monday, September 23, 2013, No. 12

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Suicide attack on Pakistani church kills 78 people BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up amid hundreds of worshippers at a historic church in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing 78 people in the deadliestever attack against the country’s Christian minority. A wing of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, raising new questions about the government’s push to strike a peace deal with the militants to end a decade-long insurgency that has killed thousands of people. The Jundullah arm of the Taliban said they would continue to target non-Muslims until the United States stopped drone attacks in Pakistan’s remote tribal region. The latest drone strike came Sunday, when missiles hit a pair of compounds in the North Waziristan tribal area, killing six suspected militants. The attack on the All Saints Church, which wound-

ed 141 people, occurred as worshippers were leaving after services to get a free meal of rice offered on the front lawn, said a top government administrator, Sahibzada Anees. “There were blasts and there was hell for all of us,” said Nazir John, who was at the church in the city’s Kohati Gate district along with at least 400 other worshippers. “When I got my senses back, I found nothing but smoke, dust, blood and screaming people. I saw severed body parts and blood all around.” Sur vivors wailed and hugged one another in the wake of the blasts. The white walls of the church, which first opened in the late 1800s, were pockmarked with holes caused by ball bearings contained in the bombs to cause maximum damage. Blood stained the floor and the walls. Plates filled with rice were scattered across the ground. The attack was carried out by two suicide bombers who detonated their explosives

almost simultaneously, said police officer Shafqat Malik. The 78 dead included 34 women and seven children, said Interior Minister Chaudhr y Nisar Ali Khan. Another 37 children were among the 141 wounded, he said. The number of casualties from the blasts was so high that the hospital ran short of caskets for the dead and beds for the wounded, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, a former information minister of surrounding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province who was on the scene. “This is the deadliest attack against Christians in our countr y,” said Irfan Jamil, the bishop of the eastern city of Lahore. Pope Francis led several thousand people in a prayer for the victims while on a visit to Sardinia. Those who carried out the attack, he said, “took the wrong choice, one of hatred and war.” One of the wounded, John Tariq, who lost his father in the attack, demanded of those

behind the bombing: “What have we done wrong to these people? Why are we being killed?” Ahmad Mar wat, who identified himself as the spokesman for the Jundullah wing of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. “All non-Muslims in Pakistan are our target, and they will remain our target as long as America fails to stop drone strikes in our country,” Marwat told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location. Jundullah has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on minority Shiite Muslims in southwestern Baluchistan province. Hardline Sunni extremists like the Taliban consider Shiites to be heretics. The bishop in Peshawar, Sar farz Hemphray, announced a three-day mour ning period and blamed the gover nment and security agencies for failing to protect the country’s Christians.

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HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DAILY

Indecent exposure reported on West Bank BY KIA FARHANG mfarhang@mndaily.com

CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY

A fire damaged part of a home in Southeast Como on Friday afternoon.

Como house burns BY KIA FARHANG mfarhang@mndaily.com

A fire damaged part of a home in Southeast Como on Friday afternoon. No one was injured. The fire started around 3 p.m. Friday near the intersection of 15th Avenue Southeast and East Hennepin Avenue. Minneapolis Deputy Fire Chief Harold Breffle said officials didn’t yet know the cause of the fire, which started on the house’s deck and eventually spread to the roof. Charred furniture and flooring were piled in the front yard after firefighters left the house, which is located next to the Chin Dian Café. University of Minnesota nutrition senior Stephanie Melby, who lives next door, said she smelled smoke from inside her house and called 911. The residents of the house declined to comment.

Partly sunny

WEDNESDAY HIGH 74° LOW 57°

A University of Minnesota student caught a man masturbating behind her in Anderson Hall last week, according to a University police report. The student was waiting for class to start last Monday when she saw the suspect standing about five feet away from her, the report said. She turned away from him and sat on a nearby staircase. When the student turned around, the report said, she saw the man was standing directly behind her, staring at her and masturbating. University police couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on this incident. University police have received complaints about sexual behavior in West Bank buildings for more than a decade. In a July inter view, Deputy Chief Chuck Miner called these complaints “an ongoing problem.” In July, a University police officer followed a man into an Anderson Hall bathroom. After sitting in an adjacent stall and exchanging foot taps with the man, the officer heard “loud skin-on-skin rubbing noises” from the man’s stall. Police banned the 51-year-old man from all West Bank buildings for a year. Members of University police’s Coordinated Response Team arrested five people in separate incidents for “inappropriate activities” in Anderson Hall this March. In 2003, a student was arrested and ticketed after police received a complaint of people engaged in sexual activity in a Willey Hall bathroom.

Sunny

THURSDAY HIGH 76° LOW 63° Mostly sunny

Letters to the editor: Email submissions to letters@mndaily.com Guest columns: Emails submissions to Editorials & Opinions Editor Eric Best at ebest@mndaily.com. All submissions are welcome, but there is no guarantee of publication. CORRECTIONS

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FRIDAY HIGH 77° LOW 59° T-storms

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.

Monday, September 23, 2013

3

Artists survey students on Dinkytown Local artists are reaching out to the community as part of a partnership with the city. BY ALEXANDRIA CHHITH achhith@mndaily.com

With Dinkytown development in flux, city officials are seeking the opinions of University of Minnesota students on how they think the area should look. City planners are conducting a public sur vey in collaboration with local artists as they draft Dinky-

town’s small area plan. The goal of the project, called the Creative CityMaking partnership, is to connect city planners with the public and hear from people who don’t typically go to city meetings or participate in traditional surveys, said artist Caroline Kent. Three ar tists from Intermedia Arts took to the streets of Dinkytown last week to sur vey students and other residents about commercial development in the area. An online sur vey also opened last week, Maze said, so more people can voice their opinions.

Kent said 600 students and faculty completed the sur vey at the Community Involvement Fair in Cof fman Union on Wednesday, and that students have made up 90 percent of the responses. In addition to the surveys, the group toured Dinkytown last week with a “Mobile Engagement Theater.” The theater consists of a car t that scrolls through photos of the past, present and future plans for the area. Theresa Sweetland, Intermedia Arts director, said the theater is a visual way to get community

feedback. Responses fr om the community will be important when city officials form guidelines for the neighborhood, said Minneapolis Principal City Planner Haila Maze. Minneapolis City Council would need to approve the guidelines, she said, but they would help incorporate the perspectives of people who would be affected by the development in Dinkytown. “This is trying to build a policy, which will help the framework for what private and public [entities] can

build in Dinkytown,” Maze said. “When a decision comes along, the guidelines will show what people want.” Electrical engineering senior Joey Senkyr said he supports the initiatives to gather community input on the development in Dinkytown. “I think it will present a balanced viewpoint that isn’t really biased towards the developers or towards … the community group that is against development or change,” he said. Sweetland said the group is looking for the opinions of

not only students, but also other people who visit or live in Dinkytown. The partnership between Intermedia Arts and the city began in Januar y with the goal of strengthening the connection between city planning and public opinion through art and other strategies. Senkyr said he liked the idea of the mobile engagement theater because it allows city officials to get the opinions of people who live in and use the area. “I think that Dinkytown needs to continue to change and grow,” he said.

Kenyan forces say they rescued ‘most’ hostages BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NAIROBI, Kenya — Helicopters circling overhead, Kenya’s military launched a major operation Sunday at an upscale Nairobi mall and said it had rescued “most” of the hostages being held captive by al-Qaida-linked militants during a two-day standoff that killed at least 68 people and injured 175. The militar y assault began shortly before sundown, with one helicopter skimming very close to the roof of the shopping complex as a loud explosion rang out, far larger than any previous grenade blast or gunfire volley. Kenyan police said on Twitter that security forces had launched a “MAJOR” assault to end the bloody siege. “This will end tonight. Our forces will prevail. Kenyans are standing firm against aggression, and we will win,” Kenya’s National Disaster Operation Centre said on Twitter. The Kenya Defense Forces later said it had rescued “most” hostages and had taken control of most of the mall, though it did not provide details. Many of the rescued hostages — mostly adults

— were suffering from dehydration, Col. Cyrus Oguna, a militar y spokesman, told The Associated Press. He refused to say how many hostages were rescued or how many were still being held. He said some of the attackers had “most probably” been killed in the operation. The assault came about 30 hours after 10 to 15 alShabab extremists stormed the mall Saturday from two sides, throwing grenades and firing on civilians. Loud exchanges of gunfire rang out from inside the four-stor y mall throughout Sunday. Kenyan troops were seen carr ying in at least two rocket-propelled grenades. Al-Shabab militants reacted angrily to the helicopters on Twitter and war ned that the Kenyan militar y action was endangering hostages. Kenyan authorities said they would do their utmost to save hostages’ lives, but no officials could say precisely how many people were being held captive. Kenya’s Red Cross said in a statement, citing police, that 49 people had been reported missing. Officials did not make an explicit link but that number could give an indication of the number of people held captive.

Kenya’s Red Cross said the death toll rose to 68 after nine bodies were recovered Sunday. More than 175 people were injured, including many children, Kenyan officials said. Somalia’s al-Qaidalinked rebel group, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack that specifically targeted non-Muslims, saying it was in retribution for Kenyan forces’ 2011 push into neighboring Somalia. U.S. Secretar y of State John Ker r y condemned what he called “an enormous of fense against ever ybody’s sense of right and wrong,” and called the attackers “r uthless and completely reckless terrorists.” Kerr y, who was in New York, for meetings at the United Nations, spoke Sunday with Somalia’s foreign minister and U.N. ambassador. State Depar tment spokeswoman Marie Harf said U.S. law enfor cement, militar y and civilian personnel in Nairobi were providing advice and assistance to the Kenyan authorities. She said five Americans were among the scores of people injured in the attack, but the U.S. had no reports of any American

Egypt draft constitution expected by November BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAIRO — A 50-member panel tasked with amending Egypt’s Islamist-drafted constitution will complete its work by early November, a spokesman for the body said Sunday, wrapping up the first step of a military-backed roadmap in place since the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi. Despite interim authorities pushing ahead with the transition, opposition to Morsi’s ouster has continued however, with hundreds protesting the July 3 coup at schools and universities on Sunday. Authorities ramped up security force deployments at campuses around the country in anticipation of the protests. Classes were temporarily disrupted in at least one school in a village on the outskirts of Cairo, and police detained about two dozen students, according to a member of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group. Brotherhood leader and former lawmaker Essam elErian called on students to keep up their protests in a new video aired Sunday on Al-Jazeera’s satellite channel dedicated to Egyptian affairs. “When we go out in these protests and call for them it is on your behalf, for your future,” he said. “You are the hope for the future of this Egyptian, Arab and Islamic country and of all humanity.” El-Erian, like many Brotherhood members, is on the run from police and wanted on charges of inciting violence and murder. The new school year,

which began Saturday, has given Morsi supporters new platforms to re-energize their movement. Protests have waned in recent weeks after a fierce security crackdown against the Brotherhood and Morsi’s supporters killed hundreds and led to thousands of arrests. Constituent assembly spokesman Mohammed Salmawy said the constitutional panel, already at work for the past two weeks, has approved about a third of the charter, mostly non-controversial clauses on basic freedoms. The liberal-dominated panel has yet to decide on proposals, such as one that the charter should be adopted by a minimum of 75 percent of the vote when it is put to a nationwide referendum, rather than a simple majority as has been the custom in past referendums, he said. The Brotherhood has refused to join the panel. The new charter will replace one written by a panel packed with Morsi’s Islamist supporters that was approved in a hurried nationwide referendum in December. The drafting of that constitution was one of the most divisive issues of Morsi’s one-year rule, sending hundreds of thousands to the streets in protest. It was widely seen as placing restrictions on freedoms of expression and giving clerics a say over legislation. The document was approved by about 64 percent of the vote, but turnout was only some 30 percent. In a break with previous constitutions, Salmawy said

members were leaning in favor of permanently removing the upper chamber of parliament known as the Shura Council. The Shura Council has long been chided as a toothless talking shop, but Morsi elevated it to a legislative body when the nation’s highest court dissolved the lower and more important chamber shortly before he took office on June 30 last year. The Islamist-majority Shura Council was dissolved shortly after Morsi’s ouster. The constitutional panel was appointed by interim President Adly Mansour, who succeeded Morsi. The military ousted Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, after days of street protests by millions demanding he resign. Parliamentary and presidential elections are to follow the adoption of the amended charter, expected by February, capping the road map announced by military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, also the defense minister who led the coup. Morsi’s supporters plan to campaign against the amended constitution as part of their efforts to undermine the military-backed government, but Amr Moussa, the chairman of the 50-member panel, told reporters that backers of the new constitution intended to do some lobbying of their own. “They can lobby and we can lobby too provided that ever yone uses peaceful means,” said Moussa, a former foreign minister and chief of the Cairo-based Arab League.

deaths. Earlier in the day, al-Shabab said on its new Twitter feed — after its previous one was shut down Saturday — that Kenyan officials were asking the hostagetakers to negotiate and offering incentives. “We’ll not negotiate with the Kenyan govt as long as its forces are invading our countr y, so reap the bitter fruits of your har vest,” alShabab said in a tweet. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who lost a nephew and the nephew’s fiancee in the attack, reiterated his gover nment’s determination to continue fighting al-Shabab. “We went as a nation into Somalia to help stabilize the countr y and most importantly to fight terror that had been unleashed on Kenya and the world,” said Kenyatta. “We shall not relent on the war on terror.” Although this violent attack had succeeded, the Kenyan leader said, the countr y’s security forces had “neutralized” many others. Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told reporters that “quite a number” of people were being held hostage in two areas of the sprawling complex, which includes stores for such retail giants as Nike,

Adidas and Bose. Many hostages were believed to be in a grocery and general department store called Nakumatt. Kenyan security officials sought to reassure the families of hostages but implied that some of those being held could be killed. “The priority is to save as many lives as possible,” said Interior Cabinet Secretar y Joseph Lenku, adding that more than 1,000 people escaped the attack inside the mall on Saturday. “We have received a lot of messages from friendly countries, but for now it remains our operation,” Lenku said, adding that Kenyan forces controlled the mall’s security cameras. Westgate Mall is at least partially owned by Israelis, and reports circulated that Israeli commandos were on the ground to assist in the response. Four restaurants inside the mall are Israelirun or owned. In Israel, a senior defense of ficial said there were no Israeli forces participating in an assault, but said it was possible that Israeli advisers were providing assistance. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a classified militar y issue, would not

elaborate. Israel has close ties to Kenya going back many years. In recent years, Israel has identified East Africa as an area of strategic interest and stepped up ties with Kenya and other neighboring countries, due to shared threats posed by al-Qaida and other extremist elements. In 2002, militants bombed an Israeli-owned luxur y hotel near Mombasa, killing 13 people, and tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner at the same time. Kenyans and foreigners were among those confirmed dead, including British, French, Canadians, Indians, a Ghanaian, a South African and a Chinese woman. Britain’s prime minister, in confirming the deaths of three British nationals, told the country to “prepare ourselves for fur ther bad news.” Kofi Awoonor, a Ghanaian poet, professor and former ambassador to Brazil, Cuba and the United Nations, died after being wounded in the attack, Ghana’s presidential office confirmed. Ghana’s ministr y of information said Awoonor’s son was injured and is responding to treatment.

Students jump on marine bio minor Biology u from Page 1

“I just saw a consistent interest,” he said. “I just thought … people want to pursue it — tentatively, at least look at it as a career — so why not develop it a little bit more?” Egeland said she signed up right away when she learned about the marine biology minor. “I was really excited,” she said. “Finally, I could have something official on my resume and transcript.” Only five classes are required to complete the minor, but students must also have one credit of field, research or internship experience. Fieldwork helped Egeland use what she’s learned about marine biology, but she said her classes have taught her animal classification and have given her a broader understanding of how the ocean works. “In the field, I like it because it’s hands-on,” she said. “I can find, touch and hold what I’ve been learning about.” Biomedical engineering junior Luke Parker said Sorensen’s shark ecology course was the “most amazing experience” of his life. “We would go out every day and swim with sharks three or four times a day and take samples from the ocean,” he said. Parker said he wants to combine medical engineering with marine biology, possibly working with sharks to research cancer. “It’s something I really want to do,” he said. “They

don’t offer the major here, and the minor is the next best thing. It’s my passion.” But the minor isn’t limited to science students — anyone can declare it as long as they meet the general requirements. The program offers courses taught by faculty members from CFANS, CBS and the College of Science and Engineering. Sehoya Cotner, associate professor and main adviser for the minor, has been crafting the program’s required courses and said she welcomes faculty involvement so the program can appeal to a diverse group of students. Currently, students in the minor can study anywhere from the Galapagos Islands to the Mall of America aquarium. Cotner said they’re still exploring more field opportunities, both on the mainland and in coastal regions. She said she’s tried to provide plenty of opportunities for students to gain field and research experience in different — and less expensive — ways. “I don’t think you have to get drenched in saltwater to have a legitimate research experience,” Cotner said. The nine-day shark ecology course this summer, for instance, cost about $3,500. Fisheries and wildlife junior Erika Senyk is currently working in an ecology lab analyzing algae, water samples and chlorophyll. “I think that’s a good place to start because there aren’t very many marine biology labs [at the University] right now,” she said. Senyk said she wants to use the minor to go into the field for ocean conservation. “It’s all I want to do,” she

WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN TAKING A MARINE BIOLOGY MINOR? A survey was taken in April 2012 to gauge student interest in the creation of a new minor.

34.8% SAID THEY WERE “NOT INTERESTED”

19.5% SAID THEY WOULD “DEFINITELY” DECLARE THE MINOR

45.6% SAID THEY WERE “VERY INTERESTED” IN THE MINOR SOURCE: ROBIN WRIGHT

said. “I’ve been waiting my whole college career for that minor.” Last April, CBS Associate Dean Robin Wright asked CBS students in a survey if they’d want to declare a marine biology minor. Of the college’s 632 students, about one-fifth said they would “definitely” declare the minor and nearly half said they were “very interested” in it. Sophomore Peter Xiong said he wanted to major in marine biology but was disappointed last year to find out the University didn’t have a program. “The minor kind of made up for that,” he said. Wright said she had a group of students in a seminar plan requirements they would want for a marine biology minor. “Our students came up with the same ideas that we agreed … were great ideas,” she said. “The more we can empower them and the more we can suppor t them, the better they’ll be.”

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Monday, September 23, 2013

Chinese politician Bo gets life sentence BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JINAN, China — A court sentenced Bo Xilai to life in prison for cor r uption Sunday, burying the career of one of China’s most upand-coming politicians and lowering the cur tain on a scandal that exposed a murder and illicit enrichment among the country’s elite. The former Politburo member and Chongqing city party leader was convicted of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power Sunday in a case set in motion by his wife’s poisoning of a British business associate in late 2011. It also was widely regarded as a political prosecution and a sign that top leaders had turned against the charismatic populist. The Jinan Intermediate People’s Cour t deprived Bo of political rights for life and confiscated all his personal assets. A lawyer with direct knowledge of the case said Bo indicated that the verdict was unjust and was expected to appeal, but obser vers say he has little chance of success. He has 10 days to appeal. “It’s a political death sentence for him,” said Dali Yang, a political scientist at the University of Chicago. “As long as the current circumstances stay, he cannot come back.” Despite fears of public strife or brutal political in-

Debate u from Page 1

Changing neighborhoods One issue the candidates discussed was housing and neighborhood preser vation, which has drawn controversy in recent weeks after the City Council voted down a proposed Dinkytown development moratorium. “The key to zoning is to make sure that zoning does not drive the market, but that the market drives the zoning,” Cohen said. Andrew, Samuels and Winton said preser ving Minneapolis neighborhoods, like citizens often

fighting spearheaded by Bo’s supporters within the leadership, there has been no major groundswell of backing for Bo, either within the Communist Party or in the public — although he remains popular among many Chinese. The par ty deftly managed the potential aftershocks of the case par tly by keeping the charges focused on Bo’s corruption and keeping politics out of the trial, said Jonathan Holslag, a research fellow at the Institute for Contemporary China Studies at the University of Brussels. “The leadership has been successful because it had a clear criminal case against Bo, because it deterred Bo’s entourage from politicizing the trial, and because it matched Bo’s populism with its own promises to rip out corruption, boost growth and build a strong country,” Holslag said. In a departure from the choreographed proceedings of other recent political trials, Bo had launched an unusually vigorous defense while on the stand last month. He denied all charges and blamed the corruption on others in his inner circle, including his wife, forgoing the leniency customarily given in Chinese cour ts when a defendant expresses contrition. The charges had likely been tailored to of fer a

lighter sentence had Bo cooperated with prosecutors, but he declined to play along, said Willy Lam, an expert on Communist Party politics at Chinese University in Hong Kong. “He was punished for his disobedience and defiance,” Lam said. Bo also became the highest-level politician convicted for corruption under Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has staked his reputation on combatting graft among Communist Party members and cleaning up their image of luxurious lifestyles that has angered the Chinese public. “The leadership wants to send a signal that this is a serious matter,” Yang said. In keeping with the trial’s high profile — and the remarkable degree of transparency in which the cour t proceedings took place — state broadcaster CCTV ran a special bulletin on the verdict and sentence at the top of the nationwide noon news report. In its coverage, it showed Bo wearing a white dress shir t and slacks as he stood in cour t with a resigned smile, flanked by two burly police of ficers. He was led out in handcuffs following the sentencing, which was announced on the cour t’s microblog shortly before 11 a.m. The court sentenced Bo

to life in prison on the briber y charges, 15 years for embezzlement and seven years for abuse of power. The court rejected Bo’s defense that he did not know about the $3.5 million in bribes from two business associates in the form of cash and valuable gifts to his family — including a French villa, expenses-paid trips and fancy delicacies such as abalone. However, the cour t said a small portion of the bribes alleged by prosecutors, about $160,000, were not proven in court. The cour t also found that Bo embezzled $160,000 from a secret government project in the northern city of Dalian. The trial proceedings had been publicized through partial transcripts that gave a measure of legitimacy to a trial seen by many obser vers to have a foregone conclusion of guilt because of the party’s control over the court system. “This is a big victor y for Xi Jinping’s leadership, because you cannot say this is a secretive trial. It is at least a semi-open trial,” said Li Cheng, an exper t of elite politics at Brookings Institute. “Bo’s political career is zero, and the trial really transformed Bo from a charismatic leader to a self-indulging person.” Han Deqiang, a Bei-

jing university professor and a suppor ter of Bo, expressed his disappointment with the verdict, saying it negated Bo’s policies aimed at nar rowing the wealth gap in China. “If the gap continues to widen, the left will only become stronger,” Han said. “He has no chance to come back under the cur rent political system, but how long can the cur rent political system last? Then, he may have a chance.” Bo is still popular in the regions where he ser ved, especially in Chongqing, where he was par ty chief from 2007 to 2012. Bo had campaigned against organized crime, built affordable housing, and promoted Maoist songs and mass gatherings as a way of building his popularity among the city’s 30 million residents. His popularity was seen as a challenge to the par ty’s leadership as they sought to guide Xi and par ty No. 2, Li Keqiang, into power while retaining influence for now-retired leaders. Bo’s downfall was set in motion in Febr uar y 2012 when his former top aide attempted to defect to a U.S. consulate with information about his wife’s murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, just as leaders were pre-

paring the once-a-decade leadership transition. Bo had been seen as a contender in the transition for China’s top leadership panel, the Politburo Standing Committee, but he also had unner ved many colleagues in the leadership with self-promotion seen as running counter to their brand of consensus rule. Prosecutors later accused Bo of inter fering with the probe into the murder, as well as unrelated corr uption uncovered by investigators. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, confessed to the murder and was handed a suspended death sentence last year that will likely be commuted to life imprisonment. Bo’s disappearance into custody in March 2012 sparked huge public fascination with the scandal, along with wild speculation about coups and assassination attempts. Both Bo and the par ty leadership stuck “to a large part of the script, so to speak,” steering clear of larger political issues during the trial, said Joseph Cheng, an exper t on Chinese politics at the City University of Hong Kong. There was no mention of intra-par ty power struggles, Bo’s attempts to challenge the central leadership, or any attempts to implicate other senior leaders, Cheng said.

want, sometimes goes against the needs of the city. “We need to respect the architecture, the culture and nature of the community.” Samuels said. “At the same time, neighborhoods change.” All of the mayoral candidates agreed that community members should have input on new construction projects. Woodr uf f said some city planning decisions can come down to cost issues, so they might sometimes go against the community members’ opinions. Andrew said the next mayor will need to know “when to be deferential” to community needs and when to defer to the City

Council. Winton said he would work for affordable housing across the city while simultaneously avoiding city budget increases. Hodges said Minneapolis’ transit system has allowed for housing to be distributed across the city. If transit was made even more ef ficient, she said, developers could work throughout Minneapolis instead of focusing construction on individual areas. “[It] allows us to develop horizontally, not just vertically,” she said. Samuels also expressed suppor t for distributed housing, saying it would help spread the tax burden and bring resources

like good schools to more neighborhoods.

relationships. “We are not a safe city if people don’t feel safe calling the police,” she said. Winton suggested that officers should have cameras on their uniforms while on duty to ensure police accountability. “In cities where it’s been implemented, we’ve seen allegations of brutality come down dramatically,” he said. Cohen said the police depar tment should terminate of ficers who’ve been found guilty of misconduct in order to decrease the number of cases. Cherr yhomes and Andrew said they would work to give the Office of Police Conduct Review, formerly known as the Civilian Review Authority and Board,

more power while they review cases of police misconduct. Andrew said he wants civilians to have more authority during the review process. Currently, if the board is split on a conduct decision, the police chief or a police of ficer can break the tie. “I would not allow a police officer or the chief to be the tie-breaking vote as it’s currently set up for civilian review,” he said. The candidates also discussed issues including the education achievement gap and reducing property taxes. Their next debate will be held Sept. 24 at the University of Minnesota’s Coffman Union.

Addressing police misconduct

The candidates also discussed ways to have a “community-oriented,” accountable and transparent police force. Samuels said he wants to change the culture of the police department, creating par tnerships between the police and the community in order to reduce misconduct. Other candidates were more specific. Hodges discussed her police accountability platform, which includes processes for hiring and training police of ficers as well as for building community

BRIDGET BENNETT, DAILY

Seven mayoral candidates answer questions on stage Thursday at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis.

After a decade, church returns to original location in Marcy-Holmes Church u from Page 1

an office in Dinkytown. CPM Companies, which owns the Elysian, gave the church a free 99-year lease on the space in exchange for the land. Katie Lindman, an Elysian resident and pre-mortuar y science sophomore, said she didn’t know a church would be below the

building when she moved in. “I don’t know if they’ll enjoy living next to college students,” she said. “But it makes sense they’re there if they were here before.” Judy Maghakian, wife of Pastor Har r y Maghakian, said they invited their neighbors in the building to the first service on Sunday and that she’s thrilled the church finally has its own space again. “We’re looking to grow

w i t h t h i s n ew s pa c e, ” Maghakian said. “We tr y to remove the barriers and make people feel welcome.” A couple of students tried to use the church entrance to access the apartment building, but the church distinguishes its entrance with a stone from the old church on its lawn. Andy Whitman, University of Minnesota finance professor and a member of the congregation since 1981, said the church has a

unique history and connection with the University. “There have been many students and faculty who go there,” Whitman said, “even our own president.” Maghakian said University President Eric Kaler used to be a member of the congregation while pursuing his doctorate at the University. “He was an engineer, so he used to talk about the walls deteriorating in the old building,” she said.

Elaine Klaassen, the church’s piano player, said Harry and Judy’s charisma is one of the main reasons she loves Andrew Riverside. “They’re so nice and welcoming,” she said. “They’ll talk to anybody. They want to hear ever yone’s stor y.” Henri Mitambo, who graduated from the University in 2008, said the family aspect of the congregation is what keeps him coming

back. “Ever ybody knows ever ybody,” he said. “We all try to make each other feel welcome.” Mitambo and church elder Michelle Parsneau both said they’re looking forward to the church returning to its original location. “I’m excited for us to have our own place again,” Parsneau said. “This is a chance for us to engage with the community and have a presence.”

Monday, September 23, 2013

5

Sorority raises HIV, AIDS awareness Alpha Kappa Alpha launched its support of the cause at a gala Thursday night. BY MELISSA BERMAN mberman@mndaily.com

When Alpha Kappa Alpha members saw statistics regarding HIV and AIDS in the African- Ameri c a n c o m m u n i t y, t h e y knew they had to do something. “It is a widespread epidemic that dispropor tionately af fects us,” sorority President Mercedes

McKay said. This school year, the historically black University of Minnesota sorority will aim to increase HIV and AIDS awareness locally on college campuses and in the broader AfricanAmerican community. In 2011, African-Americans accounted for 47 percent of HIV diagnoses in the U.S. but made up only 12 percent of the popula-

DIAGNOSES OF HIV INFECTION AND POPULATION BY RACE/ETHNICITY, 2011 — UNITED STATES Diagnoses of HIV infection 2% <1% <1%

2%

Population of the United States

5%

2% 1% <1%

12%

21% 47% 28%

AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE ASIAN BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN HISPANIC/LATINO

17%

63%

NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER WHITE MULTIPLE RACES

SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

tion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each year, sororities typically choose a philanthropic cause to suppor t. When deciding which cause to take on this academic year, Alpha Kappa Alpha members discussed dif ferent diseases that affect college students but are not widely publicized. They decided to adopt HIV and AIDS awareness as their cause. Family Social Science Assistant Professor Shonda Craft said some people don’t see HIV as a problem in the U.S., but it’s still an issue. “We definitely still have some populations her e in the United States that are still not receiving adequate information and education about how to protect themselves and their partners,” she said. Alpha Kappa Alpha held a gala Thursday night where Craft and other exper ts gave presentations to kick of f the sorority’s advocacy efforts. McKay said she hopes the event and other sorority initiatives will raise awareness of the issue, which might not be a major concern for college students. “It is important to bring awareness to college students,” she said, “because although this vir us can

AMANDA SNYDER, DAILY

University assistant professor Shonda M. Craft talks about the health disparities affecting the African American community at TCF Bank Stadium on Thursday. Alpha Kappa Alpha’s event, “Shifting Visions of Strength: An Evening of Hope and Enlightenment on HIV and AIDS,” addressed the rising epidemic surrounding the rate of HIV and AIDS diagnoses in women and men of all ages and ethnicities.

be prevented in many different ways and it can be slowed down and there are ways of living with it, it’s still a huge concern.” Lekie Dwanyen, the sorority’s vice president, said the group hopes to collaborate with other campus organizations to hold awareness events and provide oppor tunities for students to get tested for HIV. Craft said students need to be aware of HIV and AIDS because anyone

can be affected. “College students need to be aware that it’s not just about what your age is or what your race is or what your socioeconomic status is, because HIV doesn’t discriminate,” she said. In Minnesota, the number of HIV and AIDS diagnoses is considered “low to moderate,” said Minnesota AIDS Project Education Coordinator Becca Stickney. Last year in Minnesota, there were 236 new HIV cases and 202 new AIDS

diagnoses, according to Minnesota Department of Health data. Stickney said there are currently about 7,500 people living with HIV across the state. Though there are more treatments available to improve quality of life for people with HIV and AIDS, Stickney said, some patients still face a stigma. ”I think we have seen improvements,” she said, “but we still have some more progress to be made.”

Builders, soldiers hustle to reconnect Colo. towns BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONGMONT, Colo. — State highway crews and National Guar d tr oops worked furiously Sunday to repair highways to Colorado mountain towns cut off by unprecedented flooding. Other teams were assessing how much damage needed to be repaired on Colorado’s eastern plains before trucks begin hauling in the fall harvest. “They’re really humming,” said Jerre Stead, the corporate executive chosen by Gov. John Hickenlooper to oversee the state’s recover y from the catastrophic floods, which killed seven and wreaked havoc across 17 counties and 2,000 square miles. Stead and Don Hunt, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transpor tation, said they were optimistic they can meet a Dec. 1 target to complete temporar y fixes to at least some roads, if more bad weather doesn’t interfere. Quick repairs are critical because winter weather will make highway work more difficult and force the closure of the high-elevation Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National

Park, one of only two routes still open into Estes Park, a small town at the park’s east entrance. Also looming are the har vests from Colorado’s $8.5 billion-a-year agriculture industr y, which relies on trucks to get cattle and crops to markets. Of ficials said it’s too early to know how much time and money it will take to make permanent repairs, but they say it will cost more than $100 million. Some 200 miles of state highways and 50 bridges were destroyed. On Sunday, Stead and Hunt drove up flood-battered U.S. 36 northwest of Denver until they reached a point where floodwaters had obliterated the roadway. Then they got out and hiked. Holding his hands about shoulder-width apart, Stead said, “You’re on paths this narrow where the roads used to be.” Residents who chose not to evacuate aboard National Guard helicopters gave them a lift at one point, Hunt said. Those isolated r esidents can drive along unscathed sections of highway but can’t reach either Estes Park on

the north or L yons on the south. Hunt said residents of Pinewood Springs had built makeshift trails along highway washouts and planned to escor t some children along those paths to waiting vehicles on Monday. He didn’t know how many children were making the trek or how far they would have to walk. Stead said the devasta-

tion was worse than he expected, but Hunt was more optimistic. “It’s maybe not as bad as I thought,” he said. “The damage is severe, but it’s highly concentrated” in a few areas, mostly where roads share a narrow canyon with a river. Hunt said the biggest dif ficulties will be getting constr uction materials into damaged areas

and protecting workers and travelers from falling rocks loosened by days of heavy rain. Colorado will awar d several contracts for emergency repairs to construction companies on Monday. State employees and National Guard soldiers are already on the job and making quick progress, Stead said. The federal gover n-

ment will reimburse the state up to $100 million for road repairs, CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford said, but Colorado officials are pushing to raise that to $500 million, which she said was the cap for midAtlantic states rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. “It is critically important that we get this relief,” she said.

6

Monday, September 23, 2013

Policy change evening up extra credit Some say extra credit is now offered more fairly or less often. BY ANNIE MILLERBERND amillerbernd@mndaily.com

Nearly five years after a new policy was installed, some University of Minnesota students and professors say extra credit opportunities have changed. Professors are required to announce all extra credit oppor tunities, and some

students say it’s now offered more fairly or not at all in their classes. In response to complaints that extra credit was being of fered unequally, the University began requiring instructors to outline all extra credit opportunities in their syllabi in 2008. “We had heard from students that extra credit was being inconsistently offered,” said Tina Falkner, University director of compliance and continuity. “It was being offered to those

who asked for it, but other students didn’t even know they could.” Physics and astronomy professor Paul Crowell said it’s difficult for instructors to be completely fair in offering extra credit opportunities. “In my experience, the only way to be completely fair is to spell out all of the expectations in a syllabus in the beginning of the semester,” he said. Some students say extra credit is simply not offered very often now.

Sixth-year material science engineering major Rochelle Zordich said she’s rarely given an extra credit opportunity in her classes. “I think the most common times I see extra credit is when the class’ score is a little bit too low for [the instructor],” Zordich said. Mechanical engineering freshman Mitchell Pagel said he thinks extra credit should be of fered to the entire class, though his classes rarely provide the option. Associate Dean for Col-

lege of Science and Engineering undergraduate programs Paul Str ykowski said grading methods, including the distribution of extra credit, are up to each professor. American Indian studies professor David Wilkins said he doesn’t of fer extra credit because he believes students should take responsibility for their grades. “Students come in, they do the work that’s laid out on the syllabus and if they do it well, they get a high

grade,” he said, “and if they don’t do it well, they get a lower grade.” Sociology professor Vania Brightman Cox said she of fers extra credit to her class to encourage students to engage with class materials and said she isn’t concerned with how it affects grade inflation. “I’m more interested in making sure that the whole class or the majority of the class leaves with an understanding of sociology,” she said. “That’s what I’m there to do — I’m there to teach.”

University Libraries promote reading for pleasure Monthly exhibits are showcasing the libraries’ popular books. BY KYLE STOWE kstowe@mndaily.com

While the majority of University of Minnesota librar y collections suppor t academic research, staf f members are tr ying to appeal to the casual reader with more accessible popular literature. A new exhibit located at the main entrance of Wilson Librar y titled “From Our Collections” cycles through

a new theme ever y two months, showcasing patron recommendations that can be checked out from one of the Twin Cities campus’s 13 libraries. “ We r e c o g n i z e t h a t students are busy, but we still want to provide them with opportunities to read for fun,” said librar y assistant and exhibit co-creator Becky Adamski. Library assistant and exhibit co-creator Kaia Sievert said she hopes the exhibit raises awareness of lighter reading oppor tunities at Wilson Library and makes popular literature easier to locate.

“I think there’s a lot of value in fun reading,” she said. “But it’s just harder to notice in an academic library.” The exhibit debuted this summer with the theme “Beach Reads.” This month, the display is running in conjunction with the American Librar y Association’s Banned Books Week, featuring a number of titles that have been challenged in libraries and schools across the country. Sievert said this month’s theme is not only supposed to raise awareness of free speech, but also highlight how many books are chal-

lenged in other parts of the world. “The exhibit is intended to create conversation around the topic of banned books,” she said. Sievert said some of the banned titles may be surprising, like J.K. Rowling’s “Harr y Potter” series and “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin. In addition to reading the books on display, library patrons can learn more about them or make recommendations for future displays on the University Libraries Pinterest page or in person. Sievert said reader recommendations can help fur-

ther engage those interested in reading for pleasure. “The new exhibit will pull things out and give people a better chance to see what kinds of popular literature we have in our stacks,” she said. Undergraduate services librarian Kate Peterson said research has shown that more reading overall helps improve writing and academic achievement. She said University Libraries staff members are always looking for new ways to engage students and highlight the collections. Political science and Spanish sophomore Evan

Hromada said it’s good that the libraries are working to promote reading for pleasure, but it might not have much of an ef fect on students. “I think college students in general don’t have a lot of time for it,” he said. “They come to the librar y to do homework.” English and German freshman Jordan Ecker said she makes it a priority to read for pleasure despite academic time commitments. “I’m going to be an English major,” she said. “So naturally I’m going to tr y to find time to read books for fun.”

Health law separates potential GOP 2016 contenders BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. — A clear divide over the health care law separates the emerging field of potential GOP candidates for the 2016 presidential race, previewing the battles ahead as they try to rebuild their par ty and seize the White House. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says he will fight “with ever y breath” to stop President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, even if that means shutting down parts of the federal government. It’s an approach that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush calls “quite dicey” politically for Republicans. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky says flatly that a shutdown is “a dumb idea.”

“I’m acknowledging we probably can’t defeat or get rid of Obamacare,” Paul told repor ters Saturday while attending a Republican conference in Michigan. “But by starting with our position of not funding it maybe we get to a position where we make it less bad.” Allied on the other side with Cr uz are U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and others who say they are making a principled stand, willing to oppose the law at all costs. Then there are those taking what they call a pragmatic approach by accepting the law, if grudgingly, and moving on. This group includes Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who says a shutdown would violate the public trust.

“The gover nment we have should work, so that’s why I don’t believe we should shut the gover nment down,” Walker told reporters at the Michigan conference. The Republican-controlled House passed a shor t-term spending plan Friday that would continue funding government operations through mid-December while withholding money for the health law. Some GOP lawmakers also advocate holding back on increasing the nation’s bor rowing limit, which could result in a first-ever default, unless the law is brought down. Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to scold “a faction on the far right” of the Republican Party, and he said he would not allow “anyone to harm this country’s reputation or threaten to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people, just to make an ideological point.” While attending the Michigan conference, Paul said Republicans could

force a vote in both houses of Congress, then negotiate changes to legislation in a joint conference committee. But, he added, time is running out. Less than one-quar ter of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, about the same as approve of Republicans in Congress, according to recent national polls. Democrats poll slightly higher, and large majorities disapprove of the work of both. Yet, only about a third of Americans say they approve of the health care act. Christie has accepted for his state key provisions of the law, yet campaigned on behalf of candidates who support dismantling it. He has taken no public position on whether to fight the law to the point of government shutdown. “He is either unwilling or unable to speak up against these guys,” Democratic National Committee spokesman Mike Czin said. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, hosting the conference where Paul, Walker and

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke Saturday, said a shutdown “reflects poorly on the national political culture.” Bush was more pointed. He said Republicans would be guilty of overplaying their hand if they passed a spending measure that did not include money for the health care law. Noting that Republicans control only the U.S. House in Washington, or “one-half of one-third of the leverage” in the capital, Bush said Wednesday in Washington there “needs to be an understanding of that, or, politically, it gets quite dicey” for the GOP. Cruz said concerns that voters would blame Republicans for a shutdown are unfounded. “If history is a guide, the fear of deep political repercussions — I don’t think the data bear that out,” he said. Republican lawmakers and Democratic President Bill Clinton failed to agree on spending in 1995, which resulted in two partial government shutdowns. Clinton was re-elected

the following year, but Cruz noted that Republicans held the majorities in both the House and Senate in 1996 and 1998, and collaborated with Clinton on spending cuts and other changes that preceded economic expansion. Paul and Jindal are attempting to create some daylight between themselves and their would-be rivals. Paul may consider a shutdown dumb but says the fight over the health care law is worth having. “I am for the debate, I am for fighting,” Paul said. “I don’t want to shut the government down, though. I think that’s a bad solution.” Jindal, who opposes the health law, has said Republicans need to be “more than the party of ‘no’” but that it’s a bad idea to take any option off the table, including government shutdown. “I don’t think as Republicans we should be negotiating with ourselves,” he said in an Associated Press inter view, but stopped short of criticizing Paul for his comments.

Rising immigrant deaths put burden on Texas BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FALFURRIAS, Texas — By the time the woman perished, she had probably slogged 25 miles through dry

ranch lands in her quest to enter the United States. She was found just feet from a highway where she might have been picked up and taken to Houston with other migrants making the same journey.

Not long ago, her body would have been taken to a funeral home for a cursory attempt at identification, then buried in this town an hour north of the Mexico border under a sign reading “unknown female.” Her death, probably from hypothermia, is part of a mounting body count that has overwhelmed sparsely populated Brooks County, providing further evidence that immigrants are shifting their migration routes away from the well-worn paths into Arizona and instead crossing into deep southern Texas. The changing patterns have put an extra burden on local governments with limited experience in such matters and even fewer financial resources. “There are some counties that have the economic wherewithal to take on these issues, and there are other counties that just don’t have any money, so that puts them into a real bad bind,” said Raquel Rubio Goldsmith, coordinator of the Binational Migration Institute at the University of Arizona, which researches immigration issues. But Brooks County is trying to step up to the challenge. Now, all newly recovered bodies and skeletal remains of suspected immigrants will travel 90 miles to nearby Webb County for autopsies, DNA sampling and

more intense efforts at identification. It’s a monumental step for Brooks County, population just over 7,100, where on a recent morning the chief deputy mopped the floors of the sheriff’s office himself. He will also be making the weekly trips to deliver corpses to the medical examiner in Laredo. The county handled 129 bodies last year, which Judge Raul Ramirez, the county’s top administrator, says blew a hole in the budget. And even though he and most other local officials see illegal immigration as a federal problem, federal money has not followed. Last year, Brooks County trailed only Pima County, Ariz., in the number of immigrant bodies recovered and they already have 76 this year. Nearly a million people live in Pima County, and the 171 bodies found in 2012 were consistent with annual totals dating back to 2004, according to a report by the migration institute. Brooks County, on the other hand, averaged 50 to 60 dead before last year, but Border Patrol apprehensions in the area have soared. The number of immigrants detained in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley border sector outpaced the historic leader, the Tucson sector, by more than 30,000.

Monday, September 23, 2013

7

University expands international efforts Recruiting u from Page 1

by paying for tuition, housing, food and other goods and ser vices. In the 2011-12 academic year, inter national students contributed $319.2 million to the state’s economy, according to the U.S. Department of State. About half of U.S. states have groups like Study Minnesota, Edmiston said.

Having a Minnesotaspecific website and basic marketing materials will help the 21 schools spread the word about Study Minnesota when they’re recruiting students abroad, he said.

Increasing oncampus resources

Human resource development junior Rawnaq al-Gheithy said she never saw the University represented when she went to

international recruitment fairs as a high school student in her native Oman. She said it will be beneficial to students to see the University at recruitment fairs in the future. Al-Gheithy said she chose the University because she got a scholarship, which is the case for many inter national students. The University is always looking to diversify its student body and its interna-

tional student body, said Leah Brink, coordinator for the University’s Global Opportunities Minnesota program, which of fers shor tterm international student study programs. Joining with Study Minnesota could help recruit a larger, higher-quality international student applicant pool with more varied academic interests, she said. “We have amazing inter national students currently on campus, and we

FALL 2012 UMN-TWIN CITIES ENROLLMENT BY COUNTRY

NO STUDENTS 1–50 STUDENTS 51–100 STUDENTS 101–500 STUDENTS 501–1,000 STUDENTS OVER 1,000 STUDENTS EXCLUDED LOCATION

SOURCE: OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH

have lots of international applications ever y year,” she said, “But we can always focus on getting the best and the brightest here as well, so it’s just one more avenue for us to do that.” Because the University has multiple programs that could benefit from a relationship with Study Minnesota — like the Minnesota English Language Program and the Graduate School — several people at the University will work with the group, Brink said. Minnesota International Student Association officer Suji Jin said she likes the idea of the consortium. The University is a good place for international students, she said, because of resources like MISA and International Student and Scholar Ser vices. Though inter national students help the economy and the University, Jin said, she wishes cultural education was the main reason for attracting international students. “We get to hear a lot of stories from around the world,” she said. “We get to learn their cultures.” For al-Gheithy, the biggest benefit of having international students at the University is that they help “round out the minds” on

STUDY MINNESOTA PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: Augsburg College Bemidji State University Bethel University Concordia College Gustavus Adolphus College Hamline University McNally Smith College of Music Metropolitan State University Minnesota State University, Mankato Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota St. Catherine University St. Cloud State University University of Minnesota-Duluth University of Minnesota-Twin Cities University of St. Thomas Winona State University COMMUNITY COLLEGES: Inver Hills Community College UNIVERSITY PREPARATORY SCHOOLS: Shattuck-St. Mary’s School The International School of Minnesota ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMS: ELS Language Centers-St. Paul Global Language Institute SOURCE: STUDY MINNESOTA

campus. “Just one per classroom can really change the discussion atmosphere,” she said.

Harvest expected to be decent for the majority of Minnesota farmers BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINNEAPOLIS — Most Minnesota farmers are expected to har vest a decent crop this year despite the twin challenges of a cold, wet spring and an arid August. The corn har vest could even be a winner on par with last year’s, though results will var y. That’s par ticularly tr ue in par ts of southeaster n Min-

nesota that never fully recovered from snow in May, the Star T ribune reported Sunday. “The corn yield looks like it will be close to last year, but there will be a lot of variation,” said David Nicolai, a University of Minnesota Extension crop educator. “It will be a case where average yields look good, but county by county, field by field, this will be a year of variability.”

One thing has changed significantly from a year ago: prices ar e down. Cor n futures are trading at just mor e than $4.50 a bushel, compared with prices that topped $7 per bushel last year. As for soybeans, the late-summer drought is likely to put a dent in the har vest. The lack of rain in August has caused some soybean fields to mature early, before their seeds and pods were fully de-

veloped. Minnesota’s soybean yields are forecast to be down 10 percent from 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wet, cold weather meant spring planting got of f to a slow star t. By May 1, hardly any corn was in the ground, though farmers by then normally would have seeded at least a third of their crop. Federal crop insurance data show Mower, Freebor n, Dodge, Steele and Ol -

m s ted co u n ti es i n the southeast were hit worst. The snow was on the ground so long that many farmers never got their whole crop in. “We are roughly half planted,” Dan Erickson, a farmer in Alden west of Alber t Lea, said of his corn crop. “My dad (who is also a farmer) said he’s never seen anything like it in 45 years.” Recent rain helped a bit but came too late for a good

swath of the soybean crop. Dry conditions forced some fields to mature early, before their seeds and pods were fully developed. When soybean plants turn yellow, they’ve matured. “I’ve got some fields that are 75 percent to 80 percent yellow,” said Tom Haag, a farmer near Eden Valley whose farm sits in the severe drought zone in central Minnesota. “Once they star t turning yellow, they’re done.”

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Editorials & Opinions www.mndaily.com/opinion

Budgetary madness Republicans need to stop holding the nation hostage to their ludicrous demands. n one week, Congress must pass a new budget or the federal gover nment will run out of money. This would have an impact on Medicare, public hospitals, food stamps, unemployment insurance, funds to state and local governments, and much more. Moreover, the debt ceiling needs to be lifted by midOctober so that the nation can continue to fund what it has already agreed to pay for. The failure to do both, in the words of President Barack Obama, would depict the United States as a “deadbeat nation,” a country that cannot even agree to pay for the bills that it has already incurred. In this dire economic situation, the full faith and credit of the monetary system may be questioned, and it may even harm national security. Passing budgets and raising debt ceilings have been

RONALD DIXON columnist

commonplace political sport for years. The debt limit has been changed almost 80 times, mostly by Republicans. Despite this, GOP leadership has decided to — once again — take this nation hostage for political gain. Last week, House Republicans passed a bill to fund the government, but they included a measure to defund the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.” This is the 42nd time the House voted on legislation to gut the ACA. This entire debate, both on the deficit and health care, is based upon fallacious assertions. The deficit, contrar y to popular opinion, has actually been shrinking rapidly since Obama took office, thanks to general spending cuts, lower

taxes and sequestration. As students, we can specifically benefit from the ACA. The ACA made it possible for children to stay on their parent’s plans until the age of 26. Prior to this change, students could be dropped at age 19 if they weren’t taking classes full-time. Young people make up about 30 percent of uninsured people, higher than any other age group. This is especially dangerous at universities that do not require student health insurance. Insurance would then become an out-of-pocket cost for students without parental or financial support. The University of Minnesota has a student health insurance requirement, but if the ACA was defunded, it could potentially hurt students by stripping them of insurance coverage. Tangibly, we see the benefits of the ACA in Minnesota. The pinnacle of the Obamacare success is MNsure, the health care exchange for those that lack insurance in the state. Congressional Republicans may disagree with the facts surrounding the deficit and health care, but they should

DEATHS IN IRAQ: U.S. & COALITION TROOPS: 4,802 — IRAQI CIVILIANS: 114,496- PLUS DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN: U.S. & COALITION TROOPS: 3,366 — AFGHAN CIVILIANS: UNKNOWN

not be using these issues as bargaining chips to achieve their own political ends. How do we get out of this mess? First, Republicans need to stop acting as delegates to their narrow, gerr ymandered districts and act in the best interests of the nation. Also, House Speaker John Boehner needs to disband the 20-year precedent by Republican leadership of using the Hastert Rule, which prevents House legislation from being held to a vote if only a minority of the majority supports the bill. Furthermore, Obama must continue to fight against these Republican demands, using the bully pulpit and Senate Democrats as his offense. Finally, although the people would disproportionately blame Republicans if the government shut down, Americans need to stop voting these incompetent legislators into office. This monetar y madness needs to end. Ronald Dixon welcomes comments at rdixon@mndaily.com.

GUEST EDITORIAL

Papal wisdom goes beyond doctrine The pope’s desire to move from singleissue politics to overall mission should give us all pause to reflect on our purpose.

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the last IPCC assessment. Allen accused its cumbersome production process of misrepresenting how science works. Dr. Benny Peiser of the Global Warming Policy Foundation described leaked information from the new repor t as a “staggering concoction of confusion, speculation and sheer ignorance.” Professor Judith Curr y, head of climate science at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, said the Fifth Assessment is showing that “the science is clearly not settled and is in a state of flux.” She added that the IPCC projections are “overconfident,” especially given the report’s admitted areas of doubt. Many of the sponsoring nations have already submitted concerns about the new Fifth Assessment, leading with the IPCC’s failure to account for the current warming pause. Numerous Fifth Assessment authors are meeting in Stockholm with nation representatives to discuss possible revisions. The unwieldy and expensive IPCC assessment process may have run its course. There is a strong case that climate forecasting is more ar t than science. We don’t even know if carbon dioxide is a warming threat, or simply photosynthesis plant food which contributes to increased agricultural productivity.

n today’s seemingly irreconcilable world of polarity, divisiveness and deaf ears, a powerful leader has said enough. Will we listen? In an admonition from which we all could learn, Pope Francis this week said the Catholic Church had become so focused on digging in its heels on social issues that it was overshadowing its mission, which could bring down the church “like a house of cards.” In his first extensive inter view since becoming pope, Francis told a group of Jesuit journals that while he embraces traditional church teachings, he’s “not a right-winger.” “This church … is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people,” he said. “We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.” The pope’s message comes amid rumblings within some Catholic advocacy groups and among bishops who have noticed his unwillingness to talk about abortion or gay marriage. The pope has answered, saying, in essence, we’re bigger than that. Our mission, our duty is bigger than single divisive issues. He said the first thing the church needs is an adjustment of “attitude.” Now superimpose that rationale on our political scene in which some elected officials are willing to symbolically burn down the house rather than capitulate on “principle.” These few but influential lawmakers see their mission not to represent all people, but to wage a singular crusade for a select few. Pope Francis said pastors “must be people who can warm the hearts of the people, who walk through the dark night with them, who know how to dialogue. … The people of God want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials.” Here we differ with the pope. We do not think bureaucrats or government officials are beyond saving. The pope’s advice should be taken seriously, not just by Catholics, but by everyone. At a time when we all face an uncertain future, we need leaders who can take the good of all sides and forge a reasonable answer rather than blindly champion a single cause. Not just religious leaders, but all leaders, whether in global seats of power or just around the coffee table.

Rolf Westgard Lecturer, University Lifelong Learning program on climate and energy

This editorial was published in the Mankato Free Press on Sept. 22. Comments should be sent to letters@mndaily.com.

Maxwell Smith welcomes comments at msmith@mndaily.com.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Carbon dioxide: climate threat or plant food?

In 1988, the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations established the Intergover nmental Panel on Climate Change to evaluate world climate research, and to forecast global temperatures to the end of the 21st centur y. The IPCC is now funded by 195 countries who also contribute scientific personnel to the effort. Since its creation, the IPCC has issued four major Assessment Repor ts, the last in 2007, which projected continued global warming at 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade. The 2007 repor t stated that this warming was “ver y likely” due to human r elease of gr eenhouse gases, and that one result would be stor ms such as hur ricanes of greater intensity. The repor t also forecast a decline in Antarctic sea ice. The IPCC is expected to release a summar y of its widely anticipated Fifth Assessment Repor t on Sept. 27. There are several problems for the IPCC as that report appears. The most impor tant is that since 1997, there has been no statistically significant incr ease in global temperatures, despite a continued rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide, the most impor tant human-generated global warming gas. Sept. 10 marked the peak of the Atlantic hur-

The Editorials & Opinions department is independent of the newsroom. The editorial board prepares the editorials labeled “EDITORIALS,” which are the opinion of the Minnesota Daily as an institution but not representative of Daily employees’ opinions. Columnists’ opinions are their own.

EDITORIALS

NATIONAL POLITICS

I

Monday, September 23, 2013

ricane season, and so far 2013 is one of the quietest hur ricane seasons in memor y. The year 2013 also marks eight consecutive years of no Categor y 3 or higher hur ricane making landfall on the U.S. mainland, the longest such period in a centur y. In a recent study in the jour nal Nature Climate Change, researchers at the University of Victoria found that models such as those used by the IPCC have overestimated warming by 100 percent over the past 20 years. The IPCC also calculated the equilibrium climate sensitivity, the amount of warming induced by a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The 2007 report gave a “likely” minimum figure of 2 degrees Celsius, with a probable value of 3 C for the doubling of carbon dioxide. The preliminar y 2013 Assessment lowers the “likely” minimum increase to 1.5 C with no probable value forecast. Finally, the IPCC found that the amount of Antarctica sea ice is at an all-time record of more than 19.5 million square kilometers. And at the other pole, as of Sept. 15, Arctic sea ice extent was more than 1 million square miles greater than on the same date in 2012. One of the new assessment’s own authors, Professor Myles Allen, the director of Oxfor d University’s Climate Research Network, said recently that this should be

The U’s benefitswage gap The University can’t keep wages low while shifting health care costs to employees.

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ith a reputation as one of the country’s largest and most recognized research institutions, the University of Minnesota offers an alluring opportunity for researchers and academics in nearly ever y discipline, from agriculture to public policy. Because of its key placement in the Twin Cities and its connection to area hospitals and businesses, many potential faculty and other employees are attracted to the University. But another reason people are drawn to work here is access to quality health care. As Office of Human Resources Vice President Kathy Brown suggested in a Sept. 18 Minnesota Daily article, it appears potential employees are even willing to accept a lower wage in order to receive the “strong” benefits package offered by the University. The Daily also reported that during the 201112 fiscal year, the University employee base pay was nearly $3,300 less than similarly positioned employees around the country. While it is true that many potential candidates are attracted to the University because of its benefits, the quality of its health care plan is under attack. Over the summer, the Benefits Advisor y Committee discussed proposed changes to the University’s employee health plan, “UPlan,” in efforts to address new requirements outlined in the Affordable Care Act. Some of these changes come as a result of a $48 million federal tax the University is wary of incurring if its health care plans cost more annually than $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for a family. A July 24 Daily ar ticle specifies that changes may “raise the cost of copays for primar y and specialty care and make employees pay deductibles, which they haven’t had to pay before.” There is some controversy between the unions that represent University employees and the Office of Human Resources as to the timing of these changes and whether they are really necessary to help the University avoid paying a federal tax on its health coverage. Though a 40 percent tax on the University’s health care costs may seem markedly high, this provision of the Af fordable Care Act aims to keep health care premiums down by discouraging overuse of plans for unnecessar y medical tests and procedures. This tax will affect a wide range of companies across the nation, and shifting costs to employees is a concern that various unions have across the country. The University of Minnesota Clerical Workers, which make up the 3800 branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, will rally on campus this week to protest health care costs being shifted to employees. They will also be campaigning for a sliding-scale premium plan, which would aim to keep health care costs balanced and in line with employee salaries. In a previous Daily editorial published July 31, the president of AFSCME Local 3800 suggested a sliding-scale health care plan could work for the University, and that other universities like Amherst, Dartmouth and the University of California have plans that adjust coverage based on salary. University administrators might make the argument that lower base salaries for University employees are appropriate if the quality of the benefits package compensates for the gap, but this logic crumbles when considering the cost shifts that are expected to be made to employee health plans. The University cannot expect to attract top talent or maintain satisfied employees if there is not a reasonable wage-benefits balance. If the University shifts health care costs to employees in order to avoid the 40 percent excise tax, it should implement a sliding-scale premium plan, as well as make employee base salaries more competitive with other Big Ten schools. This change will be advantageous for the University’s reputation as a rewarding place to work. And by keeping salary increases on track with market demand both in the Twin Cities and nationwide, the University has a better chance of continuing to lure the best and brightest faculty and staff.

LETTERS AND GUEST COLUMNS

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. Readers may also submit guest columns. 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

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EDITOR IN CHIEF-TONY-WAGNER = EDITORIALS & OPINIONS EDITOR ERIC BEST = SENIOR EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER WILLIAM BORNHOFT = BOARD MEMBER CASSANDRA SUNDARAM

www.mndaily.com/opinion

Opinions Comparing college costs students got one year’s worth of a college education. But how is this possible? It’s possible because many European countries have eliminated tuition fees or have placed a maximum cap on how much universities are allowed to charge annually. For instance, German universities are only allowed to charge a maximum of 1,000 euros annually — if they charge at all.

Another merry-go-round Petty political strategy in the House values spiting our president over insuring millions.

Total cost

OVER-

It’s important to understand that education cost is not directly synonymous with the cost of tuition alone; it includes additional mandatory fees such as the cost of books and other study materials. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. had the highest education cost in 2010 at $13,856. The same data showed that Finland’s education cost came in second at $1,243 while Germany ($933), Sweden ($600) and Norway ($596) rounded up the other three spots. The average American student spent more than $1,000 on textbooks and supplies in 2010 alone. For $400 less, Norwegian and Swedish

COUNTRY Finland Norway Germany Denmark Sweden Netherlands France Latvia Canada New Zealand England and Wales USA Australia Japan

OUT OF POCKET COST

Education cost

HIGHER ED AFFORDABILITY RANKINGS TOTAL

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ou don’t need a degree these days to know the U.S. lags behind many European countries in education. The U.S. ranks behind ever y countr y from Finland and Denmark to South Korea and Singapore when it comes to the younger generation’s reading, math and science skills. This hardly comes as a surprise in a country where social issues, such as marijuana legalization and gun control, constantly overshadow our crumbling public education system. That said, there is a silver lining: The U.S.’s disturbing trend of low-quality primar y education does not extend to higher education. In fact, the U.S. has been the top country in the world for higher education since 2012. This sounds like good news, right? Truth be told, it is good news until you take a look at just how much it costs students to attend college in the U.S. versus other countries. No doubt you’ve heard the following two statistics before: Students are approximately $1 trillion in loan debt collectively and individually owe about $26,000 on average. But why is it this way? The best way to answer this question is by stepping out of the confines of your own world for a few minutes. I found that by looking at what other countries are doing right with their higher education systems, I could partially locate the root of what the U.S. is doing wrong with ours. I decided to study a 2010 report conducted by the International Ranking Expert Group Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence. I looked at how the U.S. stacks up against some European countries — particularly Germany, Norway, Finland and Sweden — in higher education financial trends. I often heard from word of mouth that these countries offered the most affordable higher education in the world and wanted to see if the research could back those claims up.

The total cost included the combined costs of education as well as living expenses, such as housing, utilities, food and transportation. Again, the results were similar to the education cost data: The U.S. sported the highest total cost of the five countries at $23,615 in 2010. With a slight reorder, this time Germany was the most affordable at $6,250. Finland came in second at $7,977 while Norway and Sweden followed at $8,096 and $9,265, respectively. All in all, the IREG Observatory gave Finland, Norway, and Germany the top three spots in terms of overall affordability rankings while Sweden received fifth place and the U.S. received 12th. Two things became abundantly clear to me after exploring all of these different rankings. One: Those word-of-mouth rumors about the most affordable higher education systems in the world in those countries were true. Two: The U.S.’s woes with the cost of attending college aren’t just a product of any single factor. The reason the U.S. ranks so low on the global higher education stage financially is a culmination of factors. It is the fact that colleges are continuously raising their tuition and the cost of living is still extremely high. It is the fact that the textbook industry hikes up prices each year, and it is the fact that financial institutions are continuing to charge astronomical interest rates on student loans. Ultimately, while we may have the best higher education system in the world, what good is it if so many of our own people cannot afford to take advantage of it? I don’t have the answer to the cost of higher education debate, but what I do know is that it is a debate we need to be having.

EDU.

LUIS RUUSKA columnist

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HEALTH CARE

UNIVERSITIES

The U.S. stacks up poorly against many of its European counterparts when it comes to college costs.

Monday, September 23, 2013

6 1 5 2 4 7 3 11 10 8 9 13 12 14

4 2 1 6 7 3 5 8 9 10 11 13 12 14

1 3 5 4 2 6 8 10 9 7 11 12 13 14

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

SOURCE: IREG OBSERVATORY ON ACADEMIC RANKING AND EXCELLENCE, 2010

Luis Ruuska welcomes comments at lruuska@mndaily.com.

MATT HOY columnist

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ell, they’re at it again. On Friday, Republicans in the House of Representatives voted through a bill that would keep the government r unning only if the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” is defunded. Senate Majority Leader Har r y Reid was quick to respond, pledging to strip the bill of its provisions about the ACA before sending it back to the House just in time to avoid a potential government shutdown. It’s easy to get carried away casting blame on one of the two parties. And it’s easy getting frustrated with a broken political system that has cultivated one of the least ef fective and least trusted Congresses in histor y. It’s important to hold such irresponsible leaders accountable for their careless actions. But this isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve been held hostage before, riding out political pissing contests while the lives of American people are tossed around haphazardly by politicians who do not act in the best interest of their constituents. The conversation shouldn’t be about who is to blame anymore. We’ve already been down that road. Instead, we need to have a conversation about why an issue like health care has become so twisted by our political process. Health is a basic human right. When we allow it to become a privilege, or an expense, we ensure that those among us without the resources to af ford it are guaranteed a lower quality of health, simply because they inhabit a lower social stratum. I do not want this to become a column about statistics. There have been mor e than enough to demonstrate that the Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance system is unbelievably broken. But it is impor tant to lay out a few key ones. The U.S. spends the most on health care, whether in relation to its population or economy, according to Mark Pearson, head of Division on Health Policy at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. We devoted 17.6 percent of our GDP to health expenses in 2010 — more than any other countr y. After the U.S. comes the Netherlands, which spent 12 percent of its GDP on

health care. The OECD found an international average of 9.5 percent of GDP, slightly more than half of what we spend. There are numerous causes for this, and they require comprehensive reform to remedy. The ACA is an attempt at that remedy, albeit a flawed one. We can certainly do better. My question is why is the illusor y fear of socialism enough to create such opposition to a law that brings health care to tens of millions of people? I don’t buy the financial argument that some critics make. The CBO found that repealing the ACA would add $210 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years. And we already spend far more than any other countr y on our health insurance. If our politicians actually cared about the most financially feasible solution, we would have moved to a more “socialized” system long ago. This is an ideological conflict masked as a financial one. The narrative of “makers” versus “takers” has allowed a major American political faction to do ever ything in its power to block tens of millions of people from getting health insurance. They are, in fact, so determined to go after health care that they are willing to risk a potential government shutdown. If it weren’t so disgraceful, it might be funny. It illuminates just how flawed this ideology is: Even prominent Republicans in the Senate oppose this move. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) labeled the move as “the dumbest idea” he has ever heard. And it really is. These politicians, who claim that their actions are taken in the best interest of the American people, are eager to damage our economy in the name of preventing tens of millions of people from receiving health insurance. It’s time to abandon this nar rative that universal health care is somehow akin to a socialist takeover of American values. It’s time to abandon the idea that there are those of us who are “makers” and those of us who are “takers.” It’s time to realize that a cheaper, more efficient health care system that extends insurance to 32 million people is the right option. And it’s time to star t dismantling a political ideology that is so petty and childish that its parishioners are willing to shut down the gover nment to spite their president. This is not a question about privilege, entitlement or some strange per version of fiscal responsibility. This is a legitimate attempt to prevent people who were ineligible for insurance in a profoundly flawed system from getting access to a basic human right. It’s about people who are too sick for insurance companies to treat their illnesses. It’s about the eight states in which insurance companies were allowed to treat a histor y of domestic abuse as a pre-existing condition. It’s about living up to our responsibility as a nation to help those among us who can’t help themselves. We need to stop pretending other wise. Matt Hoy welcomes comments at mhoy@mndaily.com.

HIGHER EDUCATION

There’s more than STEM research A congressional bill, FASTR, helps make publicly funded research accessible, but it doesn’t go far enough.

TRENT M. KAYS columnist

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or those in higher education, research can feel like something they own. It becomes a calling card, central to one’s career. With the new trend of open access gaining ground, research accessibility can be a tricky issue in academic politics. If research isn’t open access, one can request access from academics, but this isn’t dependable. This sort of access is piecemeal and asks a lot out of other academics. Even when work is published in large academic journals, it is still regulated and closed off from the general public. Arising out of this quagmire is a serious and ethically complicated question: Does the public deserve access to academic research?

On one hand, higher education and the academy exist to serve the greater community. On the other hand, researchers dedicate a lot of time and energy to work that rightly warrants value. So, who is more deserving? When it comes to federally funded research, the greater community is more deserving. Or, so Congress seems to think. Earlier this year, Congress oversaw the introduction of the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act. This bill, FASTR, would make federally funded research freely available online to the greater public. As Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the bill sponsor, explained, “The FASTR act provides that access because taxpayer-funded research should never be hidden behind a paywall.” I certainly agree with Wyden. It seems only reasonable that research funded by taxpayer dollars should be available to the public. Unfortunately, I don’t think FASTR goes far enough. The issue of open access is a prickly one for some researchers. FASTR fails to adequately include humanities and social science research. The primary focus of the bill is on STEMrelated (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) research. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, as our country is obsessed with STEM at the moment. The focus is not just in title, as the act focuses on agencies with large expenditures — more than $100 million — that over whelmingly include STEM-related research institutions. However, STEM fields aren’t the only fields that conduct federally funded research.

It doesn’t matter what field a researcher is in. If research is conducted with federal funding, it would need to be open and free to the public within six months of publication. But, open access is part of a larger problem within higher education. I suppose it has to do with how we want to see universities and higher learning institutions. To me, it seems reckless and disingenuous to not make available research to the greater community. This includes humanities and social science research. State universities are expressly culpable, especially land-grant institutions. Land-grant universities were founded with the express goal of serving the community in which they exist. This includes land-grant employees as well. Research in any college should be available to the community in which it was conducted. Otherwise, what’s the point? There are some who would resent this openness. For whatever reason, some feel that their work exists only in a selfish “mine” mentality. I understand this feeling well. We work and obsess over our work, so it is only natural for it to feel as if we are the only ones who could understand it. But this is simply an illusion. Indeed, what Wyden signaled with the naming of FASTR is that humanities and social sciences research doesn’t matter in the same way as STEM research. Tragically, research done in the humanities and social sciences is nothing more than a sideline of musings. It’s infuriating but not unexpected. As a researcher — one who often straddles both the humanities and STEM — I can’t

think of one reason to not have my research published in open-access venues. Perhaps my idealism rules me, but it seems to me that it’s my duty to let the community that supports me know what I’m doing and why I think it’s important. Therein lies the problem: Articulating the importance of one’s research can be tremendously difficult. Many will say they’re contributing to the body of knowledge. Okay, but what does that mean, exactly? I think there is value in all research, but I also think there is value in being able to articulate its importance. I appreciate what FASTR will do, but it’s not enough. The U.S. government can’t mandate that all research be open access because they don’t fund all research. But do higher education and the academy really need someone to tell them to let the community in? Are higher education and the academy that self-interested? Humanities and social science research has value. Among other things, it clues us into the suffering and beauty in the world. It encourages us to change what we can. However, the value of research is lost when it lives not in the public and with the community, but in closed-off academic journals that few will probably ever read. If higher education and the academy truly valued research, it would be available not just to the privileged few but to all of humanity. Trent M. Kays welcomes comments at tkays@mndaily.com.

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Monday, September 23, 2013

Sports

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FOOTBALL

QUICK HITTERS

Leidner leads Gophers to victory

BY NATE GOTLIEB ngotlieb@mndaily.com Minnesota 43, SJSU 24 Saturday, Sept. 21 TCF Bank Stadium RECAP Minnesota and San Jose State traded blows in the first half Saturday, but the Gophers’ defense contained the Spartans’ high-powered air attack in the second half. Minnesota redshirt freshman quarterback Mitch Leidner rushed for 151 yards and four touchdowns as the Gophers pulled away in the second half and moved to 4-0 for the second straight season. KEY PLAY Senior linebacker Aaron Hill picked off San Jose State quarterback David Fales’ pass early in the third quarter, setting up a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Leidner. Hill and the Gophers’ defense disrupted the Spartans’ offensive rhythm in the third quarter and allowed just one touchdown in the second half. IT WAS OVER WHEN: The Spartans turned the ball over on downs with about 13 minutes to play. They trailed 36-17 at that point, and Minnesota added another touchdown about five minutes later. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. David Fales can play. Fales, a top quarterback prospect in the 2014 NFL Draft, threw for 439 yards and three touchdowns in the game — most of those yards coming in the first half. His deep passes were spot-on, and there was no answer for his back-shoulder throws. 2. The Gophers’ defense made some nice halftime adjustments. Fales threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, but the Gophers held the Spartans to two yards of offense in the third quarter and one touchdown in the second half. Minnesota sophomore linebacker De’Vondre Campbell said the coaches told the defense at halftime to be more aggressive. It worked. 3. Leidner is a solid running quarterback. He can break tackles and carry a pile for extra yards. The 6-foot-4-inch, 233-pound quarterback broke several long runs Saturday and finished with 151 rushing yards and four touchdowns. 4. Leidner is still developing as a passer. He was 5-for-12 in the game, passing for 71 yards, and was off-target on several short throws. He did, however, complete two long passes, including a perfectly placed seam route to sophomore wide receiver KJ Maye for a 37-yard gain. 5. The Gophers are a disciplined team. They had no turnovers and just three penalties in the final game of their nonconference schedule. TWEET OF THE DAY

Last Gopher w/4 TDs was Logan Payne in 2006. Last w/ 4 rushing was MB3 in 2003. Leidner is the 8th to rush for 4. #Gopher s #LeidnerFacts @GopherFootball STUDENT ENTHUSIASM REPORT The student section appeared sparse Saturday, but those in attendance were energetic. The announced attendance was 45,647, but the crowd seemed smaller than that. UP NEXT The Gophers will battle Iowa for the Floyd of Rosedale trophy at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 28 at TCF Bank Stadium.

ICHIGO TAKIKAWA, DAILY

Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner runs past San Jose State on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gophers won 43-24.

Mitch Leidner was the catalyst for the Gophers’ win with 151 rushing yards. BY JACK SATZINGER jsatzinger@mndaily.com

The Gophers only star ted five seniors in Saturday’s 43-24 win over San Jose State, as redshirt freshman Mitch Leidner became the second quarterback in program histor y to run for four touchdowns in a single game. Leidner and his teammates showed they’re a youthful and talented bunch in one of the most impressive wins of the Jerr y Kill era. Still, talent is nothing without direction, and the coaching staf f seems to have the program on the right path to success. While the final score in the game against SJSU indicated a blowout, it looked like a close game until the ver y end. Minnesota held a 20-17 lead going into halftime, but SJSU quar terback David Fales torched the Gophers’ defense for 294

passing yar ds and two touchdowns in the first half. Then it all changed. Kill challenged his defense at halftime, telling them to “look in the mirror” and ask if they were doing ever ything possible to get to Fales. “We had to get him out of a rhythm,” Kill said. “I thought we had a little bit more pressure [in the second half]. I thought we played with more energy.” That energy was evident immediately. In SJSU’s second offensive play of the third quar ter, a Fales pass was intercepted by redshirt senior linebacker Aaron Hill. Hill was brought down at the SJSU 12-yard line, giving the Gophers’ of fense the ball deep in enemy territor y. “I think the coaches made a good adjustment at halftime,” Hill said. “They told me to cheat to the boundar y a little bit because that’s a high percentage passing [area].”

A young team grows For the second straight year, the Gophers closed

out their weak nonconference schedule with a win against an NFL-caliber quarterback. Last year, it was Syracuse’s Ryan Nassib. Nassib threw for 228 yards against the Gophers last year and was drafted in the four th round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Mi n n es ot a n a r r ow l y won that game against Syracuse, 17-10, after a dominant defensive performance. This Saturday, Fales threw one touchdown in the second half, but the winning margin was anything but narrow after the Gophers’ defense adjusted at halftime. Fales finished with an eye-popping 439 passing yards — more than the Gophers’ quar terbacks have combined through the first four games this season. Still, the way the Gophers’ young defense adjusted to a ver y talented quarterback is just as eyeopening for a team that hasn’t finished above .500 since 2008. “They are a solid team,” SJSU head coach Ron Cara-

SCORING SUMMARY SCORE BY QUARTER San Jose State Minnesota

1 0 7

2 17 13

3 0 9

4 7 14

TOTAL 24 43

1ST QUARTER MINN

TD

4:56

Mitch Leidner, 10 yd run (Chris Hawthorne kick)

2ND QUARTER

SJ

MINN

0

7

SJ

MINN

SJ

FG

14:26

Austin Lopez, 30 yd field goal

3

7

MINN

TD

8:23

Mitch Leidner, 1 yd run (Chris Hawthorne kick failed)

3

13

SJ

TD

6:52

Chandler Jones, 76 yd pass from David Fales (Austin Lopez kick)

10

13

MINN

TD

3:07

David Cobb, 1 yd run (Chris Hawthorne kick)

10

20

SJ

TD

1:08

Chandler Jones, 32 yd pass from David Fales (Austin Lopez kick)

17

20

SJ

MINN

3RD QUARTER MINN

TD

11:59

Mitch Leidner, 1 yd ryun (Chris Hawthorne kick blocked)

17

26

MINN

FG

6:11

Chris Hawthorne, 22 yd field goal

17

29

SJ

MINN

4TH QUARTER MINN

TD

14:52

Mitch Leidner, 1 yd run (Chris Hawthorne kick)

17

36

MINN

TD

7:53

David Cobb, 1 yd run (Chris Hawthorne kick)

17

43

SJ

TD

5:37

Chandler Jones, 28 yd pass from David Fales (Austin Lopez kick)

24

43

SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM

gher said after the game. “I just wish we would have been more competitive in the second half.”

Turning the corner Kill said a Dallas Cowboys scout told him after the game the Gophers looked a lot better this year than last. Minnesota’s ef for t Saturday was impressive, but now tougher opponents await Kill’s young and im-

proved Gophers in the Big Ten. A 4-0 star t for the second straight season is encouraging, but it won’t mean much unless they put together a consistent Big Ten season. “You can enjoy it for a little bit,” Kill said, “but we’ve got to get ready to play now. Now, Big Ten starts.”

@dailyatthebank

FOOTBALL

Gray makes NFL debut back in Minneapolis MarQueis Gray is now a player on the Cleveland Browns’ active roster. BY SAM GORDON sgordon@mndaily.com

MarQueis Gray watched from the plane as the Gophers improved to 4-0 with a 43-24 win over San Jose State on Saturday. “I tr y to watch them e v e r y S a t u r d a y, ” s a i d Gray, who played for the Gophers from 2009-12. “They’re looking pretty good. My man Mitch [Leidner] had four touchdowns. I was proud of him for that.” While Minnesota was taking care of business, Gray was en route to Minneapolis — this time as a member of the Cleveland Browns. The Browns beat the Vikings 31-27 on Sunday in Gray’s NFL debut. Gray is listed as a tight end on the of ficial roster, but he played special teams Sunday and was

a staple on the Browns’ kickof f and kick retur n teams. He was active Sunday for the first time this season, and he was more than ready to go. “I lear ned at a lot in practice from the [veterans] we got,” Gray said. “It was fun to be out there.” It’s been a long and winding road for the former Gophers quarterback. Gray went undrafted in April and signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers. He spent July and August in the 49ers’ training camp but was waived as teams trimmed their rosters before the season. A day later, Cleveland called. And Gray picked up the phone. “They said, ‘Congratulations, you’re a Cleveland Brown,’ ” he said. “They flew me out there the same day.” After landing in Cleveland, Gray went straight to a hotel, had a physical and practiced with the team the next day.

AMANDA SNYDER, DAILY

Cleveland Browns tight end MarQueis Gray warms up before playing against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at the Metrodome.

Gray, who is mar ried with twin sons and a stepdaughter, said the transition has been easy for his family. “It’s a lot less expensive living in Cleveland than in San Francisco,” he said.

“Wherever I go, that’s where they’re going to go.” Gray said he is working with the offense in practice and hopes to eventually see some playing time at tight end. But right now, he’s all in

as a special teamer. “Anything I can do to make sure I’m staying on this team and staying in the NFL is what I’m here for,” he said. “I told the coaches, and they pretty much know I’m all for it.”

Monday, September 23, 2013

11

SOCCER

Gophers kick off with loss

WITH SAM GORDON

Editor’s note: This is the first entry in a new sports column, “Ya feel me?” Each week, sports columnist Sam Gordon will weigh in on the latest sports happenings at the University.

H

e went for 151 rushing yards and a quarterback schoolrecord four rushing touchdowns in his first career start. His performance helped turn a shootout into a onesided blowout. And not even an hour after the game, Gophers head coach Jerry Kill relegated redshirt freshman quarterback Mitch Leidner to backup status. Huh? After Leidner led the Gophers to their most inspiring win of the season — a 43-24 victory over San Jose State — Kill proclaimed at his postgame press conference that the injured Philip Nelson will be the team’s starting quarterback going forward. If that holds true, Kill and his coaches will renege on the injury policy they’ve preached all fall. Gophers coaches have said through the first month of the season that if a starter gets hurt and the backup performs at a higher level, the backup then becomes the new starter. And so far, Leidner has done just that. The redshirt freshman took over for Nelson, who injured his hamstring midway through the second quarter of the Gophers’ 29-12 win over Western Illinois. It took one drive for Leidner to lead the offense, which was sputtering under Nelson, to its first touchdown of the game. Leidner and company haven’t slowed down since. In the six-plus quarters Leidner has quarterbacked the team, the offense has scored 72 points. Minnesota cruised behind a Leidner-led power running game to an easy win over WIU and did the same in the win over SJSU. In both games, Leidner’s ability to execute the read-option and his powerful running style were catalysts to easy

victories. That’s not to say Nelson can’t successfully run the offense, but Leidner has been more than effective. And with the Gophers preparing for their Big Ten opener, it doesn’t make much sense to stymie his or the team’s momentum. Leidner is also completing his passes at a 60 percent clip in his about one and a half games this season. He converted multiple third-and-longs Saturday against SJSU, none prettier than his 37-yard completion to a well-covered KJ Maye up the seam. “I feel really comfortable throwing the deep ball,” Leidner said at the postgame press conference. “I don’t hesitate at all.” Meanwhile, Nelson has completed 51 percent of his passes in his about two and a half games this season, throwing two interceptions to just one touchdown. Though both are effective runners, Leidner’s fearless approach seems to inspire his teammates a little more. “I like going against Mitch [in practice],” linebacker De’Vondre Campbell said at the press conference. “He’s aggressive. He has that competitive nature. It makes all of us better as a team.” Leidner, at 6 feet, 4 inches and 233 pounds, doesn’t hesitate to run between the tackles. He’ll often take on linebackers head up, and a lot of the time he wins those battles. “We just kept pounding the ball at them,” Leidner said, “[and] just eventually wore them down.” To the tune of a seasonhigh 353 rushing yards. This Saturday against Iowa, the real season starts, and flip-flopping quarterbacks becomes a much tougher decision. That leaves Kill two choices. “You’ve got to throw that ego aside, and you’ve got to do what’s best for your team,” Kill said. And that is going with Leidner. Ya feel me? Sam Gordon welcomes comments at sgordon@mndaily.com.

Minnesota lost just one nonconference game, but it fell in its Big Ten opener. BY JACE FREDERICK jfrederick@mndaily.com

The Gophers tur ned some heads with their impressive star t to the season in the nonconference schedule. But Minnesota (7-2, 0-1 Big Ten) didn’t experience anything close to the start it wanted when opening the conference season. The Gophers fell 1-0 to Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday. Minnesota’s back line played the same aggressive, high-line defense it featured throughout the nonconference slate and baited the Hoosiers into 11 offsides infractions. But Indiana (8-0-1, 1-0 Big Ten) didn’t let of fside calls deter its of fensive production. The Hoosiers outshot the Gophers 17-11 on the night. “[Indiana] put for th a much better effort than we did tonight,” head coach Stefanie Golan said Saturday. The Hoosiers put 10 shots on goal, the most Minnesota has allowed all season. That high volume tested Gophers freshman goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs. She tallied a careerhigh nine saves, but it wasn’t enough. Hoosiers freshman midfielder Veronica Ellis netted the game’s only goal in a one-on-one situation with Hobbs in the 70th minute to give Indiana the 1-0 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Indiana’s senior goalkeeper Shannon Flower only needed to make two saves Saturday, and she recorded her seventh shutout of the season. Saturday marked just the second time this sea-

CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Minnesota goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs sets up for a kick against Louisiana State on Sept. 6, 2013, at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.

son the Gophers wer e held scoreless. But amid the r ough start to the Big Ten schedule, there doesn’t seem to be any panic for the Gophers.

“We will lear n fr om this and get better moving for ward,” Golan said after the game Saturday. “We are a ver y good team, but we didn’t show it tonight.”

SOCCER RESULTS

Indiana Minnesota

1 0 0

2 1 0

FINAL 1 0

SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM

12

Monday, September 23, 2013

VOLLEYBALL

Minnesota sweeps the weekend

The Gophers won all four matches over the weekend against lesser foes. BY MEGAN RYAN mryan@mndaily.com

The Gophers volleyball team took only one of its four matches past three sets this weekend. Surprisingly, it wasn’t in the match in which a majority of the team’s starters stayed on the bench. Minnesota successfully downed Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Dartmouth in straight sets and beat Connecticut in four sets at the Dartmouth Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Hanover, N.H. The Gophers used their final warm-up before Big Ten play begins this Wednesday against Indiana as an opportunity to exercise their deep bench. Senior middle blocker Tori Dixon led the team offensively in the first three matches against Rhode Island (13 kills, .667 hitting percentage), New Hampshire (10, .500) and Connecticut (17, .382). She saw the last match of the weekend from a different perspective — the bench. Gophers star starters like Dixon, senior outside hitter Ashley Wittman and sophomore outside hitter Daly Santana rested during the final match in favor of younger players. “It made us a little nervous at first, but we got used to it,” Dixon said. “And me and Ash and everyone else were cheering our butts off on the bench.” Dixon said the chance to mix up the lineup helped her team work out some kinks before matches really start to

VOLLEYBALL RESULTS FRIDAY 1 2 3 21 15 10 25 25 25

FINAL 0 3

1 2 3 New Hampshire 12 12 13 25 25 25 Minnesota

FINAL 0 3

Rhode Island Minnesota

SATURDAY Connecticut Minnesota

1 2 3 4 FINAL 23 19 25 21 1 25 25 16 25 3

Dartmouth Minnesota

1 2 3 20 23 20 25 25 25

FINAL 0 3

SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM

matter in the Big Ten. Dixon said she knew the young players were capable after she saw their hard work in the gym. Freshman outside hitter Sarah Wilhite stepped up as the team’s power hitter in the Dartmouth match, sans regulars Dixon and Wittman. Wilhite led the Gophers with 15 kills and 10 digs. She added a .333 hitting percentage to a service ace and four blocks. “We were able to pass well … [and] get her good, hittable sets,” Dixon said. “And she took cracks at it, which is really good.” Wilhite said she and her younger teammates tried to stay composed in the Dartmouth match without senior leadership on the court. “We just kind of went out there with the mentality that nothing is different,” Wilhite said. “We still play just as hard.” Now the focus shifts with only a few days of practice before the first conference action of the season. “As a freshman, I don’t really know [what to expect],” Wilhite said. “I’m just excited to start the conference with this team.”

MEN’S GOLF

Mendez leads team to fourth-place finish BY JAKE STARK jstark@mndaily.com

The Gophers men’s golf team finished fourth out of 14 teams in the annual tournament at Wolf Run Golf Club in Zionsville, Ind. The Gophers were in fifth place entering the final round Sunday, but head coach John Carlson said improved conditions helped the team move up one spot. It was the team’s first road trip of the season. “The course is really difficult,” he said. “The wind was up the first day, but today the wind was down, and the scores were better across the board.” The team’s scores improved by three shots each round. Freshman Jose Mendez was the Gophers’ lowestscoring golfer. He finished the tournament at 7-over par, enough for a ninthplace tie. “This is the first of what I expect to be many top-10 finishes in his career,” Carlson said of Mendez. Illinois dominated the tournament, shooting an aggregate 8-under par to win the team title. Auburn finished in an extremely distant second after the team shot 25-over par.

MEN’S GOLF

BRIDGET BENNETT, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Minnesota freshman outside hitter Sarah Wilhite bumps the ball against Duke on Sept. 7 at the Sports Pavilion.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Gophers open season with Gopher Invitational, see room to improve

RESULTS

GOLFER Mendez Gaugert Lowenstein DuToit Trasamar

RD1 75 76 76 75 75

RD2 73 74 72 79 79

RD2 72 75 78 74 74

TOTAL 220 225 226 228 228

TEAM 1 Illinois 2 Auburn 3 Kentucky 4 Minnesota 5 Indiana

RD1 282 297 299 301 303

RD2 281 294 289 298 298

RD2 281 286 294 295 295

TOTAL 844 877 882 894 896

*out of 14 teams

SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM

Illinois’ Thomas Detr y finished at 4-under par and won the individual title. The top four individual scores all came from Illinois golfers. Carlson said he was disappointed with the results and he expects more from his team. “As a team, I wasn’t very happy with our results,” Carlson said. “We lost to Illinois by 50 strokes — that’s five-zero.” Still, Carlson said he thinks his team will improve as the season progresses and will be able to compete with Illinois in the spring. “We’re just trying to get our feet on the ground,” he said. “I think we’re certainly heading in a positive direction.”

CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY

Minnesota junior Tereza Brichacova hits a forehand against Iowa State on Sunday at the Baseline Tennis Center.

Tereza Brichacova won the top singles division during the weekend tourney. BY BETSY HELFAND bhelfand@mndaily.com

Gophers head coach Chuck Merzbacher said Sunday his team is “light years” ahead of where it was at this time last year. His squad kicked off its fall season this weekend with the Gopher Invitational and had the tournament’s top singles finisher in both the first and second divisions. “We really got a lot done this weekend as far as

competing,” Merzbacher said, “and our fitness level is pretty strong.” Junior Tereza Brichacova won the tournament’s top singles division Sunday 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (5). She said her goal heading into the tour nament was to win. “I knew that there were pretty good girls playing, so I really had to tr y my best ever y single match,” Brichacova said. “I’m really satisfied with this match.” Merzbacher said Brichacova had a good tournament in the top division. “Her ball is even heavier and stronger than it was

last year,” he said. Going into Sunday, Minnesota was guaranteed a winner in the second singles division. Gophers junior Aria Lambert and Gophers sophomore Jessika Mozia went head-to-head, and Mozia came out on top 6-3, 6-0. Freshman Maja Vujic came in second in the third division. Senior Natallia Pintusava and junior Julia Courter placed third in the top doubles division. Sophomore Paula Rincon Otero and Brichacova came in ninth in the same division. Mer zbacher said he thought the team competed really well in doubles.

Brichacova added that the weekend was “pretty good” for the team. “There were some small things that we now know that we can do better,” she said. “So we’re for sure going to apply them to our practice.” Merzbacher said coming to the net and finishing of f points are two things the team has to work on going forward. Fall competition allows the Gophers a chance to star t establishing their lineup and to look at their doubles pairs. “This is a ver y important part of the year,” Merzbacher said, “and we want to make the most of it.”

Monday, September 23, 2013

Classifieds

13

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UPCOMING EVENTS WHAT: Goldy’s Homecoming Kickoff WHO: Student Unions and Activitites WHEN: 11 a.m.–2 p.m., Monday WHERE: Front Plaza, Coffman Union, Minneapolis PRICE: Free Get together to celebrate the beginning of Homecoming week! The Front Plaza will be the host of Taste of Coffman, caricature artists, henna tattoos and more! Starting at noon, President Eric Kaler will be joining the party for the Goldy Statue Unveil. Be sure to stick around until 12:30 p.m. to watch a live musical performance by Green River Ordinance!

WHAT: Coffee and Donuts with the Cops WHO: University of Minnesota Police Department, University Services WHEN: 7:30–9:30 a.m., Tuesday WHERE: West end of Washington Avenue Bridge, West Bank PRICE: Free Enjoy free coffee and donuts provided by the University of Minnesota Police Department. Police officers will be on hand to pass out coffee and donuts and to answer any safety-related questions.

WHAT: Art Fair WHO: University of Minnesota Bookstores WHEN: Noon–4 p.m., Wednesday WHERE: University of Minnesota Bookstore, Coffman Union, Minneapolis PRICE: Free Learn from the pros with in-store demonstrations from Golden, Strathmore, Montana, M. Graham and Sakura. Try before you buy, enjoy free samples, save up to 50 percent on featured products and enter to win great prizes.

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14

Monday, September 23, 2013

BACKTALK sudoku

horoscopes

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. Visit mndaily.com to see the solution to today’s puzzle.

9/23/2013

Thursday’s solution © 2013 Michael Mepham. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved.

Today’s Birthday (9/23): Priorities this year include finances, your partner, home, travel and career. Seek knowledge, explore and study new cultures. Pace yourself; it’s easy to over-commit. Cultivate your networks.

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

Aries (3/21 - 4/19): Today is a 6 — Release your imagination and add some passion to the colorful blend. Rely on your mate’s wisdom. Friends want to follow your guidance.

Libra (9/23 - 10/22): Today is a 5 — Emotions interfere with logic. Choose whatever is most important. Friends bring encouragement. Avoid distractions. Contact a defined market.

Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): Today is a 6 — There could be a temporary setback. Watch out for accidents. Caution is advised. Travel later, or add extra time for delays.

Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Today is a 5 — Postpone an outing or expansion. Write a story, song or screenplay. Study with a passion. Clean up, but don’t throw out someone else’s stuff.

Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): Today is a 7 — Expand your income sources. Good news comes from far away. Play by the book. One good turn leads to another.

Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): Today is a 6 — Lovely thoughts linger from sweet dreams. Don’t avoid work or spend impulsively today. Provide for others. You’re an inspiration.

Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Today is a 5 — Postpone romance (and sweeten with enticements) until the job gets done. There’s more to it than you thought.

Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): Today is a 5 — Get public with your work. Support the people who support you. Don’t try to buy influence ... it’s unnecessary.

Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Today is a 6 — Make a new commitment. Take care to avoid breakage or crazy expense. Don’t go exactly by the book. Leave your savings intact.

Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): Today is a 5 — There could be difficulties with travel now, so take care. Find time to meditate or relax. A partner is excited. Saving money is possible.

Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): Today is a 5 — Controversy arises. A difficult job goes easier with help, so ask. Apply energy to your career and make up ground. Get outdoors.

Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Today is a 5 — More work is required. Keep control of expenses. Ask for help. You may find yourself at an impasse with a loved one. Continue to produce results.

Monday, September 23, 2013

crossword

overheard

FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Physics professor: “Order matters. You can ask your friend for $100 and then slap them, but if you slap them and then ask for $100, you’ll get a different result.”

—Unknown

“People should know not to text me when I’m doing lines off my phone!”

—Washington Avenue Bridge

Speech teacher: “I really enjoy the fact you used several swear words in your speech. I’m just a big, big fan of profanity.”

—Ford Hall

“I’m super lazy, and I don’t like to cook, so I like to eat easy stuff right out of the box — like chips, cereal, pretzels, crackers, stuffing...”

Cashier: “That will be $7.25.” (Customer hands him a quarter) Cashier: “This is a quarter. You owe me 25 cents.”

—Coffman Union

Guy: “We need the blood of a virgin to integrate this function.” Girl: “That won’t be too hard; this is CSE.”

—Calculus class

Professor: “They’re monitoring the Yellowstone hotspot so when it goes ... I don’t know, we can all take a shot of whiskey or something.”

—Science Teaching and Student Services building

—Campus Connector

“And he’s a Badgers fan, so that’s a big no-no.”

—Outside Peik Hall

“It wasn’t his pee, though. It was the CAs that spilt all over the floor.”

—Comstock dining hall

Guy 1: “I heard rumor that we are going to be having a pop quiz today.” Guy 2: “Wait. What? The professor didn’t say anything about a pop quiz!” Guy 1: “Yeah, that’s what makes it a pop quiz.”

—Fraser Hall

What did you overhear? 4Post submissions on the “Overheard at U of M” Facebook group. 4Visit mndaily.com and look for the “Connect with the Daily” box on the homepage. 4Email submissions to overheards@mndaily.com.

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS 1 Clods 5 Got a chuckle out of 11 Roulette bet 14 Lawyer’s assistant, for short 15 Vox __: voice of the people 16 Architect I.M. 17 Ending from Ali 19 Plumbing pipe initials 20 Very long time 21 Ending from Nixon 23 Civil War soldier 25 Unhittable serve 27 Proverbial waste maker 28 Ship’s front 30 Dilbert creator Scott 34 Poet’s “at no time” 35 Abandon on an isle 37 Superman and Batman wear them 39 Ending from the Elephant Man 42 Parcels (out) 43 Car window adornments 46 Atlas pages 49 Boss’s nervousnessinducing note 51 Banjo support of song 52 “It’s __!”: warning shout 54 Humanities major 56 Archer’s wood 57 Ending from Lennon and McCartney 61 Miss. neighbor 63 Salt, in Quebec 64 Ending from Beyoncé 68 One: Pref. 69 Copenhagen’s __ Gardens 70 Hullabaloos 71 Beginning for this puzzle’s five endings 72 Annie, for one 73 Sibilant “Hey, you!”

9/23/13 Thursday’s Puzzle Puzzle Solved Saturday’s Solved

By Jeff Stillman

DOWN 1 Make a choice 2 Backrub response 3 Not a child of bondage 4 Pudding starch 5 King Kong, e.g. 6 Sounded ghostly 7 Until 8 Bird feeder filler 9 Movie lioness 10 Roadside depression 11 Go up against 12 Spend, as time 13 Haggle 18 Genetic letters 22 Plunder 23 Turntable no. 24 Time in history 26 Ear passages 29 Carpentry tool 31 __ of mistaken identity 32 “Oh, brother!” 33 “Itsy bitsy” waterspout climber 36 Plains native 38 Suffix with phon40 Born, in society pages 41 Refs’ whistle holders

(c)2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

44 Grant’s opponent 45 Put in stitches 46 2009 World Series MVP Hideki 47 Goddess who advised Odysseus 48 Bout before the main event, briefly 50 Garam __: Indian spice mixture

9/23/13

53 Meal, in Milan 55 Mai __: cocktail 58 Bear’s home 59 “We’d appreciate your answer,” on invitations 60 “This is bad!” 62 Vault 65 Half a sawbuck 66 Comedian Bill, informally 67 Repair quote: Abbr.

Visit mndaily.com to see the solution to today’s puzzle.

dr. date Dr. Date,

One of my best friends has been in a serious relationship for a few months. She and I used to hang out all the time, but she hasn’t been around much since she started dating her boyfriend. They’re together essentially 24/7. I know it’s normal for that to happen, especially at the beginning of a relationship, but I feel like I lost a friend. Is it fair for me to tell her this? —Bummed

Lone Ranger,

College kids are like baby kangaroos just emerging from their mothers’ pouches. The world looks enticing from inside the pouch, but as soon as they leave, it proves to be unpredictable and scary. So what do they do? They cling to other people in an attempt to replace their mother’s warm pouch. Your friend tried it with you first, realized that you have other friends to care for, then ran off to a man she could claim as her own. Now here’s the good news: If your kangaroo friend is, as you said, spending 24/7 with this dude, they’ll be hopping in opposite directions soon enough. The ecstasy born from a new relationship generally lasts six months. If your pal and her man are going all-out conjoined twins, I’d give it a month or two. It’s up to you to ask yourself whether you’re willing to take back someone who borderline abandoned you. Say goodbye if you must, but remember we’re all just a bunch of insecure kangaroos.

—Dr. Date

Dr. Date

I had a few dates with this girl I met at a party, and she seemed really great. Then, on our last date, we started talking politics and I realized we have completely different views on a lot of things. I’m a pretty political person, and though I want to be open-minded, this feels like a deal-breaker. Thoughts? —Not So Sure

Aspiring Baby-kisser,

Lucky for you, I once knew a pseudoanarchist in a healthy relationship with a Republican. I know, totally blasphemous. But here’s the cool thing about people: They generally amount to more than the labels they wear. That goes for politics, subcultural participation, religious affiliation, etc. Adherence to a particular dogma is fine, but if you let it define you or your loved ones, you’re going to run into some problems. If you’ve been on a few dates with this girl and haven’t had any issues up to this point, aren’t you being a bit shallow? To make their relationship work, my friends set a few boundaries. For example, no Republican radio could be played in the car unless the anarchist was sleeping. They were still able to talk about current events and political issues so long as neither was blindly taking one side without listening to the other person. In the end, learning to love someone with drastically different opinions helped my friends become better people. Being judgmental only works for so long before we end up entirely alone.

—Dr. Date

Need relationship advice? Email Dr. Date at drdate@mndaily.com.

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Monday, September 23, 2013

Mortar round lands in Russian Embassy in Damascus BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AMMAN, Jordan — A mor tar round landed inside the Russian Embassy compound in Damascus on Sunday, state media said, as Moscow said it was willing to send military observers to secure Syrian efforts to surrender its chemical weapons to international control. Russia is a leading backer of Syria’s President Bashar Assad and rebels fighting to topple his regime have previously targeted the diplomatic mission in Damascus with rockets and mortars. In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the attack, saying rebels fired mor tars that landed on the grounds of their em-

bassy. Three workers were injured in the attack, the ministr y said, adding that the injuries were not lifethreatening. It gave no further details. The Russian Embassy is located in Damascus’ upscale Mazraa district, which also houses several Syrian security institutions, a soccer stadium and nightclubs. In another mor tar attack outside the capital, two people were injured when shells slammed into a residential building in the suburb of Jaramana, SANA said. The attacks come as diplomatic wrangling continues over how to collect Syria’s arsenal of chemical and biological agents to prevent any repeat of the

Aug. 21 attack outside Damascus that, according to the U.S., contained chemical agents and killed more than 1,400 people, including 400 children. Activist groups estimate the death toll of the attack that brought Washington to the brink of a militar y strike against Syria to be significantly lower. Assad’s government accuses rebels of using the chemical weapons. Last week, a U.N. report confirmed the use of sarin in the August attack outside Damascus. Russia blamed the rebels, while the U.S. and its European and Arab allies said Assad’s forces were responsible. On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was ready to

send militar y obser vers to Syria to ensure security for efforts to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons. But the Russian official said his country is not considering sending a full military contingent. Under a U.S.-Russian plan, Syria is to give up its chemical weapons. Security is one of the plan’s major challenges, including how to prevent theft of the weapons. In an interview broadcast Sunday on state TV’s Channel One, Lavrov said Russia has proposed that there be an international presence on the perimeter of all areas where chemical weapons experts will work in Syria. “We are ready to share our servicemen and military police to participate in these

forces,” but “it seems to me that military observers will be sufficient,” he said. Although Russia and the U.S. worked together on the chemical weapons plan, Washington and Moscow remain at odds over several aspects of the Syrian crisis. The United States, along with France, has sought a U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize the use of force, if Syria reneges on the chemical weapons agreement, but Russia opposes invoking the U.N. Charter’s Chapter 7 which would allow force. Lavrov criticized what he called “impudent” attempts by the West to include that chapter in the resolution. The minister said the West is unable to admit that previous militar y

inter ventions, such as in Iraq and Libya, led to severe problems. “They are primarily interested in the evidence of their own superiority. And is not the task that drives us - to solve the problem of chemical weapons in Syria,” he said. On the front lines inside Syria, anti-regime activists reported clashes between rebels and army troops in the southern province of Daraa and around the contested northern city of Aleppo. In its daily round up of the fighting, the Britainbased Syrian Obser vator y for Human Rights noted two regime air raids on the Damascus district of Jobar, an area from which rebels have been tr ying to storm the capital for months.