TOP HEADLINES INSIDE:
COYLE TALKS FOOTBALL BOWL GAME, VOLLEYBALL PAGE 5
■■ University set to reform student fee process
THE DAILY SAT DOWN WITH COYLE ON WEDNESDAY.
■■ New app could support HIV-positive youth
President Kaler approved the changes earlier this week. PAGE 7
The app would help remind youth to take medications. PAGE 6
CLOUDY HIGH 24° LOW 12°
MENTAL HEALTH
U’s mental health wait times cut drastically
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
ST PAUL
LATE WEEK
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
DEC, 8-10, 2016
SUBCULTURES
Life as a ‘sugar baby’
Wait times were eliminated for initial appointments at U after staff increases.
As part of a growing trend nationwide, one University student makes thousands of dollars a month using a website that connects her with sugar daddies.
BY LAYNA DARLING ldarling@mndaily.com
Story by Gunthar Reising
N
After an increase in mental health specialists, wait times for mental health ser vices at the University have been eliminated or significantly reduced. Last year, the wait for mental health ser vices was about two weeks but sometimes stretched to four or six weeks in Student Counseling Services and Boynton Health. Wait times for initial consultations were eliminated this year after school administrators made mental health a priority by providing extra funding and counselor positions. Wait times for ongoing ser vices were also reduced. Between SCS and Boynton, six
o — it’s not like an episode of Shameless. The “sugar baby” community is
alive and thriving, and it’s happening right here, right now. Angie — a first-year student at the University of Minnesota who asked the Daily not to use her full name for privacy reasons — is one of many college-aged students who use Seeking Arrangement, a website that connects young women, known
u See WAIT Page 6
by the moniker “sugar babies,” with charitable, older “sugar daddies” who have no compunction shelling
ADMINISTRATION
out hundreds of dollars for attention
U admins got free U.S. Bank suite tickets
or companionship. The phenomenon has grown in popularity on college campuses, where skyrocketing student loans have left many students strapped for cash. And for the 4 million registered sugar babies on the site, Seek-
The University said those who received free tickets will back the MSFA. BY KEVIN BECKMAN kbeckman@mndaily.com
Eight University of Minnesota officials will reimburse the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority for suite tickets to games at U.S. Bank Stadium after public outcr y about the use of suites by public officials and their families. The University released the names of administrators who attended football and soccer games — sometimes with spouses — and said the individuals will pay back the MSFA. Government and public officials’ controversial use of the luxur y suites was first reported by the Star Tribune last week. The report detailed state and city officials who attended events for free at the more than $1 billion stadium, which was funded with nearly $500 million in u See TICKETS Page 3
ing Arrangement flaunts the luxurious prospects of a picture-perfect arrangement — the finer things in life, CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
First-year student Angie poses for a portrait in her dorm on Tuesday. Angie says she is a sugar baby because it is an easy way to make money.
exotic trips, gifts. u See TREND Page 9
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Prof’s work leads to changes for incarcerated women Research by University professor Rebecca Shlafer led to the state’s first anti-shackling law. BY RILYN EISCHENS reischens@mndaily.com
From anti-shackling legislation to visiting room improvements, a University of Minnesota professor’s research team is changing the way women are treated in state prisons. Depar tment of Pediatrics Assistant
KICKER
Professor Rebecca Shlafer’s research focuses on incar cerated women and their childr en. She has conducted a number of studies and projects that have altered the way Minnesota prisons function and ser ve as models for other states. “ We i n c a r c e r a t e m o r e p e o p l e i n this countr y than any other countr y in the world per capita,” Shlafer said. “It’s crippling our communities and, to me, that becomes really impor tant when we think about children, families and communities.”
Child-friendly visits Shlafer’s lab recently finished a study examining how incarcerated mothers and their children responded to extended visits at the Minnesota Cor rectional Facility in Shakopee, Minnesota’s only female prison. These were dif ferent from normal visits because they included kid-friendly activities, Shlafer said. Mothers and kids liked the system, u See PRISON Page 3
Despite city investments, some worry about affordable housing The influx of luxury apartments in the U area could further drive up student debt, officials say. BY RYAN FAIRCLOTH rfaircloth@mndaily.com
SAM HARPER, DAILY FILE PHOTO
A concentration of luxury student apartment complexes, including WaHu, Stadium Village Flats, The 700 on Washington and The Station, line the Washington Avenue corridor in Stadium Village.
Despite city investment, concerns over the amount of affordable housing units in Minneapolis continue to linger. Last month, the City of Minneapolis approved more than $9 million in investments for affordable housing options throughout the city — including projects in the Prospect Park and Como neighborhoods. The city’s 2017 budget includes a proposed $14.5 million for affordable housing development, which will go before the Minneapolis City Council for approval Dec. 9. Still, some say the investment isn’t enough.
Ward 2 City Councilman Cam Gordon said he’s concerned about the role student loans play in the campus housing market, since some students may be increasing their debt by living in luxury apartments near the University. This could contribute to the growth of luxury housing on campus because developers see the market as profitable, he said. “With all the new luxur y housing going up around the University, one thing that does is increases the median rent in that area,” said Ed Goetz, director of the University’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. And student rent prices could increase even more, said Alan Arthur, president and CEO of Aeon, a nonprofit affordable housing developer. “I actually predict that some of the u See AFFORDABILIT Y Page 7 VOLUME 117 ISSUE 27
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Daily Review
Thursday, December 8, 2016
THIS DAY IN HISTORY 1980 John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles, the rock group that transformed popular music in the 1960s, is shot and killed by an obsessed fan in New York City. HISTORYCHANNEL.COM/TDIH
CEDAR-RIVERSIDE Thursday, Dec. 8 2016 Vol. 117 No. 27
An Independent Student Newspaper, Founded in 1900. 2221 University Ave. SE, Suite 450 Minneapolis, MN 55414 Phone: (612) 627-4080 Fax: (612) 435-5865 Copyright © 2016 The Minnesota Daily This newspaper, its design and its contents are copyrighted. OFFICE OF THE PUBLISHER Dylan Scott Editor-in-Chief dscott@mndaily.com (612) 435-1575 Elizabeth Luke Business Operations Officer eluke@mndaily.com (612) 435-2761 NEWS STAFF Chris Aadland Managing Editor caadland@mndaily.com Allison Dohnalek Managing Production Editor adohnalek@mndaily.com Emily Polglaze Sports Editor epolglaze@mndaily.com Mike Hendrickson Assistant Sports Editor mhendrickson@mndaily.com Sophia Vilensky A&E Editor svilensky@mndaily.com Bridget Bennett Multimedia Editor bbennett@mndaily.com Alex Tuthill-Preus Assistant Multimedia Editor atuthill-preus@mndaily.com Haley Hansen Copy Desk Chief hhansen@mndaily.com Sheridan Swee Assistant Copy Desk Chief sswee@mndaily.com Maddy Bremner Visuals Editor mbremner@mndaily.com Harry Steffenhagen Visuals Designer hsteffenhagen@mndaily.com Brenna Bast Chief Page Designer bbast@mndaily.com Cedar Thomas Chief Page Designer cthomas@mndaily.com Hannah Weikel Campus Editor hweikel@mndaily.com Nick Wicker City Editor nwicker1@mndaily.com Brian Edwards Policy Editor bedwards@mndaily.com Jackie Renzetti Digital Editor jrenzetti@mndaily.com Jessie Bekker In-Depth Editor jbekker@mndaily.com =
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MADDY FOX, DAILY
Currie Park, located in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, as seen on Nov. 29.
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STATE REPORT SOMALI-AMERICAN LAWMAKER SAYS SHE WAS HARASSED BY CABBIE S T. P A U L — T h e nation’s first elected Somali-American lawmaker says she was harassed and called “ISIS” by a taxicab driver in Washington, D.C. Minnesota Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar detailed the incident on her Facebook page on Wednesday. She said the cab driver called her ISIS, lobbed sexist taunts and threatened to remove her hijab during a brief ride on Tuesday after a White House meeting on criminal justice reform. She did not provide information about the driver. Omar, 33, says she is troubled by growing animosity toward Muslim people. Her campaign staff did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Omar immigrated to the United States after spending par t of her childhood in a Kenyan refugee camp. Sh e w o n a M i n n e sota House seat this fall and will be sworn into office Jan. 3.
WITH FINAL RECOUNT DONE, GOP’S SENATE MAJORITY CRYSTALLIZES ST. PAUL — A recount in a St. Cloud-area Senate seat gave the edge to the Republican candidate on Wednesday, sealing a longpresumed outcome: The GOP will control the Minnesota Senate — and therefore the entire Legislature — next year. Senate Republicans shocked Democrats in November’s election, winning eight DFL seats while losing just two to queue up a slim, 34-33 majority for 2017. But two of those elections were well within the half a percentage point margin that triggers state-funded recounts. After three days of hand counting nearly 40,000 ballots at an Elk River voting center, county officials determined that Republican Jerry Relph maintained his lead over Democratic candidate Dan Wolgamott. Attorneys for both candidates were on hand as judges went through ballots from three counties one-by-one, flagging ballots with issues or discrepancies for later review. ASSOCIATED PRESS
NATIONAL BRIEFING
Iowa Gov. Branstad is Trump’s pick for ambassador to China BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
D E S M O IN E S, Iow a — Iowa Gov. Terr y Branstad, the incoming Tr ump administration’s pick for ambassador to China, has long promoted his state’s abundant agricultural products to China, but he would be thr ust into the middle of increasing talk of a trade war with the United States’ largest trading partner. Branstad, in his sixth term, is the longest ser ving governor in U.S. histor y and has known Chinese President Xi Jinping for more than 30 years. The choice of Branstad, which President-elect
assume the diplomatic role at a time of increasing tension over trade. But aside from trade missions to China, the courtly Midwesterner has little experience in foreign diplomacy. “He has been a tireless advocate for trade, we all know that,” U.S. Secretar y of Agriculture Tom V ilsack, a for mer Iowa governor, said. “He obviously has relations with Chinese of ficials which are impor tant. He’s tenacious and, tr ust me, with the Chinese you’ve got to be tenacious.” Branstad was a loyal suppor ter of Trump once the billionaire was the pre-
sumptive Republican Party nominee, and Branstad’s elder son, Eric, was chairman of Tr ump’s winning campaign for Iowa’s six Electoral College votes. T r ump made closing the U.S. trade gap with China a top priority during the just-finished presidential election campaign. He has threatened to slap 45 percent tarif fs on Chinese products and to label China a “cur rency manipulator.” Chinese officials warned that Trump is bound by World Trade Organization rules, which restrain countries from imposing sanctions without making a persuasive case for them.
Campus police Crowd honors Pearl officer shoots teen Harbor servicemen at Nevada HS BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RENO, Nev. — A campus police officer shot a student Wednesday during a confrontation witnessed by dozens of other students at a Nevada high school, according to authorities. Reno police Officer Tim Broadway told reporters that one student was taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries after the shooting at Hug High School. A lockdown was lifted by mid-afternoon and students were released to their parents. More than 40 students witnessed the incident, Broadway said, including many who shot cellphone video that police want to see before the public. “There’s multiple videos out there,” said department spokesman Broadway. “There’s some very disturbing video out there. But there are other events that led up to this incident, so please don’t react to those.” Nevada Department of Public Safety Director James Wright told The Associated Press that a 16-year-old was taken to Renown Hospital Medical Center in Reno after he was shot. Neither Wright nor Broadway knew the extent of the teen’s injuries, and a hospital spokeswoman said she could not provide information about his condition. Broadway said reports that another student had been stabbed before the shooting weren’t true. He wouldn’t say whether a knife or any other weapon was involved. He said that the “disturbance” was under investigation. The Reno Gazette-Journal reported that it reviewed video showing a student wielding a knife before being wounded. A student, Robert Barragan, told the Gazette-Journal that two male students were fighting outside the school library before a police officer shot the knife-wielding student in the shoulder.
EXTENDED WEATHER FORECAST FRIDAY SATURDAY HIGH 18° HIGH 19° LOW 9° LOW 11° Partly cloudy
Donald Trump announced Wednesday at a Manhattan fundraiser, was greeted warmly by the Chinese government. “Gov. Branstad is an old friend of the Chinese people,” China’s foreign ministr y spokesman Lu Kang commented on this today at a regular briefing. “We welcome him to play a great role in promoting the development of ChinaU.S. relations.” In 1985, the first-term Republican governor welcomed Xi to Iowa, then a regional governmental official on an economic trip. Xi visited Iowa 30 years later, then as president. Branstad, 70, would
Snow showers
SUNDAY HIGH 19° LOW 4° Snow showers
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — Thousands of people observed a moment of silence before fighter jets streaked across the sky during a ceremony Wednesday at Pearl Harbor marking the 75th anniversary of the attack that plunged the United States into World War II and left more than 2,300 service people dead. The crowd bowed their heads at the precise moment decades ago when Japanese planes began their assault on the harbor’s U.S. naval base. And they stood and clapped when survivors joined active-duty servicemen and women and National Park Service rangers in dedicating wreaths to those killed. Attendees also gave a lengthy ovation to Adm. Harry Harris of the U.S. Pacific Command when he spoke in favor of standing for the national anthem. The anniversary is a tribute to “what freedom does when it is faced with fascism,” said Paul Hilliard, incoming chairman of the board of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. “I suspect the Americans of today would do the same thing,” said Hilliard, a Marine veteran and one of several dignitaries and officials who presented wreaths for the fallen at a memorial over the sunken hull of USS Arizona. “America went abroad to gain freedom for millions of other people. We are an exceptional nation.” The ceremony started with the USS Halsey sounding its whistle to mark the start of the moment of silence at 7:55 a.m. F-22 fighter jets then flew in formation overhead. Harris told the crowd the servicemen attacked at Pearl Harbor “engaged the enemy as best they could,” and there is sorrow for those who died. “Yet we are also inspired by their great gift to the world — the gift of freedom itself,” he said. Harris also said: “You can bet that the men and women we honor today” never failed to stand for the national anthem. The crowd erupted in cheers. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and others have knelt through the anthem in recent months to protest police brutality and the treatment of minorities, drawing criticism and acclaim.
MONDAY HIGH 12° LOW -1° Partly cloudy
TUESDAY HIGH 4° LOW -11° Mostly sunny
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EDITORIAL STAFF Grace Thomas Editorials & Opinions Editor jthomas@mndaily.com Anant Naik Senior Editorial Board Member anaik@mndaily.com BUSINESS Catherine Vaught Retail Sales Manager cvaught@mndaily.com Emily Vermeulen Creative Director evermeulen@mndaily.com CORRECTIONS The Minnesota Daily strives for complete accuracy and corrects its errors immediately. Corrections and clarifications will always be printed in this space. If you believe the Daily has printed a factual error, please call the readers’ representative at (612) 627–4070, extension 3057, or email errors@mndaily.com immediately. THE MINNESOTA DAILY is a legally independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and is a student-written and student-managed newspaper for the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. The Daily’s mission is: 1) to provide coverage of news and events affecting the University community; 2) to provide a forum for the communication and exchange of ideas for the University community; 3) to provide educational training and experience to University students in all areas of newspaper operations; and 4) to operate a fiscally responsible organization to ensure its ability to serve the University in the future. The Daily is a member of the Minnesota News Council, the Minnesota Associated Press, the Associated Collegiate Press, The Minnesota Newspaper Association and other organizations. The Daily is published Monday and Thursday during the regular school year and weekly during the summer, and it is printed by ECM Publishers in Princeton, Minn. Midwest News Service distributes the 15,000 issues daily. All Minnesota Daily inserts are recyclable within the University of Minnesota program and are at least 6 percent consumer waste. U.S. Postal Service: 351–480.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
U scientists develop new cancer research methods Researchers at the Gordon lab build protein sensors to study cancer cells.
“I think it shows younger graduates and post-docs that you can do it all . . . You can have a family and work in science.”
BY MELISSA STEINKEN msteinken@mndaily.com
WENDY GORDON Assistant Professor
Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing new methods for cancer cell research. Wendy Gordon — assistant professor in biochemistry, molecular biology and biophysics — works with light-emitting sensors that measure how lung and bone cancer proteins respond to force on cells. Eventually, this work could be applied to breast cancer proteins as well. After an extended postdoctoral career at Har vard Medical School, Gordon came to the University and was named a 2016 Pew Scholar by The Pew Charitable Trust in Biomedical Sciences. She said prolonged post-doctoral work — which she spent nine years doing — is usually looked down on in the science community, but it gave her the ability to balance her personal and work life. She chose to stay at Har vard so she could live in Boston with her husband and children. “I think it shows younger graduates and post-docs that you can do it all,”
Gor don said. “You can have a family and work in science.” A t t h e U n i v e r s i t y, Gordon’s team includes herself and two graduate students, a small team for their work. She and her team use “tension sensors” that detect the red and green light emitted by cancer proteins. The sensors measure the distances between proteins based on the colors they display. Using the sensors, the team can tell whether a cell is detecting its environment correctly. If not, the protein could grow incorrectly or in the wrong place, Lovendahl said. These er rors cause abnor mal cancer tissue. Fewer researchers in the lab means more oneon-one advisor time, but there are challenges to working in a small group. For instance, Gordon’s team lacks exper ts in other disciplines and often doesn’t have enough hands to follow all of its project ideas, said Amanda Hayward, a four th-year graduate student
HOW CELLS SPEAD METASTATIC CANCER NORMAL CELL
Unlike normal cells, cancer cells divide continuously.
CANCER CELL
Some cancer cells can hide from the immune system.
Cancer cells can influence the environment surrounding cells.
SOURCE: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
Football attendance lowest in TCF history Average football attendance dropped around 8,500 from last year. BY ETHAN NELSON enelson@mndaily.com
in Gordon’s lab.
Female scientists researching cancer cells Gordon isn’t the only cancer researcher at the University using pioneering methods. Carol Lange, professor of medicine and pharmacology at the University, studies how hormone receptors affect breast cancer as well as cancer-causing gene mutations. Lange’s current paper focuses on how the hormone progesterone contributes to growth of stem cells that cause reoccurring cancer. And Laurie Parker, associate professor in biochemistr y, molecular biology and biophysics, said she focuses her research on making tools to study leukemia cells. Despite pr ogr ess in their fields, Lange and Parker both said they’ve faced barriers in their careers because they are females. Lange said she has seen men working the same job who have made up to $10,000 more than her per year. Parker said she was sometimes treated like she didn’t know what she was doing when star ting her post-doctoral career at the University of Chicago, an experience Lange and Gordon also faced. “It’s like imposter syndrome,” Parker said. “I never quite feel like I’m credible in what I’m doing.”
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Average announced attendance at Gopher football games fell sharply after nearrecord numbers. Reported numbers show that average turnout was down about 8,500 per game after hitting 52,000 last year — a 30-year high. University Athletics Department officals and coaches say this year’s victory record and bowl appearance could help boost ticket sales in the future. “You can tr y all of the gimmicks, you can do all you want,” said Gophers football head coach Tracy Claeys at a recent press conference. “The only way to improve the attendance, you got to win.” Still, a Minnesota Daily analysis of attendance data showed that there is only a slight correlation between victories and how many seats are filled. The largest average crowd the Gophers have seen was in 1957, when attendance per
game was about 63,000. That was when the team played at the now-demolished Memorial Stadium, which could expand to a capacity of 66,000 with temporary bleachers. TCF Bank Stadium seats around 51,000, but can hold more people with standing room only tickets. Therefore, it’s no wonder attendance hasn’t cracked 60,000 since 1985, when the team played at the now-demolished Metrodome. The gophers finished 7-5 that year. The Gophers have seen a few huge bumps in their history, like after the end of World War II and when they moved to the Metrodome in 1981. Attendance didn’t climb nearly as much when they moved to TCF Bank Stadium in 2009. But even taking into account the reduced capacity, Gopher football attendance lagged in the Big Ten this year. Ohio State University’s and the University of Michigan’s average attendance at
home games was greater than their stadiums’ reported capacity. The University of Wisconsin Madison’s average was 98.5 percent of its 80,321 person capacity. At 86 percent, Minnesota fell behind the Big Ten’s top teams. “It’s on us to earn people back. I promise you as we enter the offseason after the bowl game, we look very hard at what’s working, what’s not working, what can we do to improve the fan experience,” said Athletics Director Mark Coyle. To help boost sagging ticket sales, Coyle froze a scheduled cost increase for some tickets earlier this fall. “With an eight-win season, a chance to play a Power Five program like Washington State in the Power-5 conference is a great opportunity for us to continue to build that momentum for next year and move forward,” Coyle said. Mike Hendrickson contributed to this report.
AVERAGE FOOTBALL GAME ATTENDANCE 70,000
2009 Move from Metrodome to TCF Bank Stadium
60,000
50,000
40,000
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
SOURCE: GOPHER ATHLETICS
New apartment building being developed for Prospect Park Construction set to begin this summer. BY KRISTINA BUSCH kbusch@mndaily.com
A new sustainable housing option may soon break ground in a nearby University of Minnesota neighborhood. Green on Four th is a proposed six-stor y apar tment complex that would be located in Prospect Park on 29th Avenue Southeast and University Avenue. The building would be green
energy focused and include a mix of market-rate and affordable housing. A prior developer had proposed a similar apartment complex before the location was bought by Prospect Park Properties said Jeff Barnhart, PPP property manager. The proposal would complement an already approved plan to redesign 4th Street as a pedestrian walkway filled with greenery and renewable energy innovations. Minneapolis city planner Peter Crandall said the building’s proximity to the light rail would likely be a
major draw for potential residents. The apartment would also be located near a storm water system that collects, recycles and treats storm water for irrigation and industrial purposes. In the proposal, one part of the building overlooks the nearby storm water garden, which soaks up rainwater in lieu of run-off. Barnhart said these innovations are what make the Green on Fourth Apartments project unique. “The city actually declared this to be an innovative district,” said
Admins get free stadium suite tickets Tickets u from Page 1
taxpayer money. In an emailed statement, University spokesman Evan Lapiska said the University representatives attended three games and were invited there by the MSFA for business purposes. The statement didn’t address how bringing spouses not employed by the University to the games advanced the school’s business interests. When asked about the tickets Wednesday afternoon, Coyle declined to comment. “Even though attendance at U.S. Bank Stadium in these circumstances was clearly work-related, the involved individuals value their public roles and the public’s desire for transparency, and to avoid any controversy and appearance whatsoever of impropriety, they have decided to reimburse MSFA,” the statement said. The names of the University of ficials include Athletics Director Mark Coyle and his wife and several deputy and associate athletic directors. University President Eric Kaler’s Chief of Staf f Amy Phenix, Deputy Chief of Staf f
Elizabeth Eull and their husbands also attended a game. Deputy Athletics Director John Cunningham and Senior Associate Athletics Director Tom McGinnis each attended two games. Scott Ellison, associate athletic director of facilities, TCF Bank Stadium Director of Event Management John Tweedy and former Athletics Department spokesman Chris Werle attended a professional soccer match in August. Lapiska said the purpose was to meet with stadium staf f because they were jointly pursuing an X Games bid and discussing NCAA Championship bids. Those in attendance at a Sept. 18 Minnesota Vikings football game included Coyle, his wife, Cunningham and McGinnis. In the email, Lapiska said the purpose was to talk with Meet Minneapolis and Sports Minneapolis from the city’s convention bureau to “host staff members from the NCAA and obser ve stadium operations” because the University will host the 2019 Final Four. Phenix, Eull and their husbands, attended a Nov. 6 V ikings football game to r epr esent the
Office of the President because the University and MSFA par tner on a variety of event hosting bids, Lapiska said in the emailed statement. The MSFA contr ols two luxur y suites at U.S. Bank Stadium, and has refused to release the names of some guests at Vikings games and other events according to media reports. The Star Tribune’s report sparked outcry from some legislators and prompted the Minnesota Legislative Auditor to open an investigation of the MSFA’s control and use of the suites.
“Even though the attendance at U.S. Bank Stadium in these circumstances was clearly work related, the involved individuals value their public roles and the public’s desire for transparency ...” EVAN LAPISKA University spokesman
Minneapolis Ward 2 City Council Member Cam Gordon. “It’s another step of development for the next five to ten years.” There is a growing push to move into the Prospect Park area because of its proximity to the city, he said, adding that the closer commute allows environmentally-minded residents to reduce driving emissions.
Gordon also said affordable housing options in the building would help address the shrinking housing stock in the city. “We’ve been losing affordable housing,” Gordon said. “It will give people who are not as affluent some housing.” The 294,000 square feet project is expected to begin construction this summer and end in fall 2018.
“We’ve been losing affordable housing. It will give people who are not as affluent some housing.” CAM GORDON City Council Member
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Thursday, December 8, 2016
Sports
@MNDAILYSPORTS
MEN’S HOCKEY
VOLLEYBALL
gets piece Minnesota and Schierhorn Hart of home in next aim to fight inconsistency NCAA round The Gophers lost 8-3 last Saturday after three-straight second game wins. BY DREW COVE dcove@mndaily.com
It has been a tale of two seasons so far for goaltender Eric Schierhorn. Schier hor n’s per formance, along with the Gophers’ overall play, has been mired in inconsistency. No. 11 Minnesota has split each of its last three weekend series and has a record of 7-5-2. “I’m chasing it a little bit right now,” Schierhorn said. “I tried to make some changes to my game over the summer and at the start of the year to make myself more efficient, and I think I kind of got away from what’s made me successful and just competing … I’m just tr ying to get back to that full time.” Schierhorn had an impressive freshman season for the Gophers. He started all 37 games for the team and compiled a record of 20-17-0.
The sophomore netminder finished his rookie season with a goals-against average of 2.69 and a save percentage of .906. Last weekend against Ohio State, the Gophers got their first victor y on a Friday night since Oct. 28 against Clarkson. “The only dif ference [between Friday and Saturday night] would be pregame skate on Fridays instead of Saturdays,” Schierhorn said. “That’s been the case my whole hockey career, so that’s not doing anything.” Since that Oct. 28 game, Schierhorn had given up 15 goals in three Friday night games. In three games on the second night of series since that weekend, he let in just two goals. Friday nights have been problematic for the Gophers this season. They have allowed comebacks in numerous games, but Schierhorn finally found a Friday victor y this past weekend. “It felt good,” Schierhorn said. “It’s not really a secret, my game hasn’t been as good on Fridays, so it did feel good to get the
MEN’S HOCKEY PREVIEW
VS NO. 11 MINNESOTA
MICHIGAN STATE WHERE: East Lansing, Mich.
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday/7 p.m. Saturday
SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
win … but I’ve got to string together two now.” The trend of inconsistency has gone beyond the goaltender. The defense has also given up chances and exposed Schierhor n to shots that would have been dif ficult for him to stop. “We’v e b een c on s i stently inconsistent,” said head coach Don Lucia. “I think that’s fair to say, and until we take a step in the right direction from a defensive standpoint, then we’ll continue to win and lose a game [ever y weekend].” Minnesota’s defensive struggles have led to some bad losses this season. Schierhorn and the Minnesota defense will have to prove to their coaches
that they’re done splitting series each weekend. “Eric [Schier hor n]’s o u r g u y, ” s a i d c a p t a i n Justin Kloos. “I’m looking for war d to how he plays this Friday and how he plays the rest of the season. He’s a confident kid, and we have complete trust in him.”
“Until we take a step in the right direction from a defensive standpoint, then we’ll continue to win and lose a game [every weekend].” DON LUCIA Head coach
WRESTLING
Short changes mental approach after defeat The 157-pound redshirt junior beat five wrestlers to win a title in Las Vegas. BY MIKE HENDRICKSON mhendrickson@mndaily.com
Jake Shor t wishes he could’ve wrestled against Oklahoma State. The redshirt junior was planning all week on wrestling against the top-ranked team but found out his coaches had other plans. On the day of the dual, Short’s coaches informed him he wouldn’t be competing, forcing him to sit out and watch the Gophers lose 34-3 on Nov. 27. “[Being told the day of] angered me even more,” Short said. “I’m not mad at [the coaches], but it was definitely fuel. It got me pumped up.” Short didn’t wallow. He spent the next week using the fuel to ensure he wouldn’t sit again. That anger turned into a title on Saturday as Short defeated five wrestlers en route to a 157-pound title at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas. The five wins lifted the wrestler into the 12th spot
in the country. “The secret for him is really going out there and being himself,” said interim head coach Brandon Eggum. “Going into Las Vegas, he had a chip on his shoulder, and he wrestled like that.” Benching Shor t before the dual against Oklahoma State didn’t come from nowhere. Short — ranked 18th at 157 at the time — lost 6-4 to unranked Colin Holler of South Dakota State the week before the Oklahoma State dual. It was a tough loss for the redshirt junior to open Minnesota’s dual season. Eggum said Shor t wasn’t wrestling like himself and wanted to tr y out redshirt freshman Carson Brolsma at his spot. Sitting out meant Short would have to wait two weeks before he would wrestle in a competition, forcing him to reflect. He stepped up his training in that week between Oklahoma State and the Invitational, aiming to build his confidence back up and improve his footwork. Short said he took a big mental jump, teaching himself to tap into that anger and use it in competition.
CARTER JONES, DAILY FILE PHOTO
Gophers outside hitter Alexis Hart winds up a spike against Michigan on Nov. 20 at the Sports Pavilion.
The freshman will take on her home state of Missouri in Friday’s match.
“When I was a freshman, I looked to lean on the older girls a bit, so I know what they will expect ... Having been there before, hopefully we can help answer any questions for them or frontload it so they know what to expect.”
BY TOMMY SLETTEN tsletten@mndaily.com
WRESTLING PREVIEW
VS MICHIGAN STATE 2-3
NO. 10 MINNESOTA 1-1 WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday
WHERE: East Lansing, Mich.
VS NO. 10 MINNESOTA 1-1 WHEN: 1 p.m. Sunday
NO. 9 MICHIGAN 3-0 WHERE: Ann Arbor, Mich. SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
“The guy stepping up across from me on the mat wants his hand raised at the end. That should piss you off a little bit, and that’s what I use as fuel.” JAKE SHORT Redshirt junior
“The guy stepping up across from me on the mat wants his hand raised at the end,” Short said. “That should piss you off a little bit, and that’s what I use as fuel.” Brett Pfarr, the only un-
defeated wrestler for Minnesota this season, saw Short adjust his mental approach. Short had a podium finish in the Big Ten Championships and was an NCAA qualiu See WRESTLING Page 5
As her long and successful rookie season continues, Alexis Har t will get a piece of home at the Sports Pavilion this weekend. Hart, an Independence, Missouri native, is plenty familiar with the Missouri team that will ser ve as Minnesota’s next opponent in the NCAA Tournament. “I know half the team. Half are from Kansas City, Missouri, or played club ther e,” Har t said. “It’s exciting to see some of my friends and I can’t wait.” Har t, the only Missourian member of the Gophers, has an advantage i n havi n g s o m e k n o wl edge of what Minnesota can expect to see next, and she heads into the Sweet Sixteen with a lot to be proud of. The outside hitter was named the Nor th Region F r e s h m a n o f t h e Ye a r T uesday — the second consecutive honor for Minnesota. Setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson won the award last season. “As the tour nament goes on, I think [Alexis will] get more and more comfor table,” said head coach Hugh McCutcheon. “I think she’s doing really well.” Har t is the only player on the team that was not a par t of last year’s Final Four team with consistent playing time, but her inexperience has not held her back. Har t finished with 15 kills in the first and second rounds of the tournament and hit .400 against North Dakota. Har t has seen her team rally around her when needed, which has helped when she’s in high-pressure situations. “When I was a fresh-
HANNAH TAPP Middle blocker
man, I looked to lean on the older girls a little bit, so I know what they will expect,” said senior Hannah Tapp. “Having been there before, hopefully we can help answer any questions for them or front-load it so they know what to expect.” Thr ee other players were named to the AllRegion team for the first two r ounds along with Har t — senior outside hitter Sarah Wilhite, Hannah Tapp and Seliger-Swenson. No. 15 Missouri de feated Nor ther n Illinois and Purdue in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament on its own home cour t. The other two teams in this side of the bracket are No. 7 Nor th Carolina and No. 10 UCLA, all teams that Minnesota has yet to play this season. The opponents will face a Gophers team that is undefeated on their home cour t this season. The Gophers didn’t lose at the Spor ts Pavilion once last year. McCutcheon sees these teams as dangerous opponents and games that Minnesota should take one at a time. “The hits keep on coming. There’s a lot of good teams, a lot of good volleyball this weekend,” McCutcheon said.
VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW
VS NO. 2 MINNESOTA MADDY FOX, DAILY FILE PHOTO
Gophers wrestler Jake Short competes in the wrestling team’s home opener at the Sports Pavilion on Nov. 19.
WHEN: 7:45 p.m. Friday
MIZZOU WHERE: Sports Pavillion SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
Thursday, December 8, 2016
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Gophers defy potential woes for first half success Minnesota has started the year strong despite big lineup changes.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY PREVIEW
NO. 2 MINNESOTA WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday/2 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Boston, Mass. SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
der this season. But is the team all that different defensively? Again, the answer is no. At this point last year, Minnesota was 16-3-0, while Minnesota is curr ently 14-2-2 with two games to go before the midway point of the season. The Gophers aren’t letting in many more goals, either, with 29 allowed so far this year and 27 at last season’s midpoint. The Gophers also retained senior defenseman Lee Stecklein, an Olympic silver medalist who is widely regarded as one of the best defenseman in the nation. “I think we have some great freshman coming in, and the remaining D have realized that we need to fill some roles in different ways,” Stecklein said. “It might be a little different this year, but it’s still where we have always been strong as a program.” Minnesota lost standout Amanda Leveille to graduation this season. Leveille posted a final save percentage of .942, which made for fourth best in the countr y. However, current goaltender redshirt junior Sidney Peters has filled Leveille’s shoes well. She has posted a .922 save percentage in the first half of her first season as a starter, also good enough
“I would look at our first half, recordwise and it would be an incredibly successful first half.” BRAD FROST head coach
for fourth in the nation. Peters has more minutes on the ice than any other goaltender ahead of her. More impor tantly, Peters has the trust of her teammates. “We always have great goaltending here at the U, and [Peters] has had some great games in her past two seasons,” Stecklein said. “It’s been a nice adjustment period [for us] and I think it’s going well.” Peters faced the 8-2 loss, her first game being pulled, with honesty. “It stunk. It was a bad game. At the end of the night, you can be upset about it, but you can’t dwell on it because we have a lot of the season left to play,” Peters said. Despite her shaky second game against W isconsin, Peters posted a career-high 37 save shutout against the No. 1 Badgers the game prior to lead her team to a 2-0 victory. So, is it time to panic? With this team, no, no it is not.
“At the end of the night, you can be upset about it, but you can’t dwell on it because we have a lot of the season left to play” SIDNEY PETERS Gophers goalie
JULIET FARMER, DAILY FILE PHOTO
WRESTLING
Short responds to adversity with title win in Las Vegas u from Page 4
fier last season — not much needed to change with his wrestling technique. “Not a whole lot changed between those two weeks, physically. It was all mentality,” Pfarr said. “He had a little fire underneath him.” Short’s season has been about ups and downs. The confidence he ex-
Coyle talks Claeys extension, volleyball
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Gophers defenseman Lee Stecklein skates with the puck from Minnesota State-Mankato’s Katie Johnson on Jan. 16, 2015 at Ridder Arena.
Wrestling
ATHLETICS DEPT.
VS
BY TOMMY SLETTEN tsletten@mndaily.com
Coming into this season, Minnesota lost two star forwards, a standout goalie and several other key players. Last weekend, Minnesota took an 8-2 loss at No. 1 Wisconsin, which included the first time any Badgers player scored a hat trick against the Gophers. “It’s critically important to go out and end our first half on a good note,” said head coach Brad Frost. “If we do that, I would look at our first half, record-wise, and it would be an incredibly successful first half.” So, is it time to panic? The answer is no. Despite program staples Hannah Brandt and Amanda Kessel graduating, Minnesota retained its leading scorer from last year, senior for ward Dani Cameranesi, this season. Cameranesi leads the NCAA in goals with 18, and is second in points. Two other members of the Gophers first line — junior for ward Kelly Pannek and sophomore for ward Sarah Potomak — have stepped up as well. Pannek leads the nation in assists and total points, while Potomak is seventh in points. The last time the Gophers allowed eight goals in one game was against Har vard on Nov 7, 1999. Looking at just that statistic, one might assume it was a disastrous season for the storied women’s hockey program. But in that 1999-2000 season, Minnesota won t h e AW C H A N a t i o n a l Championship and defeated Brown 4-2 in the final game, the first national championship in team histor y. Minnesota has also dealt with a young defense and new star ting goalten-
5
hibited in Las Vegas hasn’t always been there this season, but it’s there now, Eggum said. Shor t was focusing on the things he couldn’t control, and the key to his success was learning to focus on the ef for t he puts into matches. “It comes down to him as an individual,” Eggum said. “If he focuses on the right things and what he has control of, he’ll do well.” The downs won’t hap-
pen again, Shor t said. His career has had its fair share of them, stemming from his losses. As long as he competes for himself, which helps out the team, the low points won’t be there anymore. “Even if I take a tough loss, as long as I have the right mentality and know I gave ever ything I have in that match, it’s not going to matter,” Shor t said. “There won’t be a down.”
CHRIS DANG, DAILY FILE PHOTO
Athletics Director Mark Coyle sits down to talk with the Minnesota Daily on Sept. 30 in his office at Bierman Field Athletic Building.
Coyle praised the volleyball team’s national success this season. BY MIKE HENDRICKSON mhendrickson@mndaily.com
University of Minnesota Athletics Director Mark Coyle sat down with the Minnesota Daily on Wednesday for the third edition of a monthly Q&A. Coyle discussed the volleyball team’s NCAA tournament r un, his support of football head coach Tracy Claeys and the U.S Bank Stadium controversy, among other topics. Do you have any winter break plans? Winter break plans will be going to the bowl game with football, being out there supporting them and obviously we come back with all of our winter spor ts in full swing. We’ll be busy back here with plenty to do on campus. The volleyball team is in the Sweet 16. What is like to be the Athletic Director of a nationally successful team? It’s a credit to [volleyball head coach Hugh McCutcheon] and those students on that team. They’ve worked incredibly hard all year. They’ve beaten the number one team [twice] this year, I think … so they’ve had a phenomenal year. [I] had a chance to be at the [Sports Pavilion] last weekend and saw them compete on Friday and Saturday night ... We’re so for tunate with such a great fan base that suppor ts our program, so it’s really exciting, obviously. [We have a] big match on Friday against Missouri … The program has seen a lot of success with McCutcheon. Do you notice anything from him in par ticular he does dif ferently? … He has an incredible wealth of experience, being an Olympic coach two times and being on the inter national level and coaching at that level … he brings an incredible background, histor y, k now l ed g e a nd u n d erstanding of that game and I think most impor tantly, he knows how to motivate his team. Ever y time we play, we’re top two in the countr y for most of the year. Our last four home matches were all five set matches and all close g a mes a n d t h os e k i d s pulled it through and had a great finish … he brings a great deal of experience and knowledge to the process, which is great. Favorite par t of volleyball games? I have great respect for the competition. I love to watch students compete at a high level ... There’s no doubt when you’re playing Hawaii to advance to the regional … kids are competing at a high level, which I appreciate, and the crowds have been awesome. We’re so thankful for the people that come
and support our volleyball program. The football team just finished 8-4 in the regular season with the first year of [head coach Tracy] Claeys at the helm. You put out that statement throwing your suppor t behind him — what led you to that decision? Tracy and I have talked a lot. When you go from being a coordinator to a head coach or when you go from being a deputy athletics director to an athletics director, there’s a transition you go through. I’m ver y appreciative and respectful of what coach Claeys and that staf f has done. We’ve had eight wins. I think three out of the four years we’ve had eight win seasons, which is a great accomplishment. We ’ r e e x c i t e d t o p l a y Washington State in the Holiday Bowl and, again, I’m thankful for his hard work and I look for ward to working with him. When you put out that statement, multiple media outlets were reporting about a possible extension for Claeys. Ther e’s some people who disagree with giving Claeys an extension. How would you respond to people who disagree with that decision? As with any head coach, we really don’t talk about contract extensions and negotiations. I would leave it at that. Did the football team meet expectations this year? That’s probably a better question for the students and the coaches who are in it day in and day out … I’m excited. We’re 8-4 and some people are disappointed, and that’s great because that means we have expectations. I think that’s great that we have expectations. Again, the [team had its] third eight-win season out of four years. I think with this group over the past four years, I think we had 30 wins, which is great. I think we continue to make progress, but obviously, like volleyball, we want to compete at a high level. That’s our ultimate goal. The men’s basketball team is now 8-1 after getting eight wins all of last season. Are you feeling more optimistic about the future of the program than you were a month ago? If you remember when we talked over the past few months, I give [men’s basketball head coach Richard Pitino] a lot of credit. This past summer, they brought in a lot of people to talk to that team and they really focused inter nally on what they were doing and how they were doing things and how could they improve their process. Obviously, I’m optimistic after the 8-1 star t. [They had] a nice win last night at the Barn. Again, I give Coach Pitino a lot of credit. I give the students on that team a
lot of credit because they looked inside themselves and what they have to do to do things better and they took ownership from last season, and I think you’re seeing the results with their hard work this past summer … Obviously, we’ve got a game Friday night, a game Sunday and then a few more non-conference games, and then we’ll star t playing against Michigan State on the 27th. So again, I’m excited about the start we’ve had. The women’s hockey team is of f to another hot star t like the previous years. What do you do as an AD with a program that’s almost always successful? I think sometimes when you have programs that are achieving at a high level, you sometimes take your attention of f of them and tr y to focus on others in the department. I think it’s important that we continue to focus on women’s hockey. [Women’s hockey head coach Brad Frost] has done a phenomenal job. We split with Wisconsin, who’s number one in the countr y this past week. We have a big series this week out in Boston … I have a lot of respect for Brad because obviously they compete at a high, high level and they’re not shy to play people, which I really appreciate. It helps our program get better and build a solid foundation for the future. The University r ecently disclosed that you and other school admins attended soccer and football games at U.S. Bank Stadium for free for business reasons and it sparked a state legislative audit. What do you think of the University deciding to disclose your and other administrator’s use of the suites? Well, again, the Minnesota Spor ts Facility Authority invited us to attend the game, and we put out a statement earlier in the week. I don’t have much to add after the statement. The statement said you wer e conducting business there. Your wife went with you to a game. Why would you bring a spouse, a nonU-employee, for fr ee to the event when it’s meant for business purposes? Again, we put out a statement on that, and I stick by our statement. The statement said that you and other admins will reimburse the Minnesota Spor ts Facility Authority for tickets. Do you know how much you will be paying back? The value of the ticket was $200 … for all the tickets that, again, we were invited to by [the Minnesota Sports Facility Authority]. We reimbursed those ticket costs. Editor’s Note: This Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.
6
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Housing project renovates Bunge Tower The new Namaste Apartments project received funding to build around Bunge. BY RAJU CHADUVULA rchaduvula@mndaily.com
A landmark for the University of Minnesota neighborhood is now a step closer to its planned redevelopment. The Namaste Apartments project, which would convert the Bunge Tower in Southeast Como, received $1.2 million last month to start on plans to build mixed-income apartments around the main tower. If more funding comes in 2017, construction could
start as early as 2018. Mar y Novak, senior project manager for Project for Pride in Living (PPL), said the funding from Minneapolis’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund is the first for the project. PPL has owned the Bunge Tower site since 2007. She said the cost to build a single unit at the site would be nearly $250,000. The construction would include 150 apartment units, Novak said. Original plans for the site called for the creation of artist lofts. While still planned, only 50 units would be reserved for artists, Novak said. The r est, she said, would be reserved for lowincome earners who make 50 to 60 percent the annual
metropolitan income. Another eight units would be held for people experiencing long-term homelessness, Novak said, adding there has been a shortage of affordable housing in recent years. “[The cost of housing] is just really taxing on individuals and families … there’s other things like school and healthcare that also need to be paid,” she said. While the apar tments are not designed for student housing, students could still rent an apartment if they meet certain conditions, such as being a single studentparent or a family where one or both parents are students, Novak said. The apartments would act
as a sanctuary from city life but still give residents access to the perks of the University, Dinkytown and nearby businesses, she said. The apartments would have open areas, peace gardens, yoga studios and meditation rooms. Novak said the head tower would be kept in place, with the apartments being built around it at the sites of the building’s silos. One current plan is to use the head tower as the main lobby entrance, Novak said, but renovating the whole tower isn’t part of PPL’s plans. “As a neighborhood organization, Bunge is easily the most recognizable building in [Southeast] Como,” said
Cody Olson, Southeast Como Improvement Association’s coordinator. As the Bunge Tower area is redeveloped, keeping the structure’s iconic shape is important to the neighborhood, Olson said. “It’s a good sign development is happening soon, before the tower has any more structural damage or any other fatality or injury happens on the premises,” he said. In recent years, two women died from falls inside the abandoned structure while exploring the tower. Minneapolis Ward 2 City Councilman Cam Gordon said plans to redevelop the Bunge site have been
considered since 2007, right after the first fatal incident. Gordon said the 2015 death pr ompted police and fire depar tments to institute more security checks at the tower, already a standard practice by PPL. “We couldn’t wait for some restoration plan to come along,” Gordon said. With the new mixedincome housing plans, the apartments could address the need for affordable housing and help those facing long-term homelessness, Gordon said. “This could be a space that really builds a community together,” Novak said.
U’s staff boost diminishes mental health wait times Wait u from Page 1
and a half new hires were brought on at the beginning of the semester to quell the lines, said Glenn Hirsch, director of SCS. SCS has been able to offer same-day service for initial consultations for the last four years, but the wait for ongoing services was cut in half to a two to three week wait this semester. Boynton eliminated its waitlist for an initial consultation for the first time. This is a drastic change from November 2015, when there were 72 students on the waitlist at its peak, according to a Boynton report. “This is the first time in a long time we’ve gone without waitlists,” said Dave Golden, Boynton Health’s Director of Public Health and Communications. In 2015, nearly 33 percent of University students reported a mental health diagnosis in their lifetime — up from about 25 percent in 2007, according to Boynton student health surveys.
There is an ongoing struggle to meet the mental health needs of University students, said Victoria Blakebor ough, student adviser for campus mental health advocacy group Active Minds. “The rate of students asking for resources is going up,” she said. “On some level this is positive because it means more students are seeking help.” Repor ts from Boynton show this increase as well — 2,215 students used Boynton’s mental health services last fall, up about 6 percent from fall. In the fall of 2011, about 1,600 students were seen by Boynton. Funding provides new counselors, reduces waitlists In Februar y, a University committee on student mental health recommended eight full-time clinical mental health staff be added. In June, after students raised concerns about a lack of funding for mental health resources in the University’s proposed operating budget, the Board of Regents ap-
proved a funding increase of nearly $300,000 for two years, as well as the new hires, for Boynton and SCS. “Student mental health is a top public health issue across our system,” Kaler said in his June repor t to the board. “We will continue mental health access across our system campus.” With the increased funding, Boynton Health and SCS were able to hire for six full-time and one parttime position. Most went to Boynton to meet student demands. However, despite the new hires, Boynton is still operating at full capacity and hopes to hire an additional therapist, Golden said. “We are able to, the best we can, meet the demand,” he said. At the beginning of the semester, Boynton Health and SCS streamlined their new patient referral process. The two centers created one form for students to fill out upon arrival so they don’t have to have repor t the same information twice.
Before, there were separate forms that students filled out with each group, but now the form is sent when SCS refers students to Boynton for any medication evaluations and when Boynton refers students to SCS for academic difficulties and career concerns. Still, the process needs improvement, Hirsch said, because some students have had to fill out the form twice. What else needs to be improved? While many agree that the new process and reduced wait times at Boynton and SCS are a step in the right direction, some say more needs to be done. Minnesota Student Association President Abeer Syedah said MSA hopes to continue the conversation surrounding mental health on campus and include topics like expectations between students and professors. “ I r e a l l y, g e n u i n e l y would love to see us have a more critical conversation about what mental health looks like between the students and the faculty,” Syedah said. Blakeborough said she hopes the University continues to meet students’ needs while also de-stigmatizing and normalizing
BOYTON HEALTH SERVICE NUMBERS NUMBER OF UNIQUE STUDENTS SEEN*
2215
2091 1874
1650
2011
1666
2012
2013
2014
2015
NUMBER OF STUDENTS ON WAITLIST* 254 172
0 2014
2015
2016
*NUMBER FOR SEPT. 1 THROUGH DEC. 31 OF EACH YEAR
SOURCE: DAVID GOLDEN, BOYTON HEALTH SERVICES
mental health. “We need actual services, but we also need our University to be continually showing us that mental health is important and trying to work that into our development as students,” she said. Golden and Hirsch both said they hope to work on prevention practices so
they can address a problem before it becomes too big. Golden said that with mental health there is no evidence showing a concrete way to prevent mental illness, but programs like de-stress and PAWS: Petting Away Worry and Stress can help relieve stress before it becomes unmanageable.
U professors help develop app to benefit HIV-positive youth The app reminds users to take their medication and will launch in 2017. BY OLIVIA JOHNSON ojohnson@mndaily.com
With widespread accessibility of mobile technology, researchers hope a new app may support the wellbeing of HIVpositive youth. A study funded by the National Institutes for Health drew together faculty from across the country, including some from the University of Minnesota, to develop an app called “Youth Thrive.” The app for mobile devices reminds HIV-positive youth to take their medications. The five-year study is in its earliest stages, and the team will spend the next year developing the app and getting feedback from youth before they launch it at the end of 2017, said Keith Hor vath, community health and epidemiology professor at the University. While the project officially started in July, Horvath said it took a few months to get moving. He said the NIH funded two other centers to research technology’s impact on slowing HIV’s spread. The idea for the app stemmed from an earlier program for adult men living with HIV, he said. The original app is already in the field and lets users talk to each other and access specific information about their situation. It also sends text message reminders to take medications. “All of the studies use technology since we’re really a technology-based center,” Hor vath said.
“We’re trying to figure out how can we really leverage technologies for youth either who are living with HIV in the case of my study or youth who are at high risk for HIV.” Horvath works remotely for the University of North Carolina and Emory University’s Center for Innovative Technology, or iTech. Patrick Sullivan, an epidemiology professor at Emory and principal investigator for the study, has spent most of his career studying data on the AIDS epidemic and how to fight it. “Unfortunately, where the epidemic is still growing in the United States is among men who have sex with men, and particularly young men who have sex with men,” he said. Sullivan said he got involved because he thinks technology is most effective to intervene and address the needs of this HIV risk group. The most important part of the study, he said, is to find whether the app changes health behaviors and clinical outcomes of the technology’s users. “We want to generate data that are actually strong enough to support public investment in making these ser vices available more broadly,” Sullivan said. To achieve this public support, the next five years will include multiple rounds of reviews of the technology by thousands of participants in seven cities. Sullivan said using technology for HIV-positive youth is an apt move because they are used to apps and mobile devices that help them communicate. “In terms of thinking down the road, if you’re going
to … have a larger impact on the epidemic, you really need these kinds of tools to be accessible and have a far reach,” he said. Meghan Rothenberger, director of the Youth and Aids Project, works primarily with 17 to 30-year-old patients. Rothenberger said many HIV-positive youth struggle to maintain treatment and establish regular clinics. Many also juggle housing instability, mental health problems or substance abuse. “Those are really immediate things to think about,” she said. “HIV sort of is on the back burner because they’re trying to figure out where they’re going to sleep and where they’re going to get food.” Rothenberger said some clinics have tried to be more youth-friendly by hiring providers who understand how to take care of youth transitioning into adulthood. She said many HIVpositive youth are more comfortable using technology-based help because it’s more private. Hor vath said the team will conduct focus groups in Chicago, New York City and Houston to figure out what HIV-positive youth respond to best — the feedback will help further develop the technology. “It just takes some time to really do it right,” he said. “This is really a lot of preparatory work.” Hor vath said he hopes the study encourages HIVpositive youth to better navigate how to consistently take medications. “There’s still so much stigma around it and so much that youth especially have to try to juggle,” he said.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
7
Ombudsman will monitor the U’s psych drug trials
Student service fees will be divided up differently
Trial participants can now file complaints directly with the state.
Three separate committees will review groups’ fee requests next year.
BY KEVIN BECKMAN kbeckman@mndaily.com
Participants in psychiatric drug trials at the University of Minnesota that have complaints now have a direct line to the state ombudsman for mental health and developmental disabilities. A law passed last year authorizes the state’s ombudsman to monitor individuals enrolled in clinical drug trials in the University’s Department of Psychiatr y, which was marred by the death of a clinical trial participant more than a decade ago. Legislators and experts praised the law as a way to alleviate concerns that clinical trial participants may have. “People are glad that it’s there,” said co-author of the bill, Rep. Connie Bernardy, DFL-New Brighton. “People who don’t have a voice have a voice now and an advocate for them to help themselves or their family member.” Under the statute’s provisions, the ombudsman will gather records related to clinical drug trials and ensure that the psychiatry department is complying with federal law and Institutional Review Board mandates with regards to protecting human subjects. The legislation also requires the University’s Board of Regents to reimburse the ombudsman for any oversight costs. Psychiatry department head Sophia Vinogradov said she and Vice President for Research Brian Herman met with Ombudsman Roberta Opheim earlier in the fall to set up an oversight plan and that the three assessed the best ways of going forward. “Our role is going to be … to receive any kind of complaints that an individual who’s enrolled in a drug trial might have so they have access to somebody not attached to the University,” Opheim said. “That doesn’t mean we wouldn’t hope that they don’t first try to work through their grievance or problem with the University, but it’s not required that they do that if they feel very strongly that they need to report it outside the University system, or they feel they’ll be retaliated against.” Opheim said the ombudsman’s office will distribute information to each research par ticipant to make sure they know they can contact the office with a
complaint. “They have a right to make a confidential report to us,” she said. “And then, based on the program, we would make an effort to resolve that between the study participant and the lead investigator or … whomever the grievance is about.” Based on the type of complaint the office receives, actions might include a mediated discussion between the researchers and the participant, more education for the participant or increased education on the research program in the future, Opheim said. “The ver y last resor t would be more of a whistleblower role if we feel we can’t get any satisfaction,” she said. “But I don’t anticipate that being [the case]. There’s been open cooperation between our agency and the University trying to get this off on the right track.” Psychiatric drug studies were halted in the spring of 2015 following harsh reports from the state legislative auditor and an externally managed review. Opheim said the oversight plan will develop more when research starts again. “It’s really in the early stages until they get up and running with their research programs again,” she said. Current and former members of the University’s IRB said the law was necessary and a step in the right direction towards adequate protection of human research subjects. “I’m hopeful that having them in there as oversight that the investigators are doing what they’re supposed to do to protect patients and research participants,” said Niki Gjere, an IRB member. “It’s the first time that we’ve actually had somebody have the authority to go in there and actually oversee what’s happening.” University bioethics professor and former IRB member Carl Elliott expressed similar hopes that the ombudsman’s office will help keep the psychiatry department on track. “I think that [the office of the ombudsman] will have the trust of patients in a way that University authorities won’t,” Elliott said. “I think the U still has a long way to go. I don’t think that these things are going to —by any stretch — fix things, but they’re at least small, positive steps in the right direction.” Opheim said the oversight will continue until the legislature says it isn’t necessary anymore, but there is no end date in the statute.
BY RAJ CHADUVULA rchaduvula@mndaily.com
The University of Minnesota is expected to formally adopt an overhauled student fee allocation process later this week. The recommendations were sent to University President Eric Kaler last month after a task force made up of student leaders and administrators drafted changes to how student services fees are processed. Kaler approved the proposed changes Monday, and the Office for Student Affairs is expected to adopt the changes later this week. “I am extremely appreciative of the work put in by the task force to examine and improve our student services fee process,” Kaler said in an emailed statement. “I support the recommendations of the
NEW YORK — Congress is shor tchanging the city by proposing to reimburse just $7 million — a fifth of the city’s request — for protecting Republican Presidentelect Donald Tr ump, the mayor said Wednesday. “New York City tax payers should not be on the hook for 80 percent of the national bill” to protect Tr ump and his family, Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. Since Tr ump won the Nov. 8 election, security a r o u n d T r u m p To w e r, the eponymous Manhattan skyscraper where he lives and works, has been stepped up to extraordinar y levels. The New York Police Depar tment has played a major role, along with the Secret Ser vice and Tr ump’s private security personnel. The Fifth Avenue tower is safeguarded by police of ficers armed with assault weapons, bomb-snif fing dogs and concrete bar riers. Police have closed some traf fic lanes, bar ricaded the block where Tr ump Tower residents have a private entrance and set up checkpoints manned by of ficers in guard booths.
De Blasio and other Democratic of ficials wanted up to $35 million in federal reimbursement for police over time and other costs of safeguarding Tr ump from Election Day to his Jan. 20 inauguration. But stopgap spending legislation unveiled T uesday in the Republican-led Congress includes $7 million. The legislation would keep the gover nment r unning thr ough April. The House is expected to vote as soon as Thursday, and the Senate soon after. The federal gover nment has reimbursed state and local gover nments before for protecting incoming presidents, setting aside $7 million in a grant pr ogram after Democrat Barack Obama, who previously r epr esented Illinois in the U.S. Senate, took office in 2009. Chicago spent more than $1.5 million se cur ing O bam a ’s home there between his election and his inauguration, according to a 2009 Chicago T ribune repor t based on city records. New York didn’t detail its projected costs in letters to congressional leaders and the White House earlier this week but noted the “unprecedented”
student services. This year, non-exempt students will pay $432.18 per semester in student services fees. Each group applies for funding, which is reviewed by a committee that allocates the funds. Currently, Sweet said, all groups apply with the same application under the same principles. “But these groups are fundamentally different,” said Jill Merriam, budget director for the Office of Academic Affairs and Provost and member of the task force. Administrative units that ask for thousands of dollars can’t be funded using the same guidelines as student groups seeking only a few hundred, she said. Under the new recommendations, group categories will have a different application process and a separate review committee, Merriam said. The student and media groups will be looked over by committees with a student majority, Sweet said. The committee
reviewing administrative units will be made up of student leaders from MSA, the Professional Student Government and the Council of Graduate Students, Sweet said. All three committees will also have University-appointed administrators, faculty and staff members, she said. The committee overseeing the media groups will also have someone from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, she said. Media groups include t h e M i n n e s o t a D a i l y, Radio K, Wake Magazine and any other student group with a strong media inclination, Syedah said. “All of [the media organizations] will get to be assessed in competition with [their] peers,” she said. The recommended changes also include financial advising for student groups, Syedah said. Current regulations don’t include any kind of financial mentorship, she said. If approved, the changes will become effective Jan. 1.
U area affordable housing worries persist Affordability u from Page 1
student-focused housing will turn to the broad marketplace at some point,” he said, triggering a cost increase. Austen Macalus, communications director for Minnesota Student Association, said the student group has heard similar concerns. “These apartments are coming in claiming they may be affordable for students, but a lot of times they just aren’t,” he said. Bob Stableski, vice president of the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association, said one enduring question is whether affordable housing
near the University is of livable quality. “Affordable and falling apart seem to be kind of synonymous,” he said. But since land values are higher in the area, Stableski said, there isn’t much developers can do without aid from a subsidy. “You’re paying so much for the property to start with, and you have to do something that is going to return your investment,” he said. Ward 3 City Councilman Jacob Frey said the city is losing affordable housing “at alarming rates.” Near the University of Minnesota, demand for housing is particularly high, he said. The city’s $10 million af-
fordable housing trust fund isn’t enough, Frey said, and there need to be solutions provided at the state-level — such as low-income tax credits. “No matter how much money the city puts in; we still have a problem,” he said. Creating more cooperative student housing on campus — like the Chateau and Fourth Street — and increasing occupancy limits are two strategies that could aid affordability, he said. Another solution the city is looking at is an “inclusionary zoning” ordinance, Gordon said, which would require new city developments to have a certain amount of affordable units available for
lower-income residents. The city is working to bring forward recommendations for the ordinance soon, he said, but the proposal probably won’t be discussed until next year. Still, Goetz said he doesn’t think rent prices near the University will fall until the market is satisfied. “The fact of the matter is that in today’s market the neighborhoods around the University are just in much greater demand than they have been in the past,” he said. Editor’s note: Austen Macalus is a former arts and entertainment reporter for the Daily.
Pakistani plane crashes after takeoff, killing 48 BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan — A plane belonging to Pakistan’s national carrier crashed and burst into flames on Wednesday with 48 people on board, killing all of them, the airline chairman and police said. Accor ding to senior police of ficer Khur ram Rasheed, the plane crashed in a village in the district of
NYC: Trump security is too expensive BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
group and look forward to the implementation of the new structure.” With the recommendations, groups seeking a portion of the fees would be split into categories — student groups, administrative units and media groups, said Megan Sweet, Office for Student Affairs’ chief of staff and a leader of the task force. Student groups are those registered with Student Unions and Activities, and administrative units are organizations such as Boynton Health, the University Recreation and Wellness Center and Student Legal Services. There were several complaints from student groups about the existing process being too confusing, said Abeer Syedah, president of the Minnesota Student Association and member of the task force. “Basically, we were asked to make recommendations on how the process can be streamlined and simplified,” Sweet said. Student ser vices fees are distributed between student groups and
“New York City taxpayers should not be on the hook for 80 percent of the national bill” to protect Trump and his family. BILL DE BLASIO New York City mayor
challenge of pr oviding pr esidential-level security at a building that’s a tourist attraction in one of the busiest par ts of Manhattan, plus pr otecting Trump’s motorcade when he heads out. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called the $7 million figur e “outrageous” on We d n e s d a y, a n d c o n gressional Democrats from New York also complained. “Republicans in Congress have abdicated this basic responsibility” of pr otecting the pr esident-elect, Rep. Nydia Velazquez said. In an inter view with radio station WNYC, de Blasio said the city would keep pursuing the money in future rounds of federal spending legislation.
Abbottabad, 75 kilometers (45 miles) nor thwest of the capital, Islamabad. The small twin-propeller aircraft was travelling from the city of Chitral to Islamabad when it crashed shor tly after takeoff. He said the rescue work is over and that they had transpor ted the remains of the passengers to a local hospital, where doctors were performing DNA tests
to identify the victims. According to Daniyal Gilani, the spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the plane had lost touch with the control tower prior to the crash. He said the plane was carrying 42 passengers, five crew members and a ground engineer. T wo Austrians and a Chinese citizen were among the dead, he said.
PIA has released names of passengers, who included Junaid Jamshed, a famous singer-tur nedIslamic-preacher. “There are no survivors. All passengers and members of crew are dead,” Azam Sehgal, chairman of the PIA told a news conference at the Islamabad airport late Wednesday. He said the plane’s black box recorder had been found.
8
Editorials & Opinions COLUMN
Television should be treasured in our lives The impact of how we engage with one of our favorite mediums is a memorable aspect of life.
B
ack in 1970s Belvedere, California, my mother was often left to her own devices. It was the indulgent “‘Me’ Decade,” and Leslie Dreyfous spent nights curled up, finding comfort in the varied fare of the time — from the salient and smart (Mary Tyler Moore, M*A*S*H), to escapist kitsch (The Love Boat, Donny & Marie), to oddly psychedelic children’s programming (H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville). That last one is entirely about a town of hats that talk — it doesn’t hold up. These shows were a comfort to my mom when she was a lonely kid, but they were also a special occurrence. She always hoped her shows would come on, or that she’d catch her favorite re-run. It was a special interruption from daily life. Years later, Mom showed us many of her old favorites, consequently creating weird retro kids, like myself, who gleefully recognized John Amos as Gordy the weatherman on Mary Tyler Moore and Kunta Kinte from Roots.
KATE MCCARTHY columnist
Mar y T yler Moore, in par ticular, held a special place in my hear t as I headed off to make Minneapolis my new home — just as Mar y Richards does in the opening credits set to Sonny Curtis’ lyrics. “Who can tur n the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?” I just about cried when I finally found her famous hat-tossing statue on Nicollet Avenue. “You’re gonna make it after all.” Thanks, Sonny; thanks, Mary. I look back on those family nights — my single mother sharing comforts with her young children — as a weekly Sunday night treat. Now, I don’t think twice about indulging in TV. In fact, it often acts as a numbing agent. I’ll admit here in print, with great embarrassment, that I’ve found a way to actually watch The Of fice while I shower — just prop your computer up
on the sink. Am I that desperate to fill ever y moment with stimulus? Am I that repelled to spend a minute alone with my own thoughts? Whether it’s Veep, Silicon Valley or any one of the great shows, watching TV has become so habitual that it’s become a chore. There’s hope that “one more click or touch might open onto something to redeem the over whelming monotony in which one is immersed,” as Jonathan Crar y writes in his book 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep. Where is the excitement? I am my mother’s daughter. I spent my 2011 high school winter dance blissfully cr ying while watching 30 Rock. Special moments of refuge — or celebration or escape — give TV immense staying power. It’s hard to break out of the pattern of watching TV as default, but it’s a worthy challenge for us to find a specific purpose in TV-watching. Or at the very least, let’s bring back that talking hat show. Kate McCarthy welcomes comments at kmccarthy@mndaily.com.
2016 U.S. GUN VIOLENCE Total gun-related incidents: 53,722 Total number of deaths: 13,880 Total number of mass shootings: 363 Data compiled by gunviolencearchive.org
GUEST COLUMN Swell of support in pipeline protest brings results in N.D. The announcement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that it will not issue a permit for construction of the remaining segment of the Dakota Access Pipeline in Nor th Dakota may not be the final word on the project, but it is a historic win for protesters who have drawn a surprisingly wide base of support. The four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline is almost complete, save for a section that was to go under a reser voir lake on the Missouri River near the Standing Rock reser vation. For months, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been encamped in the area, arguing the project endangers their drinking water supply and would destroy sacred sites. The protest quickly became a broader rallying point, drawing tribes from across the nation, as well as climate and social activists, military veterans and others. The decision to route the pipeline through sacred Indian land hit a chord with many who asked how Christians would react to a pipeline to be dug through sacred Christian sites in Jerusalem. For many, the protest is seen as a laudable stand by Indians highlighting the long histor y of broken treaties and broken promises and society’s histor y of siting environmentally sensitive projects in the backyards of the least economically and politically connected groups. The Standing Rock Sioux’s concer ns over potential danger to their drinking water in case of a leak is not unjustified — it was one of the reasons given by opponents who successfully killed routing the pipeline through the more politically connected Bismarck area.
Editor’s note: This editorial was originally published by the Mankato Free Press CONTACT THE EDITOR Grace Thomas jthomas@mndaily.com
Helen Teague welcomes comments at hteague@mndaily.com.
COLUMN
The Anti-Diplomat-In-Chief How Trump is ruining our global diplomatic policy strategy already.
L
et me tell you a horror story — imagine if the U.S. elected someone who, within his first month elected, may have destroyed American diplomatic ties with China, allegedly endorsed a strongman dictator who’s slaughtering his country’s people and whose newest candidate for Secretary of State has close ties to Vladimir Putin. Scary, right? Oh wait, that’s happening. Let’s start with the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, who said Trump recently called him to praise his war on drugs — a campaign in which the government has gone out of its way to kill more than 2,000 people since July. While it could be a fabrication, played by Duterte to legitimize his campaign — if true, the President of the United States has no means endorsing these actions, which have already been largely condemned by most human rights organizations. Trump claimed that Fidel Castro was abhorrently oppressive — there’s no way this is any less oppressive. Second, blindsiding China by having a conversation with Taiwan’s president on Saturday may not have been Trump’s best move. The willingness of the Chinese government to even come to the U.S’s table for many
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Response to “University of Minnesota’s freshman class features upswell in diversity” While it is important that the Daily continue to track trends in student enrollment and the ethnic makeup of UMN’s student body, it is also crucial that reporters contextualize this information in order to allow readers to question narratives put out by institutional sources. This is especially true as groups like Whose Diversity? have sought to problematize the administration’s narrative of fostering an increasingly inclusive campus. To point, the article in question highlighted an “upswell” in diversity at UMN, but gave confusing figures to corroborate this claim. While the graphic in the article documented increases in the proportion of American Indian, Asian, Black,
Hawaiian, Hispanic and international students, it did not include the actual number of students in each of those groups. This can make modest gains in the number of students of color appear to be much more substantial — for example, while the article pointed out a 22 percent increase in Hawaiian students, the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) lists only 149 Hawaiian students systemwide. This is significant because by far the largest student increase was in the “Unknown” category, which saw a 75 percent uptick this year, 47 percent in 2015 and 138 percent in 2014. The article did not investigate these figures or speculate as to why the category’s gains far outpace that of every ethnic group. Because of absent information on the actual number of students in this category (OIR lists about 4,000 students system-wide), it is impossible to
THE EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS DEPARTMENT IS INDEPENDENT OF THE NEWSROOM
ANANT NAIK columnist
important geostrategic interests relies on our nuanced approach to the region. Given the historical tension between China and Taiwan, the policy to “stick it to China” is flashy, but it could have very harsh repercussions in the future. Trump’s conversation with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Al-Sharif, which was summarized by Pakistan’s Press Information Bureau, speaks for itself — it’s one that’s filled with more platitudes than real policy proposals. And while we only have the statement released by the Pakistani agency, time will tell how Trump’s policies in South Asia play out. My question: Is this going to be the norm from now on? We cannot afford four years of idiocy when it comes to U.S. foreign policy. Global peace and stability is at stake — Mr. Trump must learn now or the entire country will pay the price.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
EDITORIALS Faculty ruling a large first step
T
he lack of a union at the University has allowed the administration to take unilateral decisions regarding pay and hours, which has drawn criticism by many union proponents. In late September, the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Ser vices (BMS) r uled that contingent faculty — which includes teaching specialists and lecturers — could join the same union as tenure-track faculty. The University, however, claimed that contingent faculty members weren’t instr uctional staf f — they were professional and administrative staf f, but this claim was largely ignored by the Bureau. The University has spent nearly $525,000 in legal fees fighting unionization and appealed the decision made by the BMS, but the agency upheld their original decision in late November — in ef fect, all faculty, regardless of whether they’re contingent or tenure-track, can be in included in a potential union at the University. We think that the BMS’s decision is an important step for ward. Faculty have the right to bargain for their pay. Individual faculty members don’t have bargaining power over the large legal staf f of the University, thus a union would allow for a more robust and just platform for settling claims. In addition, we hope a union would help increase pay for contingent faculty members. According to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), more than 50 percent of all faculty appointments are par t-time, which disqualifies them for impor tant benefits exclusive to full-time faculty. In addition, the AAUP argues that part-time faculty members are constantly over worked and underpaid. Our University should not be in the businesses of undercutting a group of teachers that are imperative to the school’s mission of teaching. A teacher’s unionization would also ser ve as a platform that could mitigate the adjunct faculty crisis that’s taking place on a national scale. According to a March 2015 sur vey by the Pacific Standard, a majority of adjuncts earned less than $20,000 a year. For many teachers, their salaries were below minimum wage. Some would argue that non-tenuretrack professors and faculty don’t get paid as much because the University is already short on funds. This argument is itself poor. The University of Minnesota pays $625,250 for President Kaler’s salar y alone. Our University should work to protect all faculty. This is in the best interest of students and ensur es loyalty of faculty members. If faculty members are happy, they’ll teach better and be more satisfied with the administration. The decision made by the BMS will hopefully provide enough precedence for decisions made in the future and spur union efforts, which will make pay and benefits received by faculty more equitable.
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS DEPARTMENT Editorials represent the voice of the Minnesota Daily as an institution and are prepared by the editorial board.
Anant Naik welcomes comments at anaik@mndaily.com.
accurately gauge whether the proportion of students of color has actually risen — it seems entirely possible, for instance, that white students are increasingly choosing not to identify their race (the percentage of white students ticked down by 1 percent according to the article). To properly understand trends in student body makeup, we have to consider why we are seeing such large increases in students declining to list their ethnicity. I hope that future Daily reporting will dig into the figures put out by the administration in order to consider whether its narratives actually hold water and to probe for more substantial stories about the role of “diversity” on UMN’s campus. Bryan Schmidt Ph.D Candidate Department of Theatre Arts and Dance
SHARE YOUR VIEWS The Minnesota Daily welcomes letters and guest columns from readers. All letters must include the writer’s name, address and phone number for verification. The Daily reserves the right to edit all letters for style, space, libel and grammar. Letters to the editor should be no more than 500 words in length. Guest columns should be approximately 350 words. The Daily reserves the right to print any submission as a letter or guest column. Submission does not guarantee publication.
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Editor’s Note: This letter has been edited for style conventions.
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Thursday, December 8, 2016
9
SHOPPING
Roundup: Socially (and locally) concious gift giving This holiday season, skip the lines at big-name retail stores and check off those wish lists closer to home.
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
Ceramist Amanda Dobbratz talks with ceramist Erin Paradis while setting up her table on Saturday at The White Page art gallery.
BY MADDY FOLSTEIN mfolstein@mndaily.com
gifts — it’s a win-win situation.
hen searching for gifts this holiday season, it’s easy to pick up the thoughtless Starbucks gift card or a banal pair of fuzzy socks from Target. Don’t. The Twin Cities are full of quirky businesses that are owned by local creators, artists and entrepreneurs. There’s no better time to take advantage of the creative talent in the area. Suppor t independent business owners and pick up unique holiday
Daybreak Press Global Bookshop
W
Gifting your favorite book allows you to share something special with people in your life. Daybreak Bookshop is a small but mighty bookstore located on Washington Avenue in Stadium Village. Given that it’s surrounded by fast food restaurants and new apar tments, it’s easy to pass by the shop without notice. But within the curated selection of books there’s a wealth of options — var ying from
memoirs to contemporar y fiction and religious texts. The bookstore opened in 2015 in connection with Rabata, an organization dedicated to the empowerment of women. Picking up a book or two will suppor t a wor thy cause, as well.
Bloom Sugar Bloom Need a super quick gift? Bloom Sugar Bloom specializes in candy, flowers and cards. What could be better when you’re in a gift-giving crunch? In the shop, hand-arranged bouquets start at $45. Their candy section stocks treats that’ll satisfy any sweet tooth.
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
Ceramist Stephanie DeArmond tries on a necklace made by Tess Weinberg of Belle Isle Design Co on Saturday at The White Page art gallery. The White Page hosted its 3rd artist market with 23 local artists over the weekend.
Bloom Sugar Bloom is also located on Washington Avenue in Stadium Village. Though you might not nor mally stop in, around the holidays, the shop is more than worth a peek. Expand your gift-giving horizons.
Local artist markets One of the easiest ways to support local artists is by attending the multitude of craft and art markets around the Twin Cities. While niche gift-market artists are able to sell their products on websites like Etsy, there’s something particularly special about
“When people go to sales, they can talk to artists about where they get their materials and where the money goes to.” ALANAH LUGER-GUILLAUME The White Page founder
seeing the products in-person. “When people go to sales, they can talk to artists about where they get their materials and where the money goes to,” Alanah Luger-Guillaume, one of the founders of local galler y The White Page, said. And, what’s best? These artisanal goods are one-of-a-kind.
“They take up more special places in your home or your wardrobe … because they’re not duplicated a million times and sold at Target,” Luger-Guillaume said. “It does set a good precedent when you choose to pay a decent amount of money for something when there are people working with their hands.”
RELATIONSHIPS
Q&A: Candy girl A&E sat down with sugar baby Angie to talk sugar daddies, feminism and the escort community of Minneapolis.
Trend u from Page 1
As for boundaries? The website says the two parties agree to the terms of the transaction. The Daily talked with Angie about her experiences in the “sugar baby” subculture and the men who pay out $5,000 per month to go on dates with her. How did you hear about Seeking Arrangement? I was talking to my friend one night about how she was in medical debt because someone had called her an ambulance one night when she was drunk. She had an ambulance bill on her hands, so she looked into it and found out [working as a sugar baby] would pay $10,000 a month for two dates. So, she made $5,000 a date? Yes.
How long have you been using the site? I star ted using it a month and a half ago. I’ve met four dif ferent men, all over the age of 29. One was 31, one was 37 and one was 45. How does the site work? Yo u h a v e a p r o f i l e wher e you can put up photos, some of which you can make private. If you’re interested in someone, you can unlock the photos so only they see them. Yo u h a v e t o w r i t e a description about yourself and what your interests are for the site — what you’re looking for i n a r e l a t i o n s h i p . Yo u can favorite the sugar daddies. They see if you favorited them, and ever y time you view their profile, it shows that you viewed it. Then you can message them and set up an arrangement. Wo u l d yo u c o n s i d e r
“For one guy, we met at Dunn Brothers Coffee, walked across the Stone Arch Bridge and then just went back to his apartment and chilled.” ANGIE Sugar baby
A&E EDITOR
Sophie Vilensky svilensky@mndaily.com
these arrangements ‘dates?’ I wouldn’t consider them dates … even if [the other party] might. I don’t see them as af fectionate relationships. What do you see it as? An easy way to get mon ey w i t h ou t h a v i n g to do anything you don’t want to do. What is a typical arrangement like? F o r o n e g u y, w e met at Dunn Brothers Cof fee, walked across the Stone Arch Bridge and then just went back to his apar tment and chilled. I always imagined an extravagant dinner or a ballet. I’ve been to two dinners, but I don’t enjoy the sitting down and talking face to face. It’s more enjoyable if we’re doing something. How do the sugar daddies view the arrangements? Some guys just see it as a way to spend time with another human being. Another guy just wants to have intense conversations about a certain topic, so I’ll talk about that stuff. One of them has asked me to be his girlfriend, but the
RADIO K TOP 7
age dif ference threw me of f. I love to experience new things and do stuf f I’ve never done before, so this is a good way to do that. Are any of the men too personal? Do you feel like a stand-in therapist at all? One has talked about his ex-wife that he just divorced a lot, which is fine because I want to listen to people and their issues for a career. So this is like a really well-paid internship for you. Yes, exactly. [Laughs]. Because of the monetary nature of the relationships, have you ever felt any pressure from the sugar daddies for a sexual relationship? Not really. I don’t know who these guys are exactly, so I wouldn’t want to do that. They respect their boundaries. So, no creeps? No. I think I hugged [one sugar daddy] … that’s as far as it’s gone. I never feel unsafe. I always bring pepper spray just in case, though. How do you feel about the title “sugar baby?” It’s so awkward. I wouldn’t consider myself
1. A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, We the People 2. CLAMS CASINO, Time 3. AGNES OBEL, Familiar
“I would recommend it to some. I’d want to pick strong or more independent women, not ditzy girls who don’t understand what potentially could happen.” ANGIE Sugar baby
that, but I guess I kind of am. Seeking Arrangement’s ‘About Us’ page says: “Where Sugar Babies enjoy a life of luxury by being pampered with fine dinners, exotic trips and allowances. In turn, Sugar Daddies or Mommas find beautiful members to accompany them at all times.” Critics might say y o u ’r e s e l l i n g y o u r youth and surfacelevel appeal to men. What would you say in response to that? I don’t think of it as selling my youth. It’s more like selling my time. I don’t see it as a feminist thing because if we [sugar babies] thought it was bad, why would we do it? How much do you make per date? It depends on the date. Some are like $5,000 a month for two dates, and
other dudes will give me like $700 for dates. The max I’ve ever been with these guys is like 5 hours. H ow d o yo u ch o o s e the men that you make arrangements with? I just tr y to find the most laid-back guys, not the ones that s a y, “ H e y, I w a n t t o get you in bed.” There are also profiles of couples that ar e looking for someone, and I stay away fr om that. I go for the teddy bears, I guess. Would you recommend this job to other young women? I would recommend it to some. I’d want to pick strong or more independent women, not ditzy girls who don’t understand what potentially could happen. Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
4. FOURTH WANDERERS, Know Better) 5. MACHINEDRUM, Stronga 6. NXWORRIES, Suede 7. REAL NUMBERS, Frank Infatuation
10
Thursday, December 8, 2016
CULTURE TO CONSUME / BY GUNTHAR REISING,
Listen to this:
Wear this:
Watch this:
Awaken, My Love!
An Ugly Sweater
J. Cole’s “Eyez” documentary
Childish Gambino’s latest album, released Dec. 2, has a supernatural beat and a groove reminiscent of Outkast — the record is bringing hip-hop in a new direction that’ll make you want to get jiggy. With his directorial debut in “Atlanta,” it’s been a big year for Donald Glover. The release of “Awaken, My Love!” is the perfect capstone to an ambitious 2016.
In case you didn’t get the hint from your roommate, who’s already been playing Christmas music for two months, the holidays are right around the corner. There’s no better way to celebrate the holiday season than wearing a festive sweater. Let the world know that, despite the impending doom of finals, you’re no Scrooge. Although wearing a sweater certainly doesn’t require a joyous personality.
He’s one of the most sincere voices in hip-hop, he’s got a crooked smile, he went double platinum with no features — it’s J. Cole! The singer is back with a new 40-minute documentary that reveals his music-making process. The film offers a taste of his newest album, “4 Your Eyez Only,” which is scheduled to drop on iTunes Dec. 9.
ART
The canvas Casanova University of Minnesota adjunct professor Kate Casanova’s artistic journey — from sand to fungi. BY JOE CRISTO jcristo@mndaily.com
V
isual ar tist and University of Minnesota adjunct professor Kate Casanova clearly remembers her first formative artistic moment. “I have an early memor y of digging clay out of a pile of sand that was delivered for a sandbox and making little sculptures out of the clay,” Casanova said. “I remember getting up at sunrise and calling out to an empty street, ‘Clay figurines for sale!’ I think my mom and next-door neighbor bought them.” Growing up, Casanova was sur rounded by the art of her mother — a children’s book writer. This environment was cr ucial to the development of her aesthetic and ar tistic outlook. “I remember the click of her keyboard,” Casanova said. “It was the soundtrack of my childhood. The act of creating was instilled in me as not just something of value, but as a necessity.” Casanova grew up in nor ther n Minnesota in a small town called Ranier. In high school she attended Perpich Center for Ar ts Education and went on to study sculpture at Minneapolis College of Ar t and Design. She completed her graduate studies at the University and she now teaches sculpture classes at the school. This unique mix of academia and creative expression has provided an endless amount of inspiration for Casanova — and her students. “It’s so energizing to see people discover their own creative abilities,” Casanova said. “We all have them. As a teacher, it’s my job to help them find and cultivate
ALEX TUTHILL-PREUS, DAILY
Visual artist and University adjunct Professor Kate Casanova poses with pieces in her Spectra series in her studio in Northeast Minneapolis on Wednesday.
their unique voice. [My students] always surprise me.” While Casanova gleans something from ever y student she teaches, her extensive career in art has informed her views on what makes creative disciplines worthwhile. “Ar t is fundamentally valuable because it’s not about answers,” Casanova said. “It’s about questions. We look at the world in black and white absolutes. It’s not about an ‘either-or’ binar y. Ar t is about ‘yes, and?’” Casanova works in multiple mediums: video, found objects,
fabric and — most importantly — fungi. Fungi provide Casanova with a meditation on the ambiguous balance of life and death. She finds mushrooms and fungi conceptually unner ving. Right now, Casanova has tur ned most of her attention to found animations and video work. Video gives her the ability to work in a dematerialized space. “Found objects often act as stand-ins for ideas in human culture,” Casanova said. “I might use a V ictorian-era chair to talk about ornamentation or kitsch. I’m cur rently
ALEX TUTHILL-PREUS, DAILY
A sculpture entitled “Planetesimal Spectra” by visual artist Kate Casanova hangs in her studio in Northeast Minneapolis on Wednesday. The sculpture is part of the Spectra series Casanova has been working on.
interested in natural objects rotating continually. They speak to the desire to resist entropy that is ver y much a par t of the real world.” One of Casanova’s video projects is currently being shown at the Instinct Ar t Galler y as par t of its “Verity in Vision” exhibition. Her newest work will be in the Katherine E. Nash Galler y’s upcoming exhibit, “What I Think About,” which will open on Feb. 19. In the meantime, Casanova is still plumbing the depths of her creative creeds and artistic memories.
“Found objects often act as stand-ins for ideas in human culture ... I might use a Victorian-era chair to talk about ornamentation or kitsch. I’m currently interested in natural objects rotating continually. They speak to the desire to resist entropy that is very much a part of the real world.” “[Growing up], my family had a menagerie of animals, and they played a huge role in shaping my work aesthetically and c o n c e p t u a l l y. I g r e w up relating to these
animals through bodily contact. Skin, fur, scales. I was fascinated with getting to know them as individuals and how they see the world. I still am.”
ALEX TUTHILL-PREUS, DAILY
A sculpture entitled “Planetesimal Spectra” by visual artist Kate Casanova hangs in her studio in Northeast Minneapolis on Wednesday. The sculpture is part of the Spectra series Casanova has been working on.
CULTURE COMPASS / BY GUNTHAR REISING
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Murder Mystery
College of Science and Engineering Winter Light Show
Monster Jam
Is it a play, puzzle or game? The Murder Mystery Company is leading a “murder investigation” in Coffman Union’s Great Hall. In this interactive performance, the audience doesn’t just watch the mystery unfold — they’re involved in the plot themselves. And if murder isn’t enough to get you there, Angel Food Bakery will be providing cupcakes.
Where Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis Hours 8 p.m. Cost Free with U-Card
With the holidays just around the corner, the College of Science and Engineering is doing its part to get the campus in the holiday spirit. The light show is designed by students and features 250,000 LED lights choreographed to music, some of which is written and performed by University students.
Where Civil Engineering Building, 55 Crosspoint Parkway, Minneapolis Hours 5:30 p.m. Cost Free
Feeling stressed about finals? Angry at a professor? Just like watching metal on metal? Monster Jam is where you’ll want to be this Sunday. Monster trucks, explosions and loud music — it’s every 9-year-old’s dream. With finals looming, it might also be just what the doctor ordered — getting lost in the euphoria of senseless entertainment.
Where U.S. Bank Stadium, 401 Chicago Ave., Minneapolis Hours 5:30 p.m. Cost Free
Thursday, December 8, 2016
11
CROSSWORD Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle FOR RELEASE DECEMBER 8, 6, 2016
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis
HOROSCOPES Today’s Birthday (12/8): Shared ventures thrive this year. Build friendships, bonds and social networks. Shift directions in your studies or travels this spring, as home fires tempt. Adapt to changing news next autumn.
To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging. Written by Nancy Black
Aries (3/21 - 4/19): Today is a 9 — You’re getting stronger today and tomorrow, empowered with high energy. Conditions are changing in your favor.
Libra (9/23 - 10/22): Today is a 7 — Be receptive. Listen to your partner and share your views today and tomorrow. Support each other with a challenge or controversy.
Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): Today is a 6 — Slow down and think things over today and tomorrow. You’re especially sensitive and intuitive. Minimize risks. You don’t have to go along.
Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Today is a 9 — The excellent work you’ve been doing reflects well on you over the next two days. Don’t push yourself too hard physically.
Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): Today is an 8 — Hold meetings, social events and parties over the next two days. Develop strategies with teammates. Talk over any concerns.
Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): Today is a 7 — Love is the bottom line today and tomorrow. Avoid silly arguments. Talk about your enthusiasms and passions.
Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Today is a 9 — Professional opportunities become available over the next few days. Consider your decisions well. Others may demand quick action.
Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): Today is a 7 — Enjoy a two-day homebody phase. Clean, beautify and decorate your place. Gentle music and tea can soothe frayed tempers.
Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Today is an 8 — A thirst for exploration entices you from your comfort zone today and tomorrow. Don’t rely on an unstable source. Make future plans.
Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): Today is a 7 — Study or travel engages you today and tomorrow. Investigate and explore. Write down your discoveries.
Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): Today is a 9 — Collaborate on financial matters over the next few days. Negotiate for a win-win situation. Stand for a possibility that inspires you both.
Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Today is a 9 — Tap another source of revenue. The next two days are good for business. Your ideas are attracting attention. Market, buy and sell.
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Early Week’sPuzzle Puzzle Solved Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved Monday’s Solved
©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
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I got a couple free tickets to a luxury suite at an upcoming Minnesota Vikings game and I am not sure who to bring. Should I bring my girlfriend to the game? The group that gave me the tickets said I could bring whoever I want. It’s supposedly one of those stuffy business-type work functions, but we all know that we really aren’t going to do any work at the game. Free beer, free food, free valet parking — and we literally have to pay nothing for it! It should be a blast. I can’t believe that we actually get to call this work. Now that I think of it, I’m not really sure who is paying for these tickets. But free is free, right?
—Suite Life
12/8/16 12/6/16
By Jerry Edelstein Katherine Stears
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SUDOKU
12/8/2016
Early Week’s solution © 2015 Michael Mepham. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved.
DR. DATE Dear Dr. Date,
ACROSS ACROSS 11 Throws Rodent the first pitch Templeton in 7 Find fault “Charlotte’s 11 Bygone Ford Web,” for one 144 They may bemore Provide with hard than enough 15 11 Tavern Miner’s target 14 Hunt’s Flightless 17 TV bird 15 co-star Memorable Greek shipping magnate 18 “Next subject” 16 Made Aggravate 19 dinner at 17 home Bake sale confections made 20 “Sold!” withpredecessor root veggies 21 CIA 19 Historic Finish offPotomac 22 20 estate Chance for a hit 21 Son-gun Asia’s __ Darya 25 river connection 22 __ Cornstarch brand 26 land: disputed in a yellow-andterritory blue container 31 Rueful word 23 Quick Chair or bench 35 snack 24 Simple Shine-minimizing 37 home makeup layer 38 With 40-Across, 27 NPR Harmonious broadcast 29 since Scare1979 30 See Soon-to-be 40 38-Across grads.with box or 42 Word 31 light Vanity cases? 33 Levelheaded Plagues 43 34 Timer Wireless 45 drizzler networking 46 Mussel habitat protocol 48 Uno plus due 36 “Life Degenerate, 49 of Brian”like Agnew’s snobs comedy 39 Apt namegroup for a 56 Plant studied by Dalmatian Mendel 40 Mil. academy 59 41-Down, 43 With Black, in tries for a long Bordeaux in football 44 pass, Like the flame at lingo Arlington National 60 Odor Cemetery 61 last 46 First Pop’sorpop and, 50 quarter Vacation...site you literally, what might sail to can be found on 51 Painter Magritte endcare of 18-, 52 either Managed 22-, gp. 38-/40- and 53 49-Across Follow, as advice 63 scenes 54 Action “Fear the Walking 64 Get-out-of-jail Dead” network 55 card? Driver’s alert 65 Museum about an guide infant, 66 32-Down and a hint to what contents can precede both 67 Fruity wordscoolers of 17-, 24-, 68 “Nothing to it!” 34- and 46-Across 58 Peace symbol DOWN 59 Central Texas city 1 Make a run for it 60 Bestow, to Burns 61 Chemicalwith suffix 2 Connect with benz3 Parting mot
Dear Suite,
I do not think that you should bring your girlfriend to the free football game. That seems extremely improper. In fact, I am surprised that you would even suggest that idea. I have a better idea of who you should bring that will help you get around potential conflicts. I suggest that you bring your mistress. This will help you avoid any appearances of impropriety. I assume that you two have a code of silence, which will obviously come in handy if this free football ticket thing ever comes back to haunt you. But who am I kidding, why would that ever happen?
—Dr. Date
12
Thursday, December 8, 2016
U professor studies imprisoned women Prison u from Page 1
but it was difficult for the prison officials, she said. It required increased security because it happened in the protected area of the facility, farther inside than the normal visiting area, she said. The study led to talks about how to make standard visiting spaces in Minnesota’s correctional facilities more child-friendly, she said. “There’s sort of an outdated belief that we don’t want to make prisons too nice because then people will want to come here,” said MCF-Shakopee official Lori Timlin. “Well, they don’t.” V isiting r ules apply equally to adults and children, Timlin said. People have to sit at a table and can’t touch, move around or bring anything with them, she said. “That’s ver y difficult for kids when you can’t touch or kiss your parents,” Shlafer said. “These environments are often ver y sterile. They don’t have books and they don’t have toys.” Shlafer said she worked with corrections administrators to see what could make the spaces childfriendly while keeping them safe and secure. As a r esult, they’ve painted the prison’s visiting room walls and put out toys and books, Timlin said. “That … humanizes a place,” said Tif fany Hamidjaja, a University senior who’s worked in Shlafer’s lab for almost two years. “It’s meant to be cold … but okay, [the kids] can see ther e’s an electric fence. I think that makes them scared enough.” Of ficials in Shakopee are also looking at a number of other changes to visiting procedures after Shlafer’s recommendations. All visitors have to go through a metal detector, Timlin said. They are planning to shoot a video of the process from a child’s point of view so that it’s less frightening. Additionally, children are now allowed to use a staf f restroom inside the visiting area so their visits
aren’t cut short if they have to use the bathroom outside the protected area, she said.
Anti-shackling legislation
In 2013, Shlafer led a study that analyzed national “anti-shackling laws” that forbade the restraint of pregnant inmates. The goal was to find a model policy to use in Minnesota because the state didn’t have any such legislation at the time. It was common to shackle pregnant inmates in Minnesota with leg irons, belly chains and handcuf fs, Shlafer said. Those practices could harm mothers and babies by increasing risk of injur y and miscarriage, according to her study. In response to Shlafer’s research and the recommendations of a legislative advisor y committee that she chaired, the Minnesota legislature passed a law forbidding the restraint of pregnant inmates in 2014. There was considerable opposition from cor rections officers, Shlafer said, because they found the idea of not restraining an inmate out in public troubling. “A 9-month pregnant woman … the first thing she’s thinking about while giving bir th isn’t, ‘How am I going to r un out of her e?’” she said. “But anytime you have an inmate who’s not restrained, those [security] concerns become paramount.” These triumphs show that the team’s work leads to real-life changes, said Hamidjaja, the undergraduate researcher. “It’s quite a feat … to have someone take your science seriously and to know that it impacts lives, to actually have gover nment be like, ‘Okay, yeah, this is something we need to deal with,’” she said.
Pregnancy support Shlafer is the lead researcher for the Minnesota Prison Doula Project (MnPDP), a 5-year-old par tnership with MCFShakopee that sends doulas – professionals trained to assist women before, during and after childbirth
— to the facility. Other states have modeled their programs after MnPDP, Shlafer said. A group from Illinois will travel to Minnesota in Januar y in hopes of creating a doula project, and one in Mar yland recently started as well, she said. Shlafer said her team went to Alabama in 2015 to implement a similar pre-natal education program. The doula project has been life-changing for women at the prison, Timlin, the MCF-Shakopee official, said. Since MnPDP was launched, there have been fewer complications during these pregnancies and a drop in C-sections, she said. Doulas meet with inmates at least twice during a pregnancy to develop a relationship and provide suppor t and health information, Timlin said. “Because the doula is not a correctional person, there’s less risk for the women in asking questions,” she said. “It’s just a much more personal contact.” They also lead the new moms group at the prison, facilitate the separation process when mothers return to the prison without their babies and check in with inmates post-partum, Timlin said. “Ever y woman has the option of working with a doula … and sometimes they’ll go, ‘Eh, I’m not sure,’ but after they’ve talked to other people in our prison community, invariably they say they want a doula,” she said. When an inmate goes into labor, her doula is called and stays with her at the hospital throughout the process, Timlin said. Incarcerated individuals aren’t per mitted to have family or friends accompany them to the hospital when they receive medical care, which can be especially dif ficult during childbirth, Timlin said. “We as staf f cannot have physical contact with inmates. We have to maintain a professional boundar y. It’s really a challenge to see someone in pain or afraid … and you as a professional aren’t allowed to respond to that,” she said.
Program provides Somali children access to STEM If the city funding is approved, MPLS 4-H program could expand enrollment. BY RYAN FAIRCLOTH rfaircloth@mndaily.com
An after-school program that educates and mentors children in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood could be in store for a big expansion. The Minneapolis 4-H program — of fered through Somali nonprofit organization, Ka Joog, and University of Minnesota Extension — provides an introduction to the STEM field for children in the Cedar-Riverside community. The club could get a significant boost if the Minneapolis City Council approves a proposed $50,000 in funding in the city’s 2017 budget at its Dec. 9 meeting. Thirty children have enrolled in the program since it star ted in March, said Mohamed Farah, executive director of Ka Joog. If granted city funding, the program could see 50 students registered in 2017, he said. “Ever y parent wants their kid to be the next engineer and the next doctor,” Farah said. “We’re able to expose these potential careers to these kids by them being involved in the 4-H world.” Children in the program went on field trips to the Minnesota State Fair,
Minneapolis City Hall and the University of Minnesota in its first year, Farah said. The University field trip is an “immersion experience” where kids spend a week on campus living like college students, said Jennifer Skuza, University Extension assistant dean who works with Ka Joog at each of its clubs. “We have college students who are working directly with the youth,” she said. The 4-H club is one of two tracks in the afterschool Takeof f program, which also has locations in St. Paul and Eden Prairie. Skuza said she’d like to see the program take kids to visit companies like 3M and Medtronic in 2017, so they can see how a STEM education translates into different careers. The pr ogram allows kids to be in control of their own education, she said. “That can be a huge paradigm shift for some young people and could be a real game changer in their futures.” Reception from the Cedar-Riverside community has been “over whelming,” Skuza said, and the program had to increase from two to four days per week due to heightened demand. There are waitlists of up to 25 kids at each of the sites throughout the year, she said. Farah said he wants to use the potential budget increase to include more students in the program, but
“Building community infrastructure is one of the most important ways of alleviating poverty and reducing the risks that our youth are facing.” ABDI WARSAME City Councilman, Ward 6
also wants to be careful so the group doesn’t expand too fast. “It’s not about the number. It’s making sure that young people have a quality program, and we have the number of staf f that can really enhance the quality of the program for kids,” he said. Ward 6 City Councilman Abdi Warsame — who helped secure funding on last year’s budget to star t the Minneapolis club — said it’s one of the first after-school programs designed specifically for the Cedar-Riverside community. Investments such as the 4-H program and the new Cedar-Riverside Oppor tunity Center will help the neighborhood by propelling children toward educational and career opportunities, he said. “Building community infrastr ucture is one of the most impor tant ways of alleviating poverty and reducing the risks that our youth are facing,”
Rescuers comb earthquake rubble in Indonesia for the second day BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEUREUDU, Indonesia — Rescue workers, soldiers and police combed through the rubble of a devastated town in Indonesia’s Aceh province early Thursday, resuming a search for earthquake sur vivors that was halted at night by rain and blackouts. Nearly 100 people died in the shallow and powerful quake that struck northeast Sumatra before dawn on Wednesday. Hundreds were injured and dozens of buildings were destroyed. The worst damage appears to be in Pidie Jaya district near the epicenter but assessments of the region are still underway. Some people spent the night outdoors while thousands of others took refuge in mosques and temporary shelters. Many were homeless after the magnitude 6.5 quake destroyed or damaged their homes and others were too scared to return home. Killer quakes occur regularly in the region, where many live with the terrifying memory of a giant Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake that struck off Sumatra. The magnitude 9.1 quake triggered a devastating tsunami that killed more than 100,000 Acehnese. Aceh’s disaster mitigation agency said Thursday the death toll had risen by 1 to 98 and more than 8,000
displaced people were at several shelters in Pidie Jaya. The Indonesian government has declared a two-week emergency period in Aceh and some aid was already reaching hard-hit areas. The rescue effort involving thousands of search officials, villagers, soldiers and police is concentrated on Meureudu, a severely affected town in Pidie Jaya. Members of one rescue team told The Associated Press they hadn’t given up hope of finding survivors. Humanitarian organization CARE said it would was leading a joint assessment mission of four international aid organizations. “It will take several more days to get a full picture of the impact,” CARE’s Indonesia director Helen Vanwel said in a statement. “We know from experience that after an earthquake of such a scale, people urgently need water, shelter, food and medicine,” she said. The Indonesian Red Cross deployed emergency response teams and announced bank accounts for donations. Its head of disaster management, Arifin Hadi, said five water trucks had been sent into the quake area. Aid, including hygiene kits, tarpaulins, jerry cans, blankets and family assistance kits, is being distributed, with more to be sent from Jakarta, he said. The International Organization for Migration sent an
assessment team to Aceh. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered about 19 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Sigli, a town near the northern tip of Sumatra, at a depth of 17 kilometers (11 miles). The agency had initially placed the epicenter undersea. It did not generate a tsunami. Siti Rukiah, 51, a mother of four, was among the many people who took refuge for the night in local mosques. She and about 100 other people from Pante Raja, a seaside village in Pidie Jaya district, fled to Nur Abdullah mosque located on higher ground in a nearby hamlet. Aceh’s disaster mitigation agency said more than 600 people were injured. The national disaster agency said about 245 buildings were seriously damaged or destroyed in Pidie Jaya and neighboring Bireuen district, including 14 mosques. The rest were mainly dwellings and shop houses. Roads also cracked and power poles toppled over. The world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. The 2004 quake and tsunami killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Aceh.
If elected DNC chair, Ellison will resign BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Rep. Keith Ellison said Wednesday he’ll resign his seat in Congress if he’s elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee. “Whoever wins the DNC chair race faces a lot of work, travel, planning and resource raising,” Ellison said in a statement. “I will be ‘all-in’ to meet the challenge.” The liberal Minnesota congressman, an early favorite in the race to head the par ty, has faced vocal resistance from prominent Democrats, who have questioned his comments about Israel, his defense of Nation of Islam leader Louis Far rakhan and his commitment to the
Democratic Party. Ellison is tr ying to put some of those worries to rest, announcing that he’d listened to the concerns of activists and DNC members and would be a chair with “only one full-time commitment.” That promise may not be enough to save his bid, which has also been complicated by increasingly vocal criticism from Jewish groups over his past comments about Israel and Farrakhan. The race to r eplace chair woman Debbie Wasser man Schultz has divided top Democratic leaders, placing President Barack Obama’s team at odds with Senate Minority Leader Harr y Reid and his replacement, Chuck
Schumer, whose early support for Ellison was seen as an effort to shore up the liberal flank in Congress. The contest is taking shape as a proxy war for the future of the party, with backers of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders throwing their suppor t behind Ellison as some supporters of Hillar y Clinton search for an alternative. But part of the issue is also personal: Ellison has, at times, broken ranks to criticize Obama, the head of the party he now hopes to lead. “Keith deserves the level of respect and deference he gave to Barack Obama for the last four years,” said David Brock, a prominent Democratic activist and longtime Clinton ally.