TOP HEADLINES INSIDE: ■■ Kaler announces VP for research resignation Vice President Brian Herman will step down on Dec. 31. PG 2
■■ Some say U parental leave policy exlusionary COGS wants the policy to include same-sex couples. PG 3
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Court drops 5 restraining orders against U athletes The five football players will compete in Satuday’s game after a Wednesday court settlement. BY KEVIN BECKMAN kbeckman@mndaily.com
Restraining orders against five University of Minnesota football players were dismissed Wednesday after a settlement was reached during a Hennepin County District Court hearing. The five players must stay at least 20 feet away from the University student and game day employee who filed the restraining orders. The student filed the restraining orders after an alleged sexual assault on Sept. 2. Four of the five players named in the restraining order — KiAnte Hardin, Ray Buford, Tamarion Johnson and Dior Johnson — were suspended from playing and were investigated by the Minneapolis Police Department in connection to the report. A fifth player — Carlton Djam — had a restraining order placed on him by the student on Oct. 19. The Hennepin County Attorney’s office declined to press charges against the players
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
History juniors Nick Carrigan, left, and Ian Lambert, right, play Dota 2 on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016 at Bruininks Hall on East Bank with the uDota club during its weekly meeting.
Training on a digital terrain Part of a burgeoning national trend, e-sports teams are gaining members, popularity on the University of Minnesota’s campus. BY DAVID CLAREY dclarey@mndaily.com
u See ORDER Page 8
At the University of Minnesota, Nathan Ernst’s sports regimen bears resemblance to other college athletes. His team practices four times a week, coaches review play-by-play tapes and he scrimmages with other teams around the nation. In the last five years, Ernst estimates he has spent more than 5,000 hours of training,
HEALTH
U researches inequities in senior care
but for a sport deemed unconventional by most. Ernst is part of the growing e-sports community on campus; he’s a solo midlane player for the League of Legends competitive team, the Wombats, and his team faces off against other schools for cash prizes. In the past several years, e-sports have grown explosively in the U.S. Last year, esports championships surpassed the viewership of both golf’s Masters’ Tournament and the National Basketball Association Finals.
u See E-SPORT Page 3
FACULTY
Discontent over lack of Ph.D-taught econ classes
The 5-year, $1.8M study will examine local, national racial A CLA Student Board survey found that many econ undergrads want better access to Ph.D. faculty. disparities in nursing homes. BY KEATON SCHMITT AND RYAN FAIRCLOTH kschmitt@mndaily.com rfaircloth@mndaily.com
Researchers at the University of Minnesota are flipping the script on how they study racism in senior care. A five-year study — funded by a $1.8 million National Institutes of Health grant — will assess racial disparities in nursing homes and how they correlate with resident care and quality of life. The study is part of a growing national awareness of system-wide healthcare disparities based around race. The University analysis was approved by the school’s Institutional Review Board Tuesday and will build on researchers’ preliminary results, which found lower quality of life in nursing homes with more minority residents.
SURVEY DATA SHOWS ECONOMICS MAJORS UNHAPPY WITH FACULTY
WERE YOU INFORMED THAT THE MAJORITY OF ECON CLASSES WERE TAUGHT BY GRAD STUDENTS?
Definitely yes (11.65%) Probably yes (15.53%) Might or might not (9.71%) Probably not (18.45%) Definitely not (44.66%)
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOU TO HAVE CLASSES TAUGHT BY PH.D. FACULTY?
HOW MANY OF YOUR ECON CLASSES HAVE BEEN TAUGHT BY PH.D. FACULTY?
Extremely important (33.98%) Very important (33.01%) Moderately important (20.39%) Slightly important (7.77%) Not at all important (4.85%)
Zero (45.63%) One (27.18%) Two (13.59%) Three (5.83%) Four (1.94%) Five or more (5.83%)
u See NURSING Page 4
SOURCE: COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS STUDENT BOARD
STUDENT GOV’T
BY OLIVIA JOHNSON ojohnson@mndaily.com
While the University of Minnesota’s economics department publicizes high-ranking and award-winning faulty members, many undergraduates in the program say they aren’t ever taught by those faculty members. A survey conducted earlier this year by the University College of Liberal Arts Student Board found that some economics students went through their entire undergraduate studies without having a class taught by a professor and that the University did not tell them this would be the case upon enrollment. Student responses show that more than 95 percent of the 105 undergraduate economics majors who responded think it’s important that their classes are taught by doctoral faculty members. But only seven of the 26 courses this semester that aren’t independent or directed u See ECON Page 8
Student-leaders navigate tricky landscape of personal beliefs While MSA as an organization must remain nonpartisan, the group’s members speak freely. BY RAJ CHADUVULA AND RILYN EISCHENS rchaduvula@mndaily.com reischens@mndaily.com
MADDY FOX, DAILY
Minnesota Student Association President Abeer Syedah speaks in support of Hillary Clinton at Northrop Auditorium on Oct. 4 ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ speech.
For Minnesota Student Association to maintain its school funding, the group must remain nonpar tisan and strive to represent the entire student body. Still, many of the group’s members, as well as its student body presidents, have endorsed political candidates or
expressed opinions on contentious issues — but only in what they say is a personal capacity. While it can be tricky to decipher the distinction between MSA members’ personal and organizational actions, studentleaders say those involved in student government shouldn’t have to censor their beliefs. MSA Government and Legislative Affairs Committee Director Will Dammann said he keeps his role in student government separate from his outside work for the Minnesota Republican Party. “If I’m representing MSA, I’m being u See LEADERS Page 12
VOLUME 117 ISSUE 18
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Thursday, November 3, 2016
Daily Review
THIS DAY IN HISTORY 1964 Residents of the District of Columbia cast their ballots in a presidential election for the first time. HISTORYCHANNEL.COM/TDIH
RESEARCH Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016 Vol. 117 No. 18
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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Vice President for Research Brian Herman will resign at the end of December, University President Eric Kaler announced Nov. 2.
MADDY FOX, DAILY FILE PHOTO
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STATE REPORT REPORT HIGHLIGHTS REFUGEES’ ECONOMIC IMPACT ON TWIN CITIES ST. PAUL, Minn. — A new report shows that refugees have significantly contributed to the economy of the Twin Cities and the nation overall. The Center for American Progress and the Fiscal Policy Institute’s report shows that refugee men find work quickly, often exceeding the rate of U.S.-born men, Minnesota Public Radio reported. And refugees from Bosnia, Laos, Myanmar and Somalia have been part of the economic revitalization of Minneapolis and St. Paul, according to the report. Among them are refugee brothers Kaw Hai and Soe Doh, who were born in the Karen state of Myanmar and own their own auto repair shop. They work long hours at their business, and Doh said he considers himself extremely for tunate. Doh said he didn’t witness much violence like many other refugees and was able to get an education and become a business.
CLAW BACK PERIOD ENDS IN FOR MINNESOTA EARLY VOTING DO-OVERS ST. PAUL, Minn. — The window for Minnesota voters to claw back their absentee ballots is now closed. Voters had until Tuesday to cancel their submitted ballots for a do-over. By Wednesday, election judges across the state were starting to open and process those votes cast early by mail or in person. Donald Tr ump urged suppor ters in Wisconsin, Minnesota and other early voting states to pull back their ballots and make a change during a Tuesday rally in Wisconsin. Other states have different deadlines. Minnesota has allowed absentee voting for years. But this is the first presidential election allowing Minnesota voters to cast an absentee ballot for no reason. Early voting began in late September. The Secretar y of State’s of fice doesn’t specifically track how many voters have asked to pull back their ballots. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Research VP will resign next month Vice President Brian Herman will step down effective Dec. 31. BY KEVIN BECKMAN kbeckman@mndaily.com
University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler announced Wednesday that Vice President for Research Brian Herman will resign from his position effective Dec. 31. In an email to faculty sent on Wednesday, Kaler said Her man infor med him that he would return
to a faculty position in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Science and Engineering. “Over the past four years, Vice President Herman has been instrumental in helping the University adapt to the changing environment for research universities,” Kaler said in the email. “His dedication to this work has made the University a stronger and better place.” Herman was appointed vice president for research on Jan. 1, 2013. Herman is responsible for overseeing systemwide university
research and managing all sponsored research activity at the school. University research came under scrutiny from state lawmakers and officials regarding its human subject research practices during Herman’s tenure. Concer ns about research ethics at the University sur faced after the 2004 suicide of psychiatric research par ticipant Dan Markingson. Two repor ts issued in 2015, including one by the Minnesota Of fice of the Legislative Auditor,
revealed a litany of flaws with University research procedures, conflicts of interest and other ethical concer ns that prompted dozens of pledge changes by school administrators. An audit released by the OLA last May found the University’s research reforms to be on track. “Brian’s leadership to advance human subjects research protections will help the University be a national model,” Kaler said in his email. “I am committed to continu ing his legacy in these important activities.”
Neighborhood leaders criticize new plans for development in Dinkytown Some residents are concerned about the effects on the community character. BY ELIANA SCHREIBER eschreiber@mndaily.com
A proposed apar tment in Dinkytown that would break ground in the spring has neighborhood residents questioning the city’s approval process for similar projects. Area residents met at the University Lutheran Church of Hope Tuesday to discuss the concer ns over the proposal — a proposal that some attendees say inter feres with the Marcy-Holmes Master Plan. The plan to build a 16-stor y mixed-use building has raised broader questions over how much authority neighborhood organizations have in city planning. Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association’s Master Plan, a 2014 City Council-approved guide for the neighborhood, outlines the rules for development within the community. War d 3 Minneapolis City Councilman Jacob Frey said the city has many overlapping plans that complicate policy decisions. CPM Companies’
Dinkytown apartment proposal is still a vague idea, Frey said, so he hasn’t received much input on it yet. He said the proposal has to go through the neighborhood organization — including its Land Use Committee — before facing the Historic Preser vation Commission and later the City Council. Input from the neighborhood is impor tant to the city and can influence the council’s decision, but ultimately, he said, the neighborhood or g a n i z a t i on s h a v e n o legally-binding authority. “It’s certainly weighted input.” Book House Owner Kristen Eide-Tollefson said she’s shocked and disappointed at the current situation. “One of the significant things about the small ar ea plan is that it is created out of the input of literally hundreds of citizens,” Eide-Tollefson said. “It should have some standing.” She said the master plan should be a primar y consideration for city officials and developers in the area. Eide-Tollefson said it is critical that developers, including CPM Developer Daniel Oberpriller, r eview the master plan and historic district guidelines.
“I think that it’s really impor tant for the Land Use Committee and the neighborhood board not to let this slide into a negotiation,” Eide-Tollefson said. “To clearly state how it does not meet the requirements and the vision of the master plan.” At the meeting Tuesday, MHNA Land Use Committee Chair Hung Russell said the project lacks sensitivity and imagination. “When I look at these renderings … it’s such a blunt instr ument that you’re using,” Russell said. City planner Joe Bernard said the city reviews the small area and other plans when it considers a project. Ber nard said the city does long-range planning for ever y piece of property to find its appropriate use. Some developers choose to work with neighborhoods, he said, but ultimately the neighborhood organization opinions are only advisory. But Oberpriller said he values input from the community. He said he thinks the 16-stor y building will be taller than the Chateau, the area’s current tallest building. Oberpriller said the building will target older students and young professionals, not
underclassmen. Many at the meeting voiced concerns that the building could change the character of the historic business district. “I’m on the Heritage [Preser vation Commission] and this is … totally what’s outside of the r ules,” said Land Use Committee member Dick Kavaney at the meeting. MHNA Board and Land Use Committee Member Barbara Camm said the zoning change needed to build the proper ty would permanently change the dynamic of the neighborhood. Camm said “something changes” ever y time a new building is built in the area, making broad changes a gradual process. Oberpriller said CPM is just reacting to the market and demand for more housing in Dinkytown. He said if this proposal doesn’t go through, another developer will make a similar proposal. Still, the wide majority of comments from residents addressed the project’s massive scale, calling the building “overwhelming,” and suggesting alternate locations for it. “If this turns out to be a huge fight, I’m not coming,” Oberpriller said at the
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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 FINANCE Pushkar Chaubol • Controller pchaubol@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, November 3, 2016
3
Students want to expand parental leave Graduate students requested that the U update its leave policy for parents. RILYN EISCHENS reischens@mndaily.com
In r esponse to concer ns about gaps in the University of Minnesota’s parental leave policy, some students are pushing for changes to make the policy more equitable. The Council of Graduate Students (COGS) requested last month that the University adjust its p a r e n t a l l e a v e p o l i c y, which currently leaves out LGBTQ people, fellowship students and bir ths outside the academic year. “The way I see this resolution is we’re asking for some gaps to be closed that really should’ve closed a long time ago,” said COGS of ficer Lauren Mitchell. COGS has spoken with University of ficials
and worked with the University’s Of fice of Human Resources, said Veronica Postal, COGS Graduate Education Council Representative. A series of meetings with University stakeholders are planned, but University of ficials haven’t committed to making changes yet, Postal said. “They’re all sympathetic … [but] each of them think that some other depar tment or some other branch is responsible for it,” Postal said. “No one is taking ownership of this.” When contacted by the Minnesota Daily, the University’s Human Resources Department declined to comment on the matter. One component of the policy COGS would like to see change is gendered language, Postal said. Under the cur rent policy, female academic employees — such as graduate students and professors — are eligible for six weeks of
maternity leave after they give bir th. Males are eligible for two weeks of paternity leave. While there is language in the policy that applies to same-sex couples, the procedure is unclear, said Postal. “We’re worried about, for example … if the par tner who is not giving birth would be eligible for paternity leave,” she said. A d d i t i o n a l l y, C O G S wants the policy to be more inclusive of transgender employees. “We know of at least one case of a transgender individual who has not gotten a proper leave because of their gender identity, and that’s just reprehensible to me,” Mitchell said. University Gender and Sexuality Center for Queer and Trans Life Director Stef Wilenchek said they don’t know anyone who’s been directly impacted by the policy, but eliminating that obstacle would benefit the University’s
LGBTQ community. “I do agree that shifting the language would be really helpful,” Wilenchek said. “Consistently running up against bar riers … can be exhausting after a while, and it can also lead to lack of access to resources and benefits.” Making the wording more gender-neutral would put the policy in line with the University’s mission of diversity and equity, they said. “Language is a big part in how we communicate [those goals],” Wilenchek said. Additionally, graduate students who have fellowships — an outside-funded research grant — aren’t eligible for leave, Postal said. Most graduate students have paid positions as teaching assistants or research assistants, Mitchell said. Once they work for the University for nine months, they are eligible for leave.
But students with fellowships aren’t paid by the University and aren’t considered employees, she said, and they aren’t eligible for leave. “We would like them to recognize [a fellowship] as some sort of employment histor y,” Postal said. “We think it would benefit the University because [the current policy] discourages students from applying to fellowships, which are external funding.” COGS members say another major issue in the parental leave policy is the gap when academic employees give birth during breaks. “[If] you give birth … the day before the start of the term … you’re not eligible for any leave,” Postal said. In those situations, faculty and graduate students aren’t able to get parental leave because they technically aren’t active University employees during breaks, Postal said. Therefore, the policies don’t apply to them.
Because there isn’t a procedure in place, Postal said she worries this could cause problems for parents. “The idea that someone would have ver y different amounts of leave depending on whether they give birth on Aug. 27 or Sept. 7 just doesn’t make sense to me,” Mitchell said. Many graduate students who don’t have children are taking action because they say they understand the problems faced by those who do. “I think a lot of us are … putting [ourselves] in those shoes and saying, ‘I wouldn’t want to be impacted by this,’” Mitchell said. And for Postal, the issue goes beyond fixing one policy. “It’s an impor tant par t of making academia more welcoming towards women,” she said. “I think that is done both by encouraging women that want to have childr en and men that want to take paternity leave.”
At University, e-sport members, popularity grow
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
Geography sophomore Ryan Mercurio, right, plays Dota 2 on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at Bruininks Hall on East Bank. The team participates recreationally as well as in the Collegiate Star League, where collegiate teams play competitively for prizes.
E-sport u from Page 1
And the trend is on the rise: Market research firm Newzoo predicted that avid viewers of e-sports will rise to 131 million this year, up from 90 million in 2014. According to the same research, by 2017, the scene is expected
to be worth more than $1 billion. On campus, e-spor ts have followed a similar trajector y in popularity. Two years ago, the first official e-spor ts team star ted at the University of Minnesota. A year later the first Dota 2 team dug into campus. Now, the Wombats compete nationally for
thousands of dollars. At a tour nament in Moorhead, Minnesota the Wombats recently won a share of the meet’s $500 prize pool, which they split among the players. Still, few college view e-sports as an actual sport, and won’t until they become institutionalized by the NCAA, said Seth
Jenny, associate professor at Winthrop University in South Carolina. Jenny said lack of recognition isn’t an issue in some schools — like Rober t Morris University, where top e-spor ters are of fered scholarships to play for the team. “I don’t think the rest of society is gonna star t to take it seriously as a ‘spor t’ unless we have that school [support,]” he said. Some players decide to shun college altogether and join professional teams, where the average player is around 19-yearsold, said Nick Phan, general manager of a League of Legends team par t of e-spor ts organization Team Liquid.
At the professional level, players’ lifestyles reflect that of a professional athlete, with hours of practice and sponsorship obligations, like photos and fan meet-and-greets, Phan said. “For these kids, its their job,” he said. “It’s crazy to see how much time commitment and dedicaiton goes into being successful in this industr y,” adding that professional e-sports players are under intense pressure to succeed. “I think player longevity right now is in a ver y fickle state, it’s pretty volatile,“ he said. “There’s just so many people who are getting into professional gaming that it’s easy to say ‘oh you had a bad game, we’re gonna bring in someone new.’” Theresa Gaf fney, the web editor-in-chief of the Collegiate StarLeague, a college-level e-sports organizer, said the sport was predominantely seen as a pastime in Asia at one time, but has grown into prominence in the U.S. “It’s a per fect storm, and I’m a little bit surprised, but mostly happy,” she said. Gaffney said the collegiate league started in 2009 with about 30 teams, but this year has over a thousand. Changing the appeal of esports to a mainstream audience is the next step, she said. “Once its accepted by American culture as something that’s not to be laughed off … that’s whats gonna make e-sports grow even more,” she said. However, University esports members say they don’t care if the sport gains wide acceptance. Burke Minihan, who founded the University’s Dota 2 team, said “It doesn’t need to be called a sport, we don’t care.”
“I think player longevity right now is in a very fickle state ... There’s just so many people who are getting into professional gaming that it’s easy to say ‘oh you had a bad game, we’re gonne bring in someone new.’” NICK PHAN Team manager
COLLEGIATE AND PROFESSIONAL E-SPORTS TOURNAMENT PRIZE POOLS Collegiate
$20,000 ACROSS 2 GAMES WILL BE AWARDED THROUGH NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ESPORTS ASSOCIATION’S GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP
$200,000 ACROSS 8 GAMES WILL BE
AWARDED THROUGH THE COLLEGIATE STAR LEAGUE’S SEASON
Professional
$1,000,000 WILL BE AWARDED THROUGH VALVES COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE MAJOR EVENTS
$5,000,000+ WILL BE AWARDED THROUGH RIOT’S 2016 LEAGUE OF LEGENDS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
$20,770,000 WILL BE AWARDED THROUGH VALVE’S DOTA 2 INTERNATIONAL 2016
SOURCE: MNDAILY REPORTING
4
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Class guides discussion of ’16 election A seminar promotes discussion as a way to find common ground in elections. BY KRISTINA BUSCH kbusch@mndaily.com
In polarizing elections, it can be hard for students with opposing political ideologies to find middle ground. A new University of Minnesota freshman seminar taught a group of 18 students how to facilitate student discussion about the voting preferences. Those talks then helped prep the students to lead a 60-person community forum on the upcoming election. University political
science professor C. Daniel Myers said political deliberation is necessar y in democracy. “On Nov. 9, we’re all going to have to live in the same countr y,” he said. “And we’re all going to have to work together to solve problems the country faces, and the only way to do that is to see the other side.” Myers said an analysis of the student discussions showed an increased mutual understanding of political opponents, even though only 4 percent of students in the seminar said they were convinced to change their vote. All of the participants who shifted their opinions originally supported thirdparty candidates.
Before talking about either candidate, he said, both Clinton and Tr ump supporters watched videos by the University’s College Democrats and College Republicans showcasing support for their respective candidate. Students then wrote down reasons to suppor t both Hillar y Clinton and Donald Trump for the presidency before launching into discussion. Students were initially biased and wrote more about their preferred candidate, Myers said. The discussions centered on why students supported a candidate. “Deliberation is discussion that promotes coming to an understanding,”
said Madison Tetzlaf f, a neuroscience and genetics first-year and one of the facilitators for discussion. After the in-class talks concluded, Myers said students were again asked to give reasons why each candidate should be president. Most participants listed additional rationale for the opposing candidate. In fact, Myers said most students’ lists of justifications had an equal amount for each candidate. “Coming out of this election, it’s pretty clear there are a lot of emotions on either side,” Tetzlaff said. “You become torn between the two candidates.” An analysis of opinions showed that the top
reason students are voting for Trump is because he’s seen as anti-establishment, she said. Clinton suppor ters, on the other hand, back her because of her political experience, Tetzlaff said. Sociology of law and deviance first-year Megan Daggett said the facilitator training was initially an intimidating process, though practicing with two student groups helped her and her classmates prepare for the community forum that was held last Saturday. “With students you had to push them to talk,” she said. “The adults seemed to know more and had more experience.” The student discussions
were less diverse than the community forum, Tetzlaff said which included varying age groups, income levels and religions. S o m e o f the to p i cs covered in the subsequent community forum included equal rights and national security, she said. Ultimately, Myers said that the data — which was only collected from the student discussions — was evidence that deliberation can help people find a common ground. “If you don’t know why people support what they do, it’s easy to demonize them,” he said. “It’s not that people’s minds are being changed, but there’s a common understanding.”
U study examines racial disparities in senior care Nursing u from Page 1
“[By] bringing attention to the issue, giving voice to these residents [and] identifying some of the mechanisms for this, then we can start addressing these disparities,” said primar y investigator and School of Public Health assistant professor Tetyana Shippee. Her team will interview residents and staf f, she said, and obser ve their interactions to understand how each nursing home functions. Facilities participating in the study have low resident quality of life scores on the Minnesota Department of Human Ser vices nursing home report card, she said. The scores are compiled through resident repor ts about social fulfillment, meal satisfaction and activity engagement, said Bob Held, study advisor and DHS nursing rates and policy division director. “The focus of the study is what the residents are
saying about their own quality of life,” he said, although he added that the findings won’t show individual discrimination. The research aims to address “system-level factors” that cause the disparities, rather than tracking individual providers, Shippee said. “Most doctors are not racist,” she said. “It’s the practices that we use in medicine that have these racist factors in place.” Some nursing homes have lower scores because minority residents may dif fer from others in how healthy they are overall, Shippee said. She said facilities with a large proportion of minorities often house younger residents — up to 13 years — who speak a dif ferent language or have a mental illness. Shippee said there will be different research phases over the course of the five-year study. She said for the first three years, her team will hold inter views and focus groups to gather data and form a statewide analysis.
They will then, over the last two years of the study, use their findings for a national examination.
Local issues, nationwide focus
One facility that received a low quality of life score from the annual state report card was The Villa at Bryn Mawr, a Minneapolis-based nursing home. An administrator at Bryn Mawr, Mike Carlson, said the score is low because of a large number of residents with mental health issues. “We take a lot of residents that a lot of places aren’t going to take,” he said. “That part can hurt our quality score level.” Carlson said while the facility has a psychiatrist and psychologist who visit a few times a week, it could use more funding to train staff to help patients suffering from mental illness. “We’re not a mental health facility, but we take care of a lot of people that might have schizophrenia or bipolar [disorder],” he said. Str uctural racism and
mistreatment based on race is an issue that is gaining national prominence throughout all healthcare, not just nursing homes. An article recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine outlined how physicians and other health care practitioners should tackle the issue of health inequalities. These issues ar en’t caused by random chance but are a result of structures and systems, such as medical care and public policy, that give privilege based on race, said Rachel Hardeman, a University public health assistant professor and author of the article. In a 2014 report, the Minnesota Department of Health said that understanding structural racism is crucial in improving healthcare across the state. “The point is the [bad outcomes don’t] just happen. It happens because of structures that are in place,” she said. Hardeman said healthcare professionals need to understand the history of inequality in the U.S. to know how
disparities in certain diseases — like diabetes — occur more often in minority communities. Douglas Hartmann, a University sociology professor, said differences in treatment can occur even if individuals don’t hold prejudices. “[S] tructural racism is almost indifferent to that. It’s more about the larger … forces.” When treating patients, doctors often factor a patient’s race into diagnosis, according to the article. This kind of metric can be inaccurate because genetic predispositions toward a disease often don’t align neatly with race, said David Satin, a University family medicine and community health assistant professor. Even classic examples of diagnoses that take race into account, such as sickle cell disease, can’t accurately be attributed to one racial group, Satin said. “When it comes to things like sickle cell, what we’re after is genetic ancestry. So race is the wrong question,” he said. For other diseases, the issue isn’t genetic ancestry.
Satin said the issue is how society treats certain races, which causes them to have specific diseases at higher rates. “It’s one thing to say it’s an individual choice to eat bad food but … if you live in a food desert where you don’t have … options anywhere near you, that will make it ten times more likely you won’t abide by the difficult diet,” he said. Medical professionals can see structural racism because the patients who suffer from diseases caused by social factors are more often minorities, Satin said. In the future, medicine needs to be more community-improvement based, he said. In addition to the in-hospital physician treatment, community workers are needed to improve health outcomes. “We [have to] play a bigger game now. Giving the pill and doling out some advice isn’t sufficient,” Satin said. “If we want to get better outcomes … we have to start reaching out into the community to see what we can improve.”
Editorials & Opinions
Thursday, November 3, 2016
COLUMN
Doctors need to be the impetus for change Physicians should lend their voices to the conversation about rising drug costs.
I
magine yourself going to a clinic. You’ve been diagnosed with a serious illness by one of America’s finest medical professionals. They say, “Take drug X, and you’ll feel better.” You take your subscription to your neighborhood pharmacy and receive your medication along with a soul-crushing bill. If you’re the single earner in an average American household, your income is likely $50,000 a year, and much of that goes to paying rent, bills and taxes. What are you to do? You need this medication. What should you prioritize? This case is a peculiar and common quandary — one that has caused a tremendous amount of stress to many people in the United States. What’s even more frustrating is that this unfortunate situation has been nearly exclusively tailored to the United States, as many drugs cost more only in our country. Data from the International Federation of Health Plans show that drugs such as Enbrel — used to treat autoimmune disease —costs about $1,000 in countries such as Canada and Spain. In the U.S., it costs
ANANT NAIK columnist
nearly $3,000. The argument that many people pose is that this cost is a necessary part of regulation. If there’s increased regulation, drug cost increases are also warranted to offset the loss. However, if this regulation was truly benefitting the average American, we would all expect that the impact on our health would also be evident. Yet, this is not the case. The United States spends exorbitantly on health care yet has a lower life expectancy and worse health than other highincome nations. Last year, the New York Times reported that many pharmaceutical companies raised drug prices for no apparent reason and did so at a faster rate than inflation. Other criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry include the lack of research transparency and accountability, especially in clinical drug trials and regulatory processes. What’s important to note is that ultimately, physicians have the capacity to prescribe certain medication. For this
reason, physicians have to be the impetus for change when it comes to drug prices because they are the primary source of interaction between the medications that treat patients and patients themselves. First, doctors and other clinicians have to be more conscientious of the cost of drugs for their patients. A lot has been written in the medical community about the cost of care and how physicians don’t go out of their way to prevent waste in this system. This has to change. Furthermore, physicians should not be hesitant to advocate for patient protections and rights. Many doctors I know personally have suggested that this realm is necessarily political, and entering it is simply asking for undue trouble. The job of a doctor is not simply to hand over treatments for diagnosed conditions, but to become an advocate for patients’ health — including their social and economic livelihood. Without their expert opinions and experience in the field, it becomes nearly impossible for policymakers to take real action and advocate for change. Anant Naik welcomes comments at anaik@mndaily.com.
2016 U.S. GUN VIOLENCE Total gun-related incidents: 47,919 Total number of deaths: 12,360 Total number of mass shootings: 324 Data compiled by gunviolencearchive.org
GUEST COLUMN Dear campus, consider writing a guest column for the Daily. We are happy to introduce a brand new feature to the Minnesota Daily’s Editorials & Opinions page: The guest column. Star ting next week, each paper will highlight the perspective of a dif ferent member of our community. Whether you’re the leader of a student group on campus — or a perceptive individual that has an engaging stor y wor th sharing — we’re looking for your voice. The new guest column section will replace the content traditionally housed in “Daily Discussion” — readers’ comments from our website, which the Minnesota Daily’s editorial board decided was not cultivating a thoughtful, productive dialogue on issues af fecting our campus community. While we’ve always accepted letters to the editors from our readers, we hope this new section will ser ve a broader purpose. If you’re a leader of a group on campus, you could use the space to pitch your group to perspective members; or iron out misconceptions some may have about the purpose of your organization. Or perhaps you’re a student wanting to ar ticulate your opinion on a University policy that af fects our campus community; or maybe you’d like to illicit suppor t for a specific event that your fellow students may find important. Our hope is that this space will be a hub for discussion of impor tant campus topics. We want our readers to be engaged and learn from the great diversity of perspectives and lived experiences on our campus. Have an idea? Email our Editorial & Opinions editor, jthomas@mndaily.com if you are interested in participating. We look for ward to hearing from you. CONTACT THE EDITOR Grace Thomas jthomas@mndaily.com
Maxwell Smith welcomes comments at msmith@mndaily.com.
COLUMN
The challenge of speaking up In every conversation, let women speak rather than interrupting their thoughts.
A
bunch of us teenagers were squeezed in a car, mostly boys, the small space reverberating with jokes and laughter. One straw-haired boy named Adam asked me a question. I began to answer earnestly, and a few seconds in, sweet Adam cuts me off with “Has anyone ever told you that you talk a lot?” The majority of female-identifying people can probably recall similar instances of this: Tr ying to get a word in a casual conversation, when suddenly a seething, blithely unaware dude speaks over you. Sometimes, it seems like us women have to work twice as hard to be heard and validated — I shouldn’t have to shout to be heard, and neither should you. Increasingly I notice that in group settings — especially male-dominated circles — I’m easily cut off or feel pressured to speak quickly and succinctly, so as to prevent being mowed over or losing the interest of my peers. Sometimes I have to corral group focus — “Guys! Hey, hey, ever yone!” — just to get some airtime. Meanwhile, I’ve seen goony guys go on ad nauseam about their favorite episode of BoJack Horseman, or their specific qualms with Hillar y Clinton or how much
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Election Guide omitted Legal Marijuana Now Party’s congressional candidates The Minnesota Daily’s 2016 Election Guide left out necessar y information, leaving the false impression that University-area voters can only choose a Republican or a DFL candidate for Congress. You completely failed to mention the Legal Marijuana Now Par ty candidates, namely Susan Pendergast Sindt in the 4th congressional district and Dennis Schuller in the 5th congressional district. Their names are on the ballot and votes for them will be counted. Minnesota has the strongest third
par ty histor y of any state, going back to the Greenback, the Prohibition, and the People’s parties in the 1800s. Progressive (“Bull Moose”) Par ty nominee Theodore Roosevelt car ried Minnesota in 1912. Ninety years ago, Minneapolis had a Socialist mayor. In the 1930s, numer ous Far mer-Labor Par ty candidates were elected to Congress, Senate, and gover nor’s of fice. (The Farmer-Labor merger with the Democrats in 1944 formed what is still known as the Democratic-FarmerLabor Party). In 1992, Reform Party candidate Ross Perot polled well over 20 percent of the Minnesota vote for president, and in 1998 the Reform Par ty’s Jesse Ventura was
THE EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS DEPARTMENT IS INDEPENDENT OF THE NEWSROOM
KATE MCCARTHY columnist
they love their dad — it doesn’t really matter because their easy command of the room affords them all the space in the world. Meanwhile, the frustration that comes with expressing yourself, only to be told you’re being excessive, is truly singular. I don’t consider myself a shrinking violet in any respect, and yet this is still an anger that has recently been bubbling up inside me. I don’t have an answer, except to find outlets where women can be fully realized — and without interr uption, in writing or per formance or activism. I’ve found great solace in stand-up comedy — an environment where ever yone is on even ground, and where I’m free to posit thoughts and ideas I know are just as worthy as those of any confident boy. So I’ll keep thinking and talking and hope my fellow forcibly tongue-tied peers will as well.
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EDITORIALS Backing the Riverside Jobs Program The Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center is an important step.
T
he increasing focus on job production for Minnesota’s Somali population is an important step to support one of our state’s most vital communities. Last year, Minneapolis hosted a j o b f a i r a i m e d a t i m p r o v i n g e mployment within the Somali community. Recently, though, this push was manifested into the long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for a n ew j o b hu b — the Op p o rtu n i ty Center — in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. This particular neighborhood represents one of the nation’s largest Somali diaspora, which has experienced significant unemployment in recent years. The economic struggle many Somali people face is unacceptable. Between 2011 and 2013, unemployment for the Somali community was 21 percent, nearly three times the state average. Last year’s numbers show that the Somali community has the highest unemployment for any minority group. Nearly 50 percent live in poverty. Nationally, the situation remains bleak. The poverty and unemployment faced by the Somali community towers above all other minority communities. Even for those that are employed, many remain in jobs that don’t provide adequate pay. The hope is that the new Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center, as it is presently known, will help mitigate these pressing concerns. It aims to be a meeting place where residents can learn necessary job skills. Initially, the funding for this center was placed into a tax bill that was ultimately rejected due to political gridlock. However, the project garnered enough independent support to be funded by philanthropy and Hennepin County. While the construction of job training programs and other investments require an initial amount of capital, the output over time is worth it for a vibrant, robust economy and the livelihood of the communities these programs support. The Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center will hopefully serve as a clear example of what efforts other cities in Minnesota should be advocating in order to improve the quality of life for the Somali community. More community engagement programs such as ones in Columbia Heights and Minneapolis will still be a crucial aspect of ensuring that our communities create and maintain an atmosphere of trust and empowerment. Enfranchisement through representation in the city government is also a major aspect that needs improvement. Ilhan Omar’s candidacy, as well as Abdi Warsame’s City Council office, have been an important first step, but more must be done across the state. Job-training programs such as the Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center will hopefully work toward that reality.
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS DEPARTMENT Editorials represent the voice of the Minnesota Daily as an institution and are prepared by the editorial board.
Kate McCarthy welcomes comments at kmccarthy@mndaily.com.
elected governor. Minnesota defines major par ties as those receiving 5 percent or more of the statewide vote, and the Green Par ty and Independence Par ty both had major par ty status in recent years along with the Republicans and DFL. Third par ties don’t typically succeed in electing candidates, but they ser ve to introduce new or controversial political issues and may help dissolve political stagnation or dislodge political gridlock. You owe it to your readers, as well as to candidates Schuller and Sindt, to cor rect the oversight in your Election Guide. Editor’s Note: This letter has been edited for style conventions. Oliver Steinberg UMN Class of ‘78
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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Thursday, November 3, 2016
ART
Conversation starter Native American artist Dyani White Hawk is ready to get people talking. BY GUNTHAR REISING greising@mndaily.com
C
hatting with painter Dyani White Hawk, one gets the sensation of easy, coherent serenity. Her work reflects this — clean lines and pure colors create an aesthetic seldom found in abstract expressionism. H o w e v e r, t h e l i v e ly beauty of White Hawk’s paintings did not come without str uggle. Having Lakota and European heritage, White Hawk’s work illustrates the negotiation of opposing identities. “I think when I was younger, it came out as conflict. I was figuring out how I fit in the world …. how to be okay with all of that,” White Hawk said of her heritage. “I think my ar t has been a huge par t of coming to a place of my own self-acceptance, and then utilizing my work as a way to have important conversations that the world often ignores in regards to native communities.” Conversation, according to White Hawk, is the best thing her art can provoke. “I don’t pretend to have any answers,” White Hawk said. Her work is too abstract to be didactic, yet too clear for the Native American symbolism to be missed. “I could just slip into making abstract artwork, period, that [has] nothing to do with my genetic history. But that would be false. It would be a lie,” White Hawk said. White Hawk’s power of abstraction is an
“Logistically it’s tough because I can only produce so many pieces. As an artist I’d be in a better place if I took up Polluck’s approach -- I could whip out giant-ass paintings over and over again in a few hours that are worth ridiculous amounts of money, but this is what I’m called to do.” DYANI WHITE HAWK Painter
effective way of navigating individual and societal levels. Her early work had too many symbols. It confronted problems too overtly. “[ … ] My earlier works were missing a cer tain grace and poignancy. I ended up pairing down the visual information to be able to tell ver y complex stories thr ough an abstract language.” For White Hawk, it was impor tant to find a common denominator — something universal that audiences could connect to her work through. “I like the idea of seducing an audience in through beauty and making people want to know more,” White Hawk said. Creating the work that prompts these instant emotional r eactions is a long and tedious process. “It sometimes takes six weeks of meticulous, repetitive line work,” White Hawk said. Many of White Hawk’s paintings incorporate careful patter ns like those of an M.C. Escher drawing. White Hawk has also been exploring mixed media paintings with beading and quillwork.
Due to the painstaking detail of her large scale works, White Hawk has had to step into the role of creative CEO at times in order to meet deadlines. “I had to hir e help because there’s so much bead work,” she said. In preparation for her most recent solo exhibit at the Bockley Galler y, White Hawk hired two assistants. White Hawk’s approach to abstract expressionism is distinctly dif ferent than other abstract painters who could finish pieces in a matter of hours. “Logistically it’s tough because I can only produce so many pieces. As an ar tist I’d be in a better place if I took up Pollock’s approach — I could whip out giant-ass paintings over and over again in a few hours that are wor th ridiculous amounts of money, but this is what I’m called to do.” Despite the rigors of her creative process, White Hawk’s cause is bigger than herself. The work is worth it. “I just want to help bring these conversations to life.”
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
Dyani White Hawk embroiders porcupine quills onto a canvas on Friday in her studio. White Hawk is Sicangu Lakota, member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and creates artwork that incorporates Lakota porcupine quillwork with modern abstract painting.
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
Dyani White Hawk embroiders porcupine quills onto a canvas on Friday in her studio. White Hawk is Sicangu Lakota, member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and creates artwork that incorporates Lakota porcupine quillwork with modern abstract painting.
MUSIC
Q&A: Jeanne Taylor Minneapolis singer-songwriter Jeanne Taylor released her first EP this month. BY JOE CRISTO jcristo@mndaily.com
U
niversity of Minnesota senior and family social science major Taylor Peterson, known by her stage name Jeanne Taylor, comes from a long line of Minnesota music royalty. Fr esh of f the debut of her music video “LA NIGHT,” Taylor sat down with A&E to talk legacy, the West Coast and “keeping people excited.” Taylor’s EP, “Jeanne,” will be released on Nov. 12 with a release show at Bunker’s Music Bar and Grille.
MEAGAN LYNCH, DAILY
Singer and University senior, Jeanne Taylor, poses for a portrait outside McNamara Alumni Center on Tuesday. Jeanne is releasing her first EP on Nov. 12.
“... just be yourself. There will be people who don’t like you no matter what ...” JEANNE TAYLOR Music artist
A&E EDITOR
Sophia Vilensky svilensky@mndaily.com
I know you come from a family of musicians. What pr ojects were they involved in? My grandma, Jeanne, who I took my stage name after, was a jazz pianist. Ever yone in my family was musical. My dad is the baby of the family — he was and is a touring musician. When he was younger, he met Prince and played keyboard in his band and in Mor ris Day and the T ime. After they broke up, Prince star ted another band with my dad as the band leader called The Family. This last summer he toured and played with Peter Frampton. You
RADIO K TOP 7
know how some families are “spor ts families”? We’re like that … but with music. Tell me about your musical milestones. I star ted singing when I was around three. I did my first recording when I was four with my grandma’s jazz band. At around eight or nine years old, I started writing poems and lyrics in sketchbooks — the way each line rhymed at the end was always really interesting to me. I can’t remember many of the old things I wrote, but I remember one of the first songs was called, “I Hate the Laundr y Room.” When I turned 12, I star ted recording full songs on my MacBook — that’s when it star ted to really develop. How do you write your songs? What’s your process? It usually star ts out with a ver y stripped-down vibe. Ver y emotional. Vulnerable. I love the word vulnerable because it sor t of wraps up all of what I’m tr ying to do as an artist. For a while I would write songs on the piano when no one was home. My family is so impressive I was scared to show anyone. Eventually I showed my dad and he said, “Wow, these are really good.”
1. MONICA LAPLANTE, Do That To Me 2. NEGATIVE GEMINI, Break 3. GOAT, I Sing in Silence
Songs are also a way for me to process how I’m feeling. In college, my four-year relationship ended, and the only way that I got through it was by channeling those emotions into songs. Honestly … I just like writing songs so that I can share with other people. I want to have people relate. Your new music video for “LA NIGHT” was filmed in Los Angeles. What was that trip like? Why Los Angeles? I’ve gone to LA the last two summers. The first summer, I just met with some writers and musicians and tried to expand my circle — it was more about per fecting the craft and seeing who I want to be as an artist. When I was there, I met [producer] Khris ReddickT ynes, and wrote with him. This last summer I recorded six songs for the EP. I was just looking for some weird and quirky people to work with. For the video, I got in contact with a video producer. We met for lunch and immediately star ted to build a stor yboard. The shoot took two days, and it was basically just me and my best friends going around LA. What advice would you have for someone
who wants to be a singersongwriter or a musician? Honestly, I would say just be yourself. There will be people who don’t like you no matter what — use that stuf f as motivation to make yourself better. Don’t tr y to conform to what other people expect of you. Be unique. Tr y not to be scared to do new things. Really tr y to make videos because visuals help a ton with getting your stuf f out there. Just tr y. Hard. What are your plans and goals for the future? Well, the EP release show is soon. Obviously, the video just came out. I’m probably gonna release videos ever y month or so to keep people excited. I’m [going to] end up moving to LA after my senior year. I just hope this EP introduces me to new people and new ears. I’m mostly just hoping I can star t a fan base for myself. I don’t [want to] be labeled as the next Taylor Swift or anything like that. I have a ver y pop [and] R&B factor to my music, and I hope people will take it seriously. I just want to be in a relationship with a good team and work on my craft. Editor’s note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity.
4. CRYING, Wool In The Wash 5. WEYES BLOOD, Generation Why 6. CROOKED MAN, The Girl With Better Clothes 7. DANNY BROWN, Pneumonia
Thursday, November 3, 2016
CULTURE to CONSUME /
7
By Maddy Folstein, mfolstein@mndaily.com
Watch this:
Stream this:
Read this:
“Election”
“Anything on HBO Go”
“I’m Strategist”
Luckily, this 1999 film is not about the election going on right now. Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick star in this dark comedy about a student council election. That’s not to say that “Election” doesn’t comment on the government, but the humor in the film is more than enough to distract you from modern political drama.
Thanks to the University of Minnesota, anyone living in residence halls now has free access to HBO Go — go crazy. You can finally start watching “The Wire,” stream recent blockbuster hits like “Deadpool” or “The Revenant” and catch up on John Oliver’s brilliant political satire on his show, “Last Week Tonight.” Homework first, though!
I’m a big believer in treating yourself, as long as your retail therapy doesn’t completely deplete your bank account. You should enjoy the things you use every day. New York Magazine’s “The Strategist” has the best recommendations on everything from dish soap to Korean skincare. It’s your new, curated list of everything you didn’t know you needed.
ART
The whole gang ... plus the dog Minneapolis art collective Plus Dog is working on its fourth zine for winter release. BY JOE CRISTO jcristo@mndaily.com
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lus Dog, the Minneapolis artist collective, is more than just its semiannual zine. “We kind of canoodle around with making this an organizational center,” said founder April Kasulis. “Like an anchor kind of. We all got day jobs, so it helps if we can focus on things together.” The collective started as an individual project by Kasulis about six years ago. It was not until 2014 that the group expanded and started to put out small print issues. “We were all in this thing that was trying to restart Minneapolis College of Art and Design’s radio stations,” said Plus Dog contributor Marissa Luna. “It completely failed, but we all met and realized we could work on our own independent project together.” Kasulis, Luna and Alex Araiza share most administrative duties. Kasulis is in charge of Plus Dog’s social media presence and image while Luna does general management tasks and Araiza is responsible for editing and assembling the zines and art projects. The independent nature of the collective and its work is vital to understanding its purpose: Giving a voice to the typically voiceless. “Believe it or not but there are a lot of queer people and people of color in art,” Araiza
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
Plus Dog Collective members April Kasulis, Alex Araiza and Marissa Luna pose for a portrait on Monday in Minneapolis. They will attend Short Run Seattle, a comix and art festival, next weekend to promote Plus Dog Collective and connect with other artists.
said. “Art is a way to be able to have a message without having money. You probably can’t afford to go to a really fancy school and be a senator. Art is a faster way to build a community.” With the zine, Plus Dog can collect art from artists who are too busy working to devote their time to art. One is released each summer and winter and includes
an anthology of work sent in to the collective. “We want to put work out by all these awesome artists that are out there,” Luna said. “We want them to be visible — to make it more normalized to see different types of people.” This message of inclusion is paramount. The collective not only focuses its efforts on including voices
that are underrepresented in mainstream culture — it works to encourage people who are usually discouraged from sharing their work. “Like people with mental illness and living in poverty,” Luna said. “None of that should be able to prevent you from getting your artwork and your voice out there.” It’s hard to tell exactly how many people contribute to the
collective. Members come and go. Around 15 people are currently involved. The Plus Dog community has become tight-knit since the collective is mostly comprised of friends. Members support each other in their artistic ventures as well as in their daily lives. “You don’t even have to ask for help,” Araiza said. “People will just help each other. I’d
like it if that wasn’t just in our group. Maybe we can encourage and embrace others to create a community.” Most of Plus Dog’s sales are made at various zine fests around the country and by selling or trading with fellow artists. The group also relies on Boneshaker Books and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts to help spread their art. Plus Dog would like to grow their zine operation from a 50 single run per issue to a more sustainable financial endeavor. Everyone wants to work less and dedicate more time to art. “We’d kind of like this to be our [job],” Araiza said. “But I wouldn’t mind putting that money back into an online store … or to reinvest in some other people’s art.” The plan is to turn their first three issues into a properly bound multicolored book. The end goal is to take over the means of production and do the printing themselves. “I’d love to group up with our print guy Mason [Sklar],” Kasulis said. “And have our own space and be more hands on with the printing. Maybe help other people print their stuff.” This winter, Plus Dog will be releasing their fourth zine anthology and attending Seattle’s Shor t-Run Comix and Ar t Festival. Their work can be found on www.plus-dog.tumblr.com.
FASHION
“Gypsy Shells” and rock star hats The Loring Pasta bar hosted Shelley Wade’s debut fashion show. BY GUNTHAR REISING greising@mndaily.com
O
n Saturday evening at Loring P a s t a B a r, S h e l l e y Wa d e e x h i b ited her debut fashion collection “Gypsy Shells” during thr ee dif fer ent shows. Upstairs, the moody Red Room was filled with models in open coats and top hats ordained with frills, beads and lace. The show’s coordinator yelled directions at models, telling them when to turn, when to walk and to smile at the women — not the men. Despite always having an interest in the field, Wade is new to the fashion game. “I’ve been a day care provider for the last 30 years,” Wade said. “[Fashion] was a dream, but I didn’t know how it was going to happen.” This doesn’t mean that Wade is new to the creative industr y. “I’ve also been a professional dr ummer for the last 30 years, so
“I think every woman should feel like a rock star ... The whole point of the fashion show is to let women buy an affordable designer coat.” SHELLEY WADE Fashion designer
that’s where the rock star look comes from,” she said. Indeed, the collection looks like it could have come from the closet of Stevie Nicks, Wade’s idol. “I think ever y woman should feel like a r ock star,” Wade said. “The whole point of the fashion show is to let women buy an af fordable designer coat. The prices range from $100 to $800.” When Wade saw the coats on the models the first time, she was stunned. “I felt like I was going to cr y — I actually made my dream come true,” she said. Wade’s design process is as pure as her intentions. Saturday was her first show, so she had no idea what the audience reception would be.
CULTURE COMPASS /
“I’ll make what I love and hopefully other people will like it too,” she said. Luckily for Wade, the audience was pleased with the rock star look. “Amazing. Beautiful. We loved them,” said audience member Lisa Larkins of the hats and coats. Wade’s family was in attendance at the show. “It makes me wish I was 20 years old,” said her mother, T rish Stelten. Having seen the work that went into each coat, Stelten had a heightened appreciation for her daughter’s show. “She would star t with a jacket and work on it for months,” Stelten said of Wade’s creative process. The shows’ models
MADDY FOX, DAILY
Models wait backstage before walking in designer Shelley Wade’s show at the Loring Pasta Bar on Sunday.
respected Wade’s vision as well — all twenty to thirty volunteered to walk the show without pay. University of Minnesota elementar y education foundations alumna Karlee Callender was one of models. “I really like [the coats] because they’re unique,”
Callender said. Wa d e m a d e e a c h coat individually with randomly found materials. Even if a customer wanted it, she couldn’t reproduce any ar ticle of clothing exactly. This reinforces Wade’s empowering vision for the coats: each one is
an individual, just like the rock stars that wear them. Wade was so enamored with the show that the economics didn’t matter. “If no coats sell, it doesn’t matter because seeing the coats on the models is just like a dream,” she said.
By Maddy Folstein, mfolstein@mndaily.
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
CabarABLE: Rights/Responsibilities
Twin Cities Social Justice Arts Festival
Polish Soup Festival
This cabaret performance showcases the work of artists with disabilities. Hear poetry, storytelling, music and theater from a variety of perspectives. For the third installment in this cabaret series, the performances will examine the rights and responsibilities of people with disabilities.
What do you get when you combine social justice and the Twin Cities arts scene? Easy — a social justice arts festival. While donations are encouraged, this free festival will provide a platform for artists, musicians, actors, poets and others to share their thoughts on pressing social issues.
Where The Cowles Center for Dance & The Performing Arts, 528 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis Hours 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Cost $12 - $15 at the door, $10 (plus service charges) online
Where SpringHouse Ministry Center, 610 W. 28th St., Minneapolis Hours 10 A.M. - 4 P.M. Cost Free
Fall … soup … duh. The 28th annual Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota Soup Festival will showcase a variety of soups, including vegetarian options and PACIM’s famous żurek soup (as seen in Esquire TV’s “Best Bars of America: Minneapolis”). You’ll also be able to pick up Polish craft goods from local vendors.
Where Kolbe Hall, 1630 4th St. N.E., Minneapolis Hours 3 P.M. - 7 P.M. Cost $15 for non-members, $10 for PACIM members
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Thursday, November 3, 2016
Experts: cameras make roads safer Cameras could reduce speed-related traffic deaths in Minnesota. BY KRISTINA BUSCH kbusch@mndaily.com
Drivers with lead feet take heed. University of Minnesota experts are touting automated speed enforcement cameras as an ef fective way to curb speeding drivers — a top cause of driving fatalities in the state. But some say the cameras could face similar pushback to red light cameras that were deemed a violation to state law nine years ago. Currently, there are 13 states that prohibit the use of speed cameras, although 28 don’t have laws regarding the devices. Nichole Morris, University research associate at the Center for Transportation Studies, said allowing speed cameras should be a “no-brainer” for state legislation. “Speeding is an underdiscussed issue,” she said. “We talk a lot about distractions and texting, so people are misinfor med about speeding.” In 2014, 26 percent of the 361 traf fic deaths in Minnesota were speedrelated. Morris was the primar y investigator of a 2016 study that examined distracted driving in work zones. The study found the cameras to be an effective means to reduce speed in work zones. Drivers were also less
likely to reach for their phones and other distracting devices when they were aware of cameras on the road, Morris said. “We should make a pilot program to show how [cameras are] ef fective in Minnesota,” Morris said. “We want to do this in small steps. We want to see how it works before going too big.” Frank Douma, director of the State and Local Policy Program at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, said the enforcement devices have had success reducing speeds and the number of crashes in other states. Still, he said automated law enforcement technology is a controversial issue within the public sphere. “It’s something that’s ver y contentious,” he said. “There is a vocal group of people who do not like the idea of automated enforcement.” Douma said that public opinion of speed cameras is negative because of their association with red light cameras, which were r e m o v e d a f t e r t h e S upreme Cour t r uled in 2007 that they violated a state statute. Red light cameras were over turned because it is difficult to pinpoint who is liable for a citation based on a picture of a license plate, he said. “[Ther e ar e] issues
with automatic speed enforcement in due process like assigning a citation based on a machine reading,” said Brad Clar y, University clinical professor of law. Douma said if Minneapolis legislation held the owners of vehicles accountable, no matter who is driving, speed cameras could be a viable option in the state. And he said that though the majority of the public is not in favor of implementing cameras in all places, they favor its installation in unsafe road areas and in school zones. But Clar y said he’s skeptical the cameras would make it to the legislature without a strong, attention-garnering debate first. “I would be surprised if [the legislature] wanted to spend political capital on discussing speed citations,” Clary said.
“Speeding is an under-discussed issue. We talk a lot about distractions and texting, so people are misinformed about speeding. NICHOLE MORRIS Center for Transportation Studies
Few Ph.D-taught classes frustrate econ undergrads Econ u from Page 1
studies are taught by professors, according to the economics depar tment website. The rest are taught by graduate students or teaching assistants. The sur vey also showed that about 46 percent of undergraduates haven’t had an economics class taught by a professor and about 63 percent said they were probably or definitely not aware upon enrollment that the majority of their classes would be taught by graduate students. In an emailed statement, Gar y Oehler t, associate dean for undergraduate education in CLA, said CLA administrators are “engaged in discussions about how to respond to areas of concern noted in the sur vey.” The CLA Student Boar d decided to conduct the sur vey after students came to them with concer ns about how the economics depar tment is structured, CLA Board President Matthew Peterson said in an emailed statement. T h e su r v e y a l low ed students to anonymously comment about the depar tment. One student wished for a “better faculty-student camaraderie and that [the University] wasn’t so dependent on grad students.” Another complained that some graduate
students are bad lecturers, unhelpful and apathetic. A dif ferent economics student called for more faculty members who could write letters of recommendation and of fer research positions. “It is disappointing to be graduating without ever being taught an economics course by a professor, whereas in my other majors I am able to get classes with distinguished faculty and experienced professors [with] ease,” a student said in the survey. Economics department chair and professor Christopher Phelan said there are currently 19 active faculty members to spread out among undergraduate numbers that have swelled over the last several years. “[Faculty members] do teach undergrad,” Phelan said. “One thing I want to point out is … maybe six years ago, we had about 400 majors. Now we have 1,100 to 1,200,” he said. “We’re delivering a very successful undergraduate experience. That’s why so many are choosing to be in our classes. We must be doing something right.” Since the program has grown, Phelan said class sizes have increased from 35 to 70 students. Economics junior Alex Porter said he heard the University’s economics program was highly ranked in the region long before he enrolled. “I’d say I’ve probably only had two actual professors that were … not [teaching assistants] or grad students,” he said. “They may … know
the material very well, but they really don’t have previous experiences with that in the real world yet.” Paul Opheim, also an economics junior and one of the students sur veyed, said so far all of his economics classes have been taught by graduate students. But, he said, that doesn’t bother him. “I have never thought that any of the grad student teaching has been bad,” he said. “I know that a lot of people don’t agree with me on that.” Dmitriy Rozenblat, president of the University’s Economics Student Organization and economics senior, said the organization appreciates the department and its efforts to engage undergraduates, but they “believe that limited instruction by economics faculty does a disservice to undergraduate students, especially those seeking recommendations for postgraduate studies or research experience.” Rozenblat said students in the department would benefit from more classes taught by professors because they help students get involved in research projects. “Being able to get to know [professors] is useful for getting research experience and getting advice and obviously letters of recommendation,” he said. Rozenblat said he was drawn to the program because of its renowned faculty. “The University has a top econ[omics] program,” he said. “I was not as aware of the lack of instruction when I was making my decision to come here.”
Lawyers say Cosby is too blind for trial Court: Restraining orders for 5 BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby’s eyesight has deteriorated to the point where he cannot identify his accusers in photographs or other wise help with his defense, his lawyers said Wednesday as they waged a multipronged ef for t to get the sexual assault case against the 79-year-old comedian thrown out. His attorneys also portrayed Cosby as a political pawn who is being prosecuted only because a suburban Philadelphia district attorney used the public furor over the comic to get elected last year. And they renewed their argument that Cosby’s lurid 2005 deposition from a related la w s ui t s ho u l d n o t be
admitted at his trial, saying he answered questions under oath only after being assured he would not be charged with a crime. Cosby leaned back in his chair as his lawyers made their case at the two-day pretrial hearing, which ended with no rulings from the judge and no indication of when he might issue one. Another set of hearings is scheduled for next month. The “Cosby Show” star once known as America’s Dad is scheduled to go on trial by June on charges he drugged and molested Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, at his home in 2004. He could get 10 years in prison. Cosby has said the encounter was consensual. He is free on $1
million bail. Dozens of additional accusers have come forward, including 13 women whom prosecutors want to call as witnesses at the trial to show that they were dr ugged and violated in similar fashion. Cosby’s lawyers are fighting that strategy. Defense attorney Angela Agrusa argued that prosecutors unfairly prejudiced Cosby by waiting a decade to charge him. Cosby has memor y problems and is also legally blind, according to the defense, which presented a medical report that said he is blind in his right eye and has glaucoma in both eyes. “Mr. Cosby cannot look at a photograph or any evidence and help his counsel or explain who those people are,” Agrusa said.
Gophers football players dropped Order u from Page 1
on Oct. 3. Gophers football head coach Tracy Claeys lifted their suspensions the next day. The four players, along with Carlton Djam, were then ser ved with restraining orders before Minnesota’s game against Rutgers on Oct. 22, preventing them from playing. “I’m glad that this is over,” the student said after the hearing, reading from a prepared statement. “This has never been about punishing anyone. I just want to feel safe. Because of the resolution we came to, now I can.” The players are also barred from contacting the student, directly, through another person or over so-
cial media. “It’s a great, reasonable [agreement],” said Lee Hutton, the players’ attorney. “The goal for all parties was just to put this chapter behind everyone.” The dismissal of the restraining orders allows the players to play in Saturday’s game against Purdue at TCF Bank Stadium. The University of Minnesota supported the agreement. University attorney Brent Benr ud said the school will inform the University of Minnesota Police Department and members of campus security about the agreement. The five players are also being investigated by the school for possible student conduct code violations, Benrud said. Four of the five players missed four games each as
a result of the suspensions and restraining orders. Hardin, Buford, Djam and Dior Johnson are the only ones to have played this year. Hardin is a regular starter and Buford typically sees significant playing time. Claeys said the players had been practicing since the restraining orders had been placed on them, but he had no comment on the orders being lifted. “We’re practicing and preparing, but I don’t have [a comment],” Claeys said. “We practiced both weeks just like we did normally, and whatever the courts say we would honor, but we did not allow it to adjust anything we did practice-wise any of the weeks.” Mike Hendrickson contributed to this report.
Iowa shooting suspect had racial gripes BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DES MOINES, Iowa — A white man with a history of racial provocations and confrontations with police ambushed and fatally shot two white officers Wednesday in separate attacks as they sat in their patrol cars, authorities said. Police took 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene into custody hours after the killings and less than three weeks after he argued with officers who removed him from a high school football game where he had unfurled a Confederate flag near black spectators. Greene flagged down an Iowa Department of Natural Resources employee in a rural area west of Des Moines, identified himself and asked that the employee call 911. Sheriff’s deputies and state patrol officers took him into custody. He’s suspected in the early morning slayings of 24-year-old Justin Mar tin, who had been with the force in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale since 2015, and 38-year-old Sgt. Anthony Beminio, who joined the Des Moines department in 2005. Greene was taken to a hospital for treatment of unknown health issues and
was to be questioned later at Des Moines police headquarters, Sgt. Paul Parizek said. Police responded to a report of shots fired shortly after 1 a.m. and found the Urbandale officer. Authorities from several agencies soon saturated the area. About 20 minutes later, they discovered the Des Moines of ficer, who had responded to the first shooting, Parizek said. The shootings happened less than 2 miles apart, and both took place along main streets that cut through residential areas. In the first shooting, investigators believe the gunman walked up to the officer’s car and fired more than two dozen rounds. “I wouldn’t call it a confrontation,” Urbandale Police Chief Ross McCar ty said. “I don’t think he may have even been aware that there was a gunman next to him.” The shootings follow a spate of police killings in recent months, including ambushes of of ficers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Five of ficers were killed July 7 in Dallas. Three more were killed later that month in Baton Rouge. Race was an issue in
those cases and others involving unarmed black men killed by officers. Greene is white, as were the officers. Gr eene appear ed to have issues with people of other races. In the confrontation at the Urbandale High School football game, which Greene videotaped and posted on social media, he appeared to be tr ying to antagonize African-American fans when he shook a Confederate flag in front of them during the national anthem, McCarty said. In the video, officers can be seen asking Greene to leave school property while he insists he was assaulted and his flag stolen. He demands of ficers file theft and assault charges, saying someone hit his head and grabbed the flag. In a back-and-forth with officers that lasts for nearly 11 minutes, of ficers said they could take a report but they cannot let Greene back inside the stadium because the school has banned him from the property. They also note they were returning his flag and ask if he purposely wanted to create a conflict by displaying it near African Americans. “I was peacefully protesting,” he responds. “That’s my constitutional right.”
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Sports
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@MNDAILYSPORTS
FOOTBALL
Travis anchors secondary with elite play The safety is tied for first on the team for interceptions and is second in tackles. BY MIKE HENDRICKSON mhendrickson@mndaily.com
Repor ters occasionally ask defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel if safety Damarius Travis had a good game on Saturday. Sawvel has the same answer each time. “[I] don’t have to worry about him … I got asked last week something about him, well he plays good every week, really,” Sawvel said. “Move on, who’s the next guy? That’s kind of the way it is.” That’s been that way for the eight Minnesota games this season. Travis has started them all and excelled in each one, Sawvel said. The redshirt senior is tied for first on the team in interceptions and is second on the team in tackles. Sawvel said it isn’t what Travis does that makes him arguably the Gophers’ best defensive player, it’s how he elevates the skill level of his surrounding teammates. “I think he makes the game easier for them because … they can get lined up quick and they know what they’re looking at quick, and he does his job,” Sawvel said. “There’s a big comfort in that. It’s a sign of a good player. Good players typically, by doing what they
need to do, typically can make other people around them a little bit better.” Travis played in 40 games with the Gophers before the start of this season, but he took on a new role this season — a leader. Before Travis, there’s been a long line of strong leadership from the Gophers’ secondary. Minnesota has had three defensive backs drafted into the NFL the past three years. All three were captains. Travis played with all of the defensive backs during his earlier years with the Gophers. “I just remember being dominant and just being in guys’ face all game and just getting after it,” Travis said. “That’s the type of mentality that we had with the DBs. It was just that type.” Travis, a captain himself, looks primed to be the next one selected to the NFL. Sawvel emphasized how good Travis is on special teams, which will lead to his success in the NFL. “He’s a great special teams player,” Sawvel said. “He’ll be on every special team. He’s big. He can run. He can play deep. He can play near the box. He can tackle. Don’t have to worry about him.” Travis said that he has been a leader by making sure the other defensive backs go to the film room. “Just being a vocal leader. When guys are down, just bringing them up. Being that
backbone really,” Travis said. “Being the helping hand for the defense because I know like everything is not going to go good within the [defensive back] core. That’s with anything in life.” Travis’ counterpart this season has been freshman safety Antoine Winfield Jr. Before the season started, Travis said he wanted to be the bridge between the talented
MEN’S HOCKEY
Minnesota revives storied rivalry with series against North Dakota The Gophers last faced the team in the 2014 Frozen Four semifinal.
MEN’S HOCKEY
Gophers defensive backs of the past to the future ones. He said he has been sure to give Winfield Jr. plenty of advice before games. “Practice is way harder than the game,” Travis said. “The game is easy and that was a thing I always say to him … just relax and play football because at the end of the day, we just playing football.”
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
VS MINNESOTA 6-2, Big Ten 3-2 WHEN: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
PURDUE 3-5, Big Ten 1-4 WHERE: TCF Bank Stadium SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
FOOTBALL
Defensive line thrives behind play of veterans
PREVIEW
VS
BY DREW COVE dcove@mndaily.com
Two of the most accomplished college hockey program rivalries heat up once again after a long hiatus. The defending national champion — No. 3 North Dakota (5-2-0) — is here for a weekend series against No. 13 Minnesota (3-2-1), something that hasn’t happened in three years. “It’s one of the best rivalries in college hockey,” said senior captain Connor Reilly. “There’s so much history and tradition that makes it so fun and exciting. Fans on both sides are so passionate, its makes for a very memorable weekend.” Reilly, a redshirt senior, has played against North Dakota before, one of the four players on this roster that have. Reilly said that this was his favorite series to watch as a kid. The competitiveness and grit of the game was something that he enjoyed watching growing up. Fans and former players alike will remember matchups like the 1979 national championship game — a team that had current Gophers forward Jack Ramsey’s father Mike on the roster — or Blake Wheeler’s diving goal in overtime in the 2007 WCHA Final Five. O t h e r t h a n R e i l l y,
LIAM JAMES DOYLE, DAILY FILE PHOTO
Damarius Travis at TCF Bank Stadium on Sept. 3, 2015, where the Gophers faced TCU.
NO. 13 MINNESOTA 3-2-1
NO. 3 NORTH DAKOTA 5-2-0
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday & 8 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Mariucci Arena SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
Minnesota senior forwards Vinni Lettieri, Taylor Cammarata and captain Justin Kloos have experienced the rivalry firsthand. All were part of the team when Justin Holl’s lastsecond goal sent the Gophers to the National Championship game in 2014. The teams stopped playing regular series with each other since both left the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 2013, so none of the current players have seen a regular-season series with North Dakota yet. “These are the [series] you highlight, these are the [series] you dream about,”Kloos said. “I’m just pumped to see the atmosphere here on Friday night, and learn what it’s about, and hopefully make an impact.” Kloos said he doesn’t want to get in the habit of going down and having to come back against North Dakota like the team has done in recent games. Players and coaches said that they are ner vous and excited for the rivalry to be renewed, but it won’t detract from the “business” aspect of the game. The Gophers have their
toughest challenge of the season so far in North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks have two of the top-20 scorers in all of college hockey, both Minnesota natives — forwards Brock Boeser and Shane Gersich. “ Yo u r p r e p a r a t i o n shouldn’t change no matter who you’re playing,” said head coach Don Lucia. “I don’t think you amp up any more for one series versus another. You don’t have to really put in a video of North Dakota to know how they’re going to play … They’re the defending national champions.” Minnesota has a slight advantage with a 145-130-15 record against North Dakota in all-time meetings. The last came in the 2014 Frozen Four semifinal. Lucia also said that over the years the rivalry is interesting because the series remains pretty even, and fans can walk into the rink with no idea of what the outcome will be. “I think ever yone has [missed the rivalry],” Kloos said. “I was probably a little shy in my first game, maybe a little nervous. Hopefully I’ve gotten over that stage and I’m ready to go to battle.”
LISA PERSSON, DAILY FILE PHOTO
Justin Kloos carries the puck during the Frozen Four semifinal on April 10, 2014.
CARTER JONES, DAILY
Gophers defensive lineman Hank Ekpe reaches to grab the ball from Illinois on Oct. 29.
The group has avoided injury this year after a turbulent 2015. BY JACK WHITE jwhite@mndaily.com
Illinois redshirt freshman Jeff George Jr. dropped back to pass into Illinois’ own end zone early in the fourth quarter Saturday. Gophers redshirt junior Merrick Jackson came up the middle and leveled George Jr. for a sack and a safety. Minnesota was on its way to a 40-17 victory over Illinois, and the team’s defensive line played a huge factor. “Blitzes are doing better,” said defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel. “People are getting where they need to get to. People are rushing with a little bit of force. It’s getting better … it’s not [a] malicious thing, a dirty thing, anything like that, but we want a quarterback to be able to feel us when we are on the field.” The defensive line has made big plays since the start of the year. Freshman Tai’yon Devers started the year with three strip sacks in the first four games of the season. Senior Hank Ekpe, Scott Ekpe’s younger brother, is one of the biggest
contributors on Minnesota’s defensive line this season. Hank is tied for first on the team in sacks with three and is tied for second in tackles for loss. Redshir t senior Scott Ekpe has also made plays from the defensive end position. Ekpe had two fumble recoveries last game against the Fighting Illini. “I’m a lot heavier,” Scott Ekpe said. “Lot more mature. When I got here, I was 17 and didn’t know a lot about just football, and coming here taught me more about the game. Just playing football and the fundamentals of just going out there every Saturday and giving it your best.” Scott Ekpe said the first scoop and score opportunity on his second fumble recover y he had in Saturday’s game shocked him. “I’ve never done something like that before,” Scott Ekpe said. “That usually happens when I play Madden, but it happened in real life this time, so it’s a good feeling.” The only defensive lineman that has more tackles for loss than Hank Ekpe is junior Steven Richardson. Richardson has seven tackles for loss, including four against Colorado State. Sawvel said health at the defensive tackle position is huge.
“At the end of the year and we [were] putting [junior Gaelin Elmore] in at [defensive] tackle on run downs,” Savel said. “That’s not his deal to do that. That is a huge deal, being healthy. … We have been much more physical practicing from March on … but in order to hit, you’ve got to hit. In order to take a hit, you’ve got to hit.” Minnesota had 22 sacks all last season, and the team already has 19 through the ninth game of the current season. The defense has also excelled at causing turnovers compared to last year. The Gophers have forced 18 turnovers this season. They caused the same amount of turnovers all of last season. Minnesota’s next game comes against Purdue. The Boilermakers are ranked 27th in the FBS in sacks allowed and have given up 12 sacks on the season, but the team also leads the Big Ten in passing attempts. “I think the D-line helps, and again, the secondar y. We’ve got quite a few kids who are playing now, but you’ve got to get the ball out quick,” Claeys said. “So [with] how well our [defensive line’s] played and the way we rotate them through, I think it will be a big benefit.”
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Thursday, November 3, 2016
SOCCER
Seniors look forward to pro dreams
Four Minnesota players will graduate early in pursuit of professional careers. BY DOMINIC DAVIS ddavis@mndaily.com
While Minnesota is only one game into Big Ten tournament play, four of its players already have big plans for the future. Seniors Simone Kolander, Josee Stiever, Rashida Beal and Tarah Hobbs are attempting to pursue careers in professional soccer after their last season with the Gophers finishes. “Being a student athlete presents a lot of challenges,” Stiever said. “We prepared ourselves by taking summer class and tutoring. While it’s a challenge, we were able to get our work done on and off the field.” Head coach Stefanie Golan said she is amazed by how they put themselves in the position to graduate early. She also said the four seniors can play at a higher level and will bring value to wherever they end up because of their individual strengths. Golan said Stiever makes everyone around her better,
and she can make an impact in any position. Kolander’s size and scoring ability will give her an edge at the next level. Beal’s speed at defense is advantageous. Hobbs’ athleticism allows her to cover the entire goal. Though the transition from collegiate soccer to professional play is a big adjustment, the coaches’ faith in all of them has been huge for their confidence. “They’re very supportive about it,” Hobbs said. “Them telling us that we can do it means a lot.” The National Women’s Soccer League draft is in January, and Kolander, Stiever, Beal and Hobbs all plan to register once their Gophers season ends. Most of them like the idea of playing in the United States, but are open to play anywhere to keep their dreams of playing alive. “We all feel like we would love to keep our options open,” Kolander said. “We just want to play … it’s the game we love, and we are going to follow it
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY FILE PHOTO
Senior forward Simone Kolander tries to keep the ball from Wisconsin on Oct. 1 at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium in St. Paul.
wherever we can.” Hobbs said she is also interested in possibly furthering her career outside the U.S. “I thought more about playing overseas,” Hobbs said. “It would be a cool cultural experience to be able to play and see a different viewpoint of soccer within a different country.” The group is excited about the opportunity, but is also trying not to look too far ahead. The team still has at least one game left in the Big Ten Tournament Friday, with the Championship taking place on Sunday. The No. 8 Gophers (14-33, 7-1-3 Big Ten) won a share of their first Big Ten regular
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Schammel to face former team after redshirt year
season title Oct. 25 for the first time since 2008. “We understand that how we do as a team and individually this year matters for opportunities coming up,” Beal said. “We have a lot of things we want to accomplish on this team first.” Golan said she has seen the growth of this group on the field through their four years playing for Minnesota, but the growth they show off the field means more to them. “The [number] of things this program and this team has done is something you can’t put into words,” Hobbs said. “The maturity and the leadership we gained is way more priceless than the soccer piece. The relationships
SOCCER
PREVIEW Big Ten Tournament semifinal
VS NO. 8 MINNESOTA (14-3-3, Big Ten 7-1-3) WHEN: 2 p.m. Friday
MICHIGAN (10-4-4, Big Ten 6-3-2) WHERE: Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
we built with our teammates is second to none.” Playing Minnesota soccer has given them the tools they need to play professionally, but they also hope to be remembered by their character. “We really want to be
remembered as a class that just stood together and changed the program,” Stiever said. “We pride ourselves on always being the hardest workers on the field and giving everything, never leaving anything behind.”
SWIM & DIVE
Horejsi having successful start to freshman season with Gophers
MADDY FOX, DAILY
Freshman Lindsey Horjesi participates in the 50 meter freestyle event at the women’s swim and dive meet against Iowa State at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on Sunday. JULIET FARMER, DAILY FILE PHOTO
Gophers hockey player Nicole Schammel poses in Ridder Arena on Sunday, May, 24, 2014.
The forward transferred from MSU-Mankato after her rookie season. BY TOMMY SLETTEN tsletten@mndaily.com
It has been a long year for Nicole Schammel. The r edshir t sophomore had to sit out due to transfer rules all of last season, but she will finally get a chance to compete against her old team — the Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks — at her new stomping grounds. “I think it’s exciting for her,” head coach Brad Frost said. “I’m sure there will be a little extra motivation for her and a little extra excitement to be playing the Mavericks.” Schammel played for the Mavericks during her freshman season and was a standout player. She led her team with 22 points on the season and had 11 goals and 11 assists. Schammel was also named WCHA Rookie of the Week twice in her freshman campaign. Minnesota State’s head coach Eric Means resigned from his position after Schammel’s rookie season, which left the program without the coach who recruited her. Means was a major reason why Schammel decided to play for the Mavericks, but when the Gophers called, Schammel found
herself with a new and intriguing chance. “The oppor tunity presented itself, and it’s hard to turn down playing for the Gophers,” Schammel said. Schammel was forced to sit out last season as a result of NCAA transfer rules, but she said she saw it as a period of growth for her game. The redshirt year gave her time to work out and get stronger while also bonding with her new teammates. She also got to experience a national championship celebration in her first season with the team despite the fact that she wasn’t on the ice. This season, Schammel has seen the ice in ever y game so far, supplanting herself as an important player for Minnesota. “It’s really fun to have [Schammel] playing with us in games,” junior forward and linemate Cara Piazza said. “She definitely deserves to be on our team and she’s a big part of it.” Piazza is also one of Schammel’s roommates and has gotten to know her
“It’s really fun to have [Schammel] playing with us in games ... She definitely deserves to be on our team and she’s a big part of it.” CARA PIAZZA Junior foward
extremely well over the last year. Both Piazza and Frost cited her studiousness as a reason she succeeds both on and off the ice, as Schammel will be finishing up her undergraduate degree after this year and attend graduate school with two years of eligibility left. Schammel has adjusted well to her new surroundings and has seen herself as a part of a great team in the making this year. “I really enjoy playing with ever yone and being a par t of the Gophers,” Schammel said.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY PREVIEW
VS NO. 2 MINNESOTA (9-1-0, 7-1-0 WCHA) WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Sunday
MINNESOTA STATE-MANKATO (2-7-1, 0-7-1 WCHA) WHERE: Ridder Arena SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
The rookie already has two first place finishes through two meets. BY ALYSSA HODENFIELD ahodenfield@mndaily.com
Freshman Lindsey Horejsi has joined the world of collegiate swimming without reservations. She placed highly in both meets she has competed in so far and does not plan to slow down any time soon. “She’s that type of athlete where she’s a real difference maker, and you can see why she’s so good when she’s in the water,” said head coach Kelly Kremer. “She’s coachable, and she has this great feel for the water. She’s athletic, not only for a first year student, but for anybody that a coach would have a chance to work with.”.” Horejsi made her collegiate debut at the Gophers’ first home meet of the season against W isconsin, where she won her first collegiate race in the 100 breaststroke and placed second in the 200 breaststroke. The freshman continued the momentum at last weekend’s meet against Iowa and placed second in the 50 freestyle and swam breaststroke on the winning 200 medley r elay team. Although Horejsi is a newcomer to the collegiate pool, she’s familiar with tough competition. Horejsi came into
college as the top high school 100-breaststroker in the countr y and participated in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. “[The Olympic T rial meet] was fun. I was really kind of anxious about it, so I was glad to get another trials under my belt,” Horejsi said. “Hopefully, in four years, I’ll be more comfortable with that stage and just knowing what to expect.” Kremer says Horejsi’s standout qualities don’t just shine while she’s in the pool. He said he also appreciates her humble demeanor. Kremer recalled a time when Horejsi came to his office after practice to simply thank him for the practice because he had left the pool deck too quickly for her to get the chance to speak with him, something he said she does every single time she exits the pool. “She is so appreciative for the opportunity she has,” Kremer said. Swimming for the Gophers was something Horejsi simply could not turn down after seeing all the oppor tunities she has at the university, along with a great coaching staff and
amazing pool facility. Horejsi also had some familiarity with the team early on. For mer club teammates Danielle and Chantal Nack wer e already on the Minnesota squad, which has helped to create a smooth transition for her. “It was just nice to know a few faces on the team, so that’s been a nice asset to the team,” Horejsi said. “I think I’m getting the hang of [things], hopefully, so it’s been good.” The Gophers will take on North Dakota at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center Friday evening. Some swimmers, including Horejsi, will not be swimming their primary events on Friday, but the freshman says she’s up for anything. Horejsi is also excited to compete against a former hometown teammate, freshman Anna Andersen, who swims for North Dakota. “I’m just really happy that we have [Nor th Dakota] back on our schedule, because [they’re] a team that does things the right way,” Kremer said. “I know that they’ll give us some good competition.”
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIM AND DIVE PREVIEW
VS MINNESOTA WHEN: 5 p.m. Friday
NORTH DAKOTA WHERE: Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center
SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM
Thursday, November 3, 2016
11
CROSSWORD Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 3, 1, 2016
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis
HOROSCOPES Today’s Birthday (11/3): Craft dreams and visions this year. With discipline, funding arrives. Plan for the future, and listen to your heart. Shifting career matters over spring lead to a romantic renaissance.
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 an 8 — Career opportunities have you hopping over the next two days. New income is possible, or a delightful discovery. Listen to a female’s advice.
Libra (9/23 - 10/22): Today is a 6 — Home and family take priority. Plan your projects before making a big mess. You have what you need. Organize your efforts.
Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): Today is an 8 — Plan a trip today and tomorrow. Enjoy study and research. Dream big. Plot your itinerary, and map the route.
Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Today is an 8 — It’s a time of intense learning. You’re especially brilliant for the next few days. Write, research and broadcast your findings.
Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): Today is an 8 — It’s a good day to close a deal or sign papers. Make sure the numbers balance. Discuss shared finances, and include passion in the budget.
Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): Today is a 9 — Things are coming together. A new source of revenue appears over the next two days. Discover another way to save.
Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Today is an 8 — Work with a partner, and negotiate to refine the plan. Don’t be afraid if you don’t know how. Talk about what you want. Listen and learn.
Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): Today is a 9 — Take charge to produce the outcome you want. Enjoy a confident two-day phase. Polish the presentation, and make beauty a priority.
Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Today is an 8 — Provide excellent service without pushing yourself too hard physically, mentally or emotionally. Start from a point of balance. Share your talents.
Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): Today is a 6 — Get into thoughtful planning mode today and tomorrow. Find a quiet place to plot your next steps. What can you delegate?
Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): Today is an 8 — Rely on each other for emotional support. Share generously with someone who needs it. You’re magnetically drawn to someone attractive.
Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Today is an 8 — Collaboration coalesces in beautiful ways over the next few days. Hold meetings, and have a blast at social events and parties.
ACROSS ACROSS 11 Workbench Working stiff 5 gadget Brief timetable 69 Antlered beast Racing venue 10 Glasses, in ads near Windsor 14 Popular Castle 14 depilatory “Beetle Bailey” dog 15 15 Campaign Greet fromstaffer a 16 Rochester’s bride distance 17 of the 16 Part Waste not soft 17 palate Inch or foot 18 the knight 18 Lady Actorof Bana of 19 Concussions “Closed Circuit” aren’t 19 generally Singer Haggard 20 visible *Shakeon offthem one’s 20 Goal for some daydreams 23 college-bound Towel holder 24 students Strokes on greens 23 was __ 25 “What Rap fan 27 was Littlesaying?” child, in 24 Tie __ Cannes 25 Pack relatives 30 Rat Decanter 33 member Richly adorn 29 34 Growing “Born Free” concerns? lioness 33 a used 37 Like Carne __: hibachi Mexican dish 34 38 Record-setting Old AT&T rival 39 slugger *Cause in of the Japanese chubby cheeks, Baseball perhaps Hall of 41 Fame Perp’s prey, in 38 General on a copspeak 42 menu French floor 39 44 Gadgets Like the lama, but 40 One of 34not the llama, in a Across’ 2,170 Nash poem 41 organs of 45 Ocular Foot warmer 46 cephalopods, Switches for say 43 Aspirin target mood lighting 44 48 Nocturnal Boardroom carnivore illustrations 45 50 Perambulates Farmland 47 Piece of cake measure 51 51 Poet’s Tawdrycontraction 52 needed to 53 Period Trojan __ a request 55 fulfill Leave hurriedly...... and hint to what and,aliterally, words the firsthidden wordsinof three long puzzle the answers to answers starred clues can 58 Homey do 59 firmly 60 Pack Joint commonly sprained 60 “__ making this 62 up” __ facto 63 Spigot “__ a heart!” 61 issue 64 Site Stoutwith mug 62 tech 65 reviews Property claim 66 Trilateral Biblical garden 63 trade 67 agreement, __ four: small cake briefly 68 Tag “A __ of Two 64 line? Cities” 65 Grinder 69 Speed Bird’s home 66 units
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11/3/16 11/1/16
By Lou Guizzo By Mary Janice Luttrell
DOWN 1 Mötley __style High hair 2 Fiery Activeflow European 3 Bleu hue volcano 43 Placate Of the ears 54 Beseech, as a Tablet 5 deity Sugary brewed 6 Anti-DWI gp. drink 76 Venetian K, to a jeweler 7 valentine Lesser of two __ 8 message Metric prefix 89 Ones charge, Kid in in a military for short family 9 Sixth-day 10 Observe Christmas oneself gift 11 *Ingratiate 10 Workshop (with) 11 who likes to 12 One Norwegian capital up? 13 light Ready to be 12 “__ go bragh!” kicked off 13 21 Chooses, Gallop with 22 “in” Ltrs. in an unfilled 21 Two-front, as a TV time slot 26 Coast Western treaty Guard org. rescue 27 Divans Urged (on) 22 28 Trunk Gangster Frank 25 piece in “Road to on 26 Put a value Perdition” 27 Words before 29 “Yeah, *Bargain hunter’s you!” venue of jazz 28 Brubeck Street eatery 30 Like much of 31 New OrderYork from on high 32 Company Pink-slips with a 31 35 longtime Debt-heavy corp. travel deals guide
Early Week’sPuzzle Puzzle Solved Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved Monday’s Solved
©2016 ©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
36 They Wordoften in a have 32 thesaurus: Abbr. guards 39 Self-help Temporary 35 letters Oktoberfest 36 Super-duper structure 37 1959 Ben-Hur 40 “The portrayer Untouchables” 39 Let out gangster gradually 43 Use Yukon 42 anautomaker Enigma 45 Drink pourer’s machine, say words Swan” 43 “Black 47 Actor Stephen Best Actress 49 Oscar Wellness gp. winner
11/3/16 11/1/16
51 Bad Vintage photo hue 46 bottom line 52 “No Painter’s 48 prob!”stand 53 Origami Hornet, e.g. 49 staple 54 Reason Poker bet 50 tothat’s trot not optional 52 Corrida beast 56 Israeli Highland garb 53 weapons 57 Until Florida’s Miami54 __ County 55 Scoop 58 Suffragist Times to call, in 56 ads Lucretia 59 Apartment 57 RR station payment predictions 61 Govt. 52, in health old Rome 58 org.
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For strategies on how to solve sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk.
11/3/2016
Early Week’s solution © 2015 Michael Mepham. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved.
DR. DATE Dear Dr. Date,
My friendships are a tangled mess o f d r u n ke n m a ke o u t s , M i n n e s o tan passive-aggressive jealousy and an inability to respect each other’s relationships. One of my good friends, we will call her Allison, had a fling with a guy and didn’t tell us about it. They weren’t dating or anything, but they hooked up a couple times. A couple weeks later, another friend of mine — let’s call her Chelsea — made out with the same guy. Like every good sitcom friendship, Chelsea and Allison were hanging out talking about guys they had hooked up with. It came out that both of them had made out with this guy. They are pretending not to be mad at each other, but have been voicing their feelings of jealousy to me when the other isn’t around.
Is there any way to resolve this before the friendship dissolves?
—Stuck in the Middle Dear Stuck,
Sounds like it’s time for you to intervene. They’re probably not aware of how much it’s bothering the other because they don’t talk enough. That’s also the reason why they ended up hooking up with the same guy — where’s the communication? Good friends tell each other who they hooked up with the night before. The only way to resolve the hurt feelings is to make them talk it out. It’s not going to be comfortable, but it’s necessary. Remember, kids, honesty matters. Let your friends know who you’re into — call dibs on someone. It’s the least you can do to avoid saddling up with the same
guy.
—Dr. Date Dear Dr. Date,
My boyfriend wants to get a tattoo, and it is a terrible idea. He is planning on getting an infinity symbol made out of barbed wire tattooed on his lower back. That’s not even the worst part. On the right half of the infinity symbol, he wants it to disintegrate into small, little Pepe the Frogs saying, “RIP in peace, Harambe.” When asked what the symbolism was, he said that he believes a grave injustice has been committed against Pepe, and we need to stand up and make our voices heard. I have tried numerous times to talk him out of it, but he won’t listen.
—Ink Disaster
Need relationship advice? Email Dr. Date at drdate@mndaily.com.
Dear Ink,
Before we get into the subject matter of the tattoo, I do want to applaud your boyfriend for his tattoo location choice. Men have ignored the prime real estate that is the lower back tattoo for too long. As for the matter of the possibly racist frog, I think that he should carry on with his protest about the public’s judgment of an internet meme. There is literally nothing more important in the world than protecting a cartoon frog’s reputation. Is this tattoo a deal breaker? I can’t really answer that question. But I can answer this. Would a tattoo of Shia LaBeouf conducting a doo-wop, punk fusion orchestra during a cold summer in Bangor, Maine be a deal breaker? Yeah. It probably would be.
—Dr. Date
12
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Student leaders oppose self-censorship Leaders u from Page 1
nonpartisan … [and] advocating for student interest,” he said. “I put any personal beliefs aside.” And it would be unreasonable to ask members to restrict their personal activities, Dammann said. “We don’t want to limit [anyone],” Dammann said. “If they want to go out and introduce a candidate of one party, they should be allowed to do that. If I want to go to a political rally, it’s hard to say, ‘Oh, you’re in this [official] capacity now, you can’t go express your views.’ I don’t think that’s fair.” MSA President Abeer Syedah has come under fire for her outspoken progressive views, and University administrators have received complaints — especially about her social media accounts — but she isn’t breaking any rules, she said. “My Twitter does say that my views are my own,” she said. “My opinions don’t represent MSA as a whole.” Syedah’s featured post on her Twitter account reads, “Friendly reminder that ‘tattling’ about my social media posts to the University does nothing. I only answer to the student body.” Political science junior
David Munson said he doesn’t see MSA or its leadership as overtly political. “[Abeer] was elected to be president. Those are her views [that] people wanted,” he said. MSA At-Large Representative Christina Jensen said Syedah’s political inclinations don’t merit attention from other students. “Her social media posts are her own opinions, and those opinions do not interfere with her work with MSA,” she said. She said her beliefs shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody. “I’ve never hidden my personal views, ever. I was known for them, so I [hadn’t] anticipated anyone believing that those were not a part of me when I was … elected,” she said. Since taking office, Syedah has spoken to crowds during Democratic rallies and more recently was involved in a protest after a “Build the Wall” panel was painted onto the Washington Avenue Bridge. She says she partook in these events in a personal capacity. Members of MSA can participate in any political activity — and many do — as long as they don’t take sides in their official organizational roles, Syedah said. “I had spoken at the Bernie Sanders rally, and
that was something I was doing in my personal capacity,” Syedah said. MSA adviser Sara Carvell said members can’t endorse a candidate as an organization, but individuals can on their own. It’s more important that staf f in the Of fice of Student Af fairs and Student Unions and Activities can make the distinction between MSA representation and the private lives of its members, Syedah said, because MSA must remain nonpar tisan to receive its funding. Nursing senior Alexis Luedtke said MSA doesn’t come across as supporting one ideology over another, but members should still be cautious. “I think it’s a ver y gray area that you should be careful of — to avoid pushing a segment of the student body away,” she said. Syedah said she isn’t the only Big Ten student body president that is open about their political leanings and activism. Rachel Zuckerman, president of the University of Iowa Student Gover nment, said her title as president has never stopped her from engaging in national politics. “Abeer and I use our power to champion values embraced on campus,”
MADDY FOX, DAILY
Minnesota Student Association President Abeer Syedah listens during the association’s forum in Mondale Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 13. Syedah was elected as president earlier this year.
Zuckerman said. And political activism isn’t unique in MSA history. Past leaders include antiwar proponents and even some who have chained themselves to the University’s Board of Regents’ chairs during protests. Jack Baker was MSA president for two years starting in 1971 and said that even then, MSA was a deliberative body and the president should not be bound to the views they express. Baker was an advocate
of equal marriage and the LGBTQ community, which he said he carried on during his entire tenure as president. Ron Merckling, MSA president in 1992, said national political issues often take center stage on campus and sometimes it’s necessar y that student government get involved. The prominence of social media puts cur rent MSA leadership under increased scrutiny, he said. M er ck l i n g s ai d the
media didn’t care about his personal beliefs or how he expressed them when he was president. Still, too much action taken by the president outside of their of ficial MSA role could distract them from accomplishing the goals outlined during their campaign, he said. However, he said, “it’s a judgment call” on whether a president feels they can balance both MSA goals and their personal political views.
Fire chief: African-American church blaze was arson BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENVILLE, Miss. — Somebody set the fire that heavily damaged an AfricanAmerican church that was also spray-painted with the phrase “Vote Trump,” and an $11,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of whoever did it, a Mississippi fire chief said Wednesday. The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation of the Tuesday night fire at the 200-member Hopewell
Missionary Baptist Church, and Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons called the fire and graffiti a hate crime. Officials announced the reward and the investigators’ conclusion that the fire was arson at the church, Greenwell Fire Chief Ruben Brown Sr. said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. The church’s red brick walls still stand, but the pulpit and pews are burned black, and soot stains the brick above and next to some
windows. Brown estimated that it was “80 percent destroyed.” “It definitely will have to be reconstructed from front to back,” he said. Simmons called the arson a “heinous, hateful, cowardly act.” “We consider it a hate crime ... because of the political message which we believe was intended to interfere with worship and intimidate voters,” Simmons said. “This act is a direct assault on people’s right to freely worship.” The mayor said the FBI
and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are assisting the investigation in the Mississippi River city, where about 78 percent of the 32,100 residents are African-American. Mississippi’s top elections official, Secretar y of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, said people shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that the church was vandalized for political reasons. Initial reports suggest “this is not of a political nature,” he told WDAM-TV. The culprits should be
prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law,” he said. State FBI spokesman Brett Car said the agency is “working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to determine if any civil rights crimes were committed.” Gov. Phil Br yant, a Republican who has been campaigning for his party’s presidential nominee Donald Trump, said “we expect a suspect will be identified and brought to justice.” “First, anyone who burns
a place of worship will answer to almighty God for this crime against people of faith. But they should also answer to man’s law,” Bryant’s statement said. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat whose district includes Greenville, said the fire and graffiti “harkens back to a much darker day in Mississippi.” “I encourage all citizens not to be deterred by this cowardly act and exercise your right to vote at the ballot box,” he said in an emailed statement.