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Hate flyers and vandalism persist U report found a continued trend of bias incidents.

BY FARRAH MINA fmina@mndaily.com

The University of Minnesota’s Bias Response Referral Network compiled reported bias incidents, showing a continued presence of graffiti, vandalism and flyers in reported incidents.

As indicated by three annual reports the BRRN released, graffiti and vandalism along with flyers and posters have emerged among the leading methods involved in reported incidents at the University. The latest report released last month cites incidents including the defacing and removal of Black Lives Matter posters in Coffman Union, the distribution of antiSemitic flyers and homophobic vandalism.

Bias incidents are acts of “bigotry, harassment, or intimidation” instigated in some way by a person’s identity, such as factors like race, gender or sexuality, according to the BRRN’s website.

“Bias often stems from fear, misunderstanding, hatred, or stereotypes and may be intentional or unintentional.”

Based on the most recent BRRN report, which details bias incidents reported to the BRRN between May 2018 and June 2019, 22 of the reported incidents were carried out using graffiti and vandalism. Twenty-two reported incidents took place in person

OUTREACH

BY FARRAH MINA fmina@mndaily.com

Looking to support asylum seekers at the U.S. border, the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences launched an initiative that aims to provide medical and mental health evaluations.

The effort titled “University of Minnesota Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Immigrant Refugee Efforts,” or UMPIREs, began in June after news organizations released stories detailing the lack of care at detention facilities in Texas. Deanna Bass, an assistant professor in the University’s medical school, said these articles produced an intense wave of reaction from her colleagues, spurring a need to participate in local efforts to provide assistance.

The program aspires to establish a system which will train

Gophers top Fresno State in overtime Despite three fumbles and seven penalties, the Gophers are now 2-0.

NEWS GRAPHICS NEWS GRAPHICS

BY JOHN MILLER jmiller@mndaily.com

ILLUSTRATED BY HAILEE SCHIEVELBEIN, DAILY

Above: Bias incidents reported to the University of Minnesota Bias Response and Referral Network by method and location between May 2018 and and June 2019.

Types of Bias Incidents Reported Between 2016 and 2019

and 18 in classrooms. The major- 25 Types of Bias Incidents Reported Between 2016 and 2019 ity of reported incidents targeted 25 sexuality, race or gender.

2018-2019 The report released this year 2018-2019 includes 123 total reported bias in- 20 2017-2018 cidents. In 2018, a total of 107 inci- 20 2017-2018 dents were reported to the BRRN 2016-2017 and 76 the year before. The BRRN 2016-2017 was established in 2016 at the re- 15 quest of then University president 15 Eric Kaler.

While a May incident involving flyers that targeted three student 10 groups sparked discussions with 10 University Police Department about additional safety measures, some students said they were un- 5 5 derwhelmed by the University’s response.

“As a Muslim woman of color, your identity is always in some way, 0 0 / S F S- YY SS EE N NN shape or form under attack. But I/ I/ I INO O ERSRS/ LALSASMSM OWONWN OFOPFUFPSUS PUPUSSS PU UCECE SIT IT MNLINLIN FIFTFIISTM E S F S S O S T S I C MAM CAMAEMNTNT AMAMPPLPALA VERECRYSCY N T CO OO KNKN RER R what was kind of disheartening, GRARDAALAL O O R S A S E E I C V E K C E I R I C K O OY CC R NN IL L VV PP u See BIAS INCIDENTS Page 3

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Above: bias incidents reported Bias Response and Referral Network method and location between May Above: bias incidents reported to to thethe Bias Response and Referral Network byby method and location between May 2018 and and June 2019.

Data from BRRN. 2018 and and June 2019.

Data from thethe BRRN.

Med School department aims to support asylum seekers The program hopes to train health providers in asylum assessments.

FOOTBALL

by asylum laws. Psychiatric and medical evaluations can help provide vital evidence to supplement an asylum seeker’s case before the asylum office or the court, Griffith said.

“People who have survived experiences that have impacted them in particularly difficult ways sometimes struggle to talk about these experiences, particularly in a setting with a government offiSPORTS cer and oftentimes in a court setSPORTS ting,” she added.

Medical evaluators can also examine scars and determine whether they are consistent with experiences of torture that might have been described by the asyVOLLEYBALL RESULTS lum seeker.

VOLLEYBALL ILLUSTRATED BY MORGAN LA CASSE, DAILY RESULTS someone has had, for instance, FRIDAY 1 2 3 “If FINAL medical and mental health pro- migrants, as the challenges that traumatic brain injury or other Florida 20 17a 22 0 FRIDAY 1 2 3 FINAL Minnesota 25 3 viders in asylum assessments and the community weFlorida serve has 20…25 17 25significant mental health issue 22 0 SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM Minnesota 25a 25 that 25 3 is impacting their memory develop a framework for pro bono increased,” said Alison Griffith, SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM ongoing care to serve people im- staff attorney at The Advocates in that case, their body can repacted by immigration issues. for Human Rights. ally tell the story even if that “There has been a significant, Mental health issues, trauma- person cannot provide a chronobut really increasing, need for related or otherwise, can often logical narrative of how they were evaluations and for mental health hinder an asylum seeker from harmed,” Griffith said.

FOOTBALL and physical health support for providing a testimony containRESULTS u See ASYLUM Page 3 asylum seekers and for other im- ing the level of detail suggested FOOTBALL

For much of Saturday night, the Gophers looked in control against the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Yet, every time Minnesota looked to be gaining momentum, something got in the way: themselves.

Minnesota needed a miraculous touchdown pass from Tanner Morgan to Chris Autman-Bell with under a minute left in regulation and an Antoine Winfield Jr. interception in double-overtime to save themselves from losing a game that they had in hand early.

“There’s a lot who did some things tonight that they don’t characteristically do,” head coach P.J. Fleck told the media about the turnovers and penalties. “They got away with it and we still won.”

After quickly going up 7-0 after their first possession, the Gophers drove into Fresno State territory once again and looked primed to extend their lead. That was until sophomore running back Mohamed Ibrahim fumbled at the Bulldogs 33-yard-line to breathe life into Fresno’s hopes.

The Gophers extended their lead to 14-3 on a Rodney Smith rushing touchdown with 4:38 left to go in the second quarter. Minnesota again was primed to get the ball back after a defensive stand.

On third-and-22 in their own territory, Fresno came up well short of a first down. There was one problem: senior defensive lineman Tai’yon Devers committed a personal foul ripping the helmet off of the offensive lineman assigned to block him.

“He let the other guy get to him,” Fleck told the media. “It’s a teaching moment. It’s an educational moment. Nobody’s perfect.

It’s a heated moment, but we have to keep our cool in that situation.”

Two plays later, Fresno State found the end zone on a 25-yard Jorge Reyna completion to running back Ronnie Rivers. The Gophers would hold a 14-10 lead heading into the half.

The second half would have the same theme for the Gophers: mistakes.

On Fresno’s first drive of the second half, Minnesota had seemingly forced a punt, but a late flying flag came in for a defensive hold, giving the Bulldogs a new set of downs. Fresno would drive down the field and convert a field goal.

The mistakes continued on the next possession for the Gophers, as Morgan fumbled the ball just into Fresno State territory.

Reyna would drive the Bulldogs down the field again and add u See FRESNO Page 4

RESULTS

VS

HEALTHCARE

MINNESOTA 38 WHEN: 9/7/2019 7:30 p.m.

MINNESOTA 38

WHEN: 9/7/2019 7:30 p.m.

VS

ENVIRONMENT

FRESNO STATE 35

U program works to eliminate use of hazardous chemical at dry cleaners

WHERE: Fresno, CA FRESNO STATE 35GOPHERSPORTS.COM SOURCE:

WHERE: Fresno, CA

SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM

The city and University’s work has led to a ban on ‘perc’ in Minneapolis.

BY EMMA DILL edill@mndaily.com

ILLUSTRATED BY MORGAN LA CASSE, DAILY

Trans patient simulation debuts in nursing school The simulation will teach how care varies for trans and nonbinary patients.

BY NATALIE CIERZAN ncierzan@mndaily.com

Students at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing will participate in a new transgender patient simulation this fall to learn how to better care for transgender patients.

The simulation will take place this month and will teach students how care can be different for transgender or nonbinary patients. The teachers, who will be transgender or nonbinary people themselves, will take on the role of the patient and assessed by students. Members of the nursing school say this will allow students to learn things that many medical professionals today do not know.

Melissa Avery, a professor in the nursing school and one of the simulation’s creators, said students will learn how to address each patient, refer to their body parts and be respectful while asking questions. In the simulation setting, students will work in groups and get immediate feedback from the teachers, she said.

This simulation is funded by a u See TRANS HEALTH Page 3

A University of Minnesota outreach program is working to eliminate the use of a hazardous chemical in dry cleaners in Minneapolis and throughout Minnesota.

The Minneapolis City Council approved an updated ban on tetrachloroethylene, or perc, in August.

The ban is the culmination of more than five years of work with dry cleaners across the city. The Minnesota Technical Assistance Program, an outreach program at the University, worked with local dry cleaners to evaluate their processes, understand the environmental impact of perc and adopt alternative solvents.

Perc is a dry cleaning solvent that effectively cleans hard-toremove stains, making it a historically popular solution. The chemical, however, pollutes air inside and outside of dry cleaners and has been linked to nervous system and kidney damage and some cancers.

“I mean, quite frankly, it is a very good dry cleaning material.

It does the work,” said MnTAP Di-

rector Laura Babcock. “It just also happens to be very toxic.”

The most recent measure closed loopholes in a previous ordinance that allowed perc in some dry cleaning uses.

After helping dry cleaners understand the negative impacts of perc, MnTAP helped inform owners about more environmentally sustainable alternatives, Babcock said.

“In our business of technical assistance, it doesn’t pay to tell people what to do. You have to kind of encourage them to change behaviors,” she said.

Educating dry cleaners about alternatives before enacting the ban helped ease the transition, said Patrick Hanlon, the city’s director of environmental programs.

“The real victory here isn’t necessarily the ban, but it’s the work that went into making this not a controversial issue,” Hanlon said.

Cost is one barrier to making the switch. To use an alternative solvent, dry cleaners have to purchase new machines that can cost more than $30,000 each.

“It’s a lot of money for a small business in what can be seen as a struggling industry, so that kind u See DRY CLEANERS Page 3 VOLUME 120 ISSUE 3

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Phone: (612) 627-4080 Fax: (612) 435-5865

1776 The Continental Congress renames the nation the “United States of America.”

Copyright © 2019 The Minnesota Daily. This newspaper, its design and its contents are copyrighted.

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U forms council for rare diseases U council hopes to be a resource for families touched by rare diseases.

BY DYLAN ANDERSON danderson@mndaily.com

In 2008, Erica Barnes welcomed a new member of the family. Fourteen months into her daughter Chloe’s life, Barnes started to notice she had some neurological abnormalities. She was reassured by the pediatrician that everything was fine, but after a year the signs persisted.

Chloe had a very rare, aggressive neurological disease with limited treatment options. Despite treatment at the Mayo Clinic, she died after complications from a bone marrow transplant.

“It felt like an afterthought in the healthcare system,” Barnes said of her daughter’s disease. “We thought maybe it was just an anomaly with our disease, then we realized there are 7,000 rare diseases.”

Rare diseases are affecting an estimated 25 to 30 million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health. Because only a few types of rare diseases are tracked when someone is diagnosed, the exact number of rare diseases or how many people they affect is difficult to know. For most rare diseases there is still no treatment, according to the NIH. A rare disease advisory council, the result of lobbying at the state capitol and named in honor of Barnes’ daughter, has been set up

to better understand these diseases and their impact in Minnesota. Established by the University of Minnesota at the direction of the legislature, the Chloe Barnes Advisory Council on Rare Diseases consists of professionals across the healthcare world including doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, researchers and people who have a rare disease themselves. According to the legislative bill, the council is expected to have its first meeting before Oct. 1.

Karl Nelsen has ectodermal dysplasia, a disorder where the skin, hair, nails, teeth, sweat glands or mucous membranes develop abnormally. He said serving on the council is more for his daughter, who also has the disease, than it is for himself.

“It’s the sense of urgency of I need to find answers,” Nelsen said. “I’m hoping this is a think tank where we can bounce ideas off each other or issues off each other and get at least a first approach or strategy toward getting answers faster.”

Nelsen said he is excited to see how the discussions they have can translate into legislative recommendations and actual research that could improve outcomes for patients. “We don’t want to have just meetings, we want to have results,” he said.

Apart from an administrative position, the members of the council are not being financially compensated. Paul Orchard, a researcher in the University’s Department of Pedi-

BY NATALIE CIERZAN ncierzan@mndaily.com

The University of Minnesota opened its first active learning lab last week.

In an active learning lab, students can interact with their peers on group research projects that are designed by themselves, not by their professors.

The new lab is different from the 20 active learning classrooms already on campus because it has a collaborative and interactive setup instead of an instruction-based lecture setting, College of Biological Sciences staff said.

Students in the second part of the Foundations of Biology class series, BIOL 3004, will use the new lab on the St. Paul campus.

“The way we teach biology has changed dramatically and continues to evolve,” CBS Dean Valery Forbes said at the lab’s ribbon cutting ceremony last week. “This lab is a very natural and important part of progression.”

While the room’s capacity holds less than 100 people, around 350 students will be using the lab throughout fall semester, said Catherine Kirkpatrick, an instructor for the class.

“I think for students, learning biology in order to answer exam questions is very different than learning to do biology, which is to answer the questions that we don’t already have answers to,”

she said.

Up until spring 2016, the class was focused on everyone working in one research area, Kirkpatrick said. Now, the class is divided into five different sections in which students can explore whatever research area interests them most. The class doesn’t have a set time, so students can go anytime during the lab’s hours.

Christina Kramer, CBS facilities manager, said the total project cost $9.9 million, and construction went on for almost a year. She said the active learning lab was not the only new addition to the Biological Sciences building on the St. Paul campus.

The building, which is over 50 years old, received third floor renovations for the lab, a student commons area, fourth floor renovations for additional labs, new bathrooms and a new air handling unit.The new lab includes basic supplies to get students started, mobile stations, wheelchair accessible lab spaces, new windows and an overflow room where students can shut the door to regulate light more easily, Kramer said.

There’s also a teaching assistant station with security cameras that monitor the room and exits as a safety precaution, she added.

Students will start the class by asking an unanswered research question, and then use the lab space to try to find an answer.

Before this lab existed, students would often use empty classrooms or any available space to work, said John Ward, professor and CBS associate dean for

EDITORIAL STAFF Max Chao Managing Editor mchao@mndaily.com Desmond Kamas Managing Production Editor dkamas@mndaily.com Michelle Griffith Campus Activities Editor mgriffith@mndaily.com Katrina Pross Campus Administration Editor kpross@mndaily.com Madeline Deninger City Editor mdeninger@mndaily.com Audrey Kennedy Features & Freelance Editor akennedy@mndaily.com Paul Hodowanic Sports Editor phodowanic@mndaily.com Nick Jungheim Assistant Sports Editor njungheim@mndaily.com Liv Martin A&E Editor lmartin@mndaily.com Jack Rodgers Multimedia Editor jrodgers@mndaily.com Emily Martens Copy Desk Chief emartens@mndaily.com Cate Tynjala Assistant Copy Desk Chief ctynjala@mndaily.com Creston Halstead Chief Page Designer chalstead@mndaily.com Morgan La Casse Visuals Editor mlacasse@mndaily.com =

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atrics who focuses on rare disease research, said he is donating his time on the council because not enough is currently being done for people with these diseases.

“We don’t really understand the scope of these diseases, we don’t understand what the financial implication is to the state,” Orchard said. “To better understand what the issues are, is going to put us in a better position to help these families.”

Orchard said the council’s work could potentially

expand outside Minnesota if they partner with a handful of similar councils in other states to pool resources and data. The willingness of people at the legislative level to take on these problems is encouraging, Orchard said.

Regent Richard Beeson, whose grandson was diagnosed with a rare disease as a 1-year-old, said that experience opened his eyes to the need to study these diseases. He said the council could lead to research av-

enues for the University.

Barnes said she hopes the council can help patients and families get access to a timely diagnosis, find some form of treatment for the disease and connect with physicians that can provide a care model.

“I think the main thing that we want to know as a patient, what I wanted to know as a mom, is that I am not an afterthought,” Barnes said. “I want to know that somebody is problem solving.”

First active learning lab opens at UMN New interactive lab setup replaces instruction-based lecture setting.

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A previous version of the article titled “After two years and $104.5 million, Pioneer Hall reopens to UMN students” misstated how Pioneer Hall was originally constructed due to a misstated fact in an interview.

Pioneer was built in two phases, each consisting of several town homes that were not connected on all levels.

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.

MRUNAL ZAMBRE, DAILY

Valery Forbes, Dean of the College of Biological Sciences, and Robert McMaster, Vice provost and Dean for the Office of Undergraduate Education, cut a ribbon at the new Active Learning Lab at the Biological Sciences Center in St. Paul on Friday, Sept. 6.

undergraduate education.

“By having an appropriate space, the students have a place where they can work as a group that’s not a laboratory bench,” he said. “You really need a clean area where you can sit comfortably so you can talk to others in your group.”

Vice Provost and Dean for the Office of Undergraduate Education Bob McMaster spoke at the ceremony about CBS being able to stand out with its new lab compared to research environments at other institutions.

“I started as a biology major many, many, years ago,” he said. “Maybe if I’d had a laboratory like this first semester, I wouldn’t h a v e p ou r e d do w n t h e drain my chemistry experiment by accident,” he said.

Twenty-three teaching

assistants will switch off monitoring the lab seven days a week, Kirkpatrick said. All of them had BIOL 3004 in the old research space.

A former TA for the class, Megan Bird, said she likes the collaborative opportunities the lab will offer.

“The old space was a lot more cramped and there wasn’t nearly enough organizational space,” she said. “It was actually three lab rooms connected by doorways, so every type of experiment had its own room. You didn’t really get to know people from other experiments.”

Taren Stanley, another TA, agreed. The open layout makes communication easier, especially between TAs and students when they ask for help on their research, he said.

“I thought it’d be fun to help out people who are trying to go through that,” Stanley said.

“I think for students, learning biology in order to answer exam questions is very different than learning to do biology, which is to answer the questions that we don’t already have answers to.”

CATHERINE KIRKPATRICK BIOL 3004 instructor

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.

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Monday, September 9, 2019

Dry cleaners u from Page 1 struggling industry, so that kind of support angle is really the most important,” said Nathan Landwehr, a waste reduction specialist at MnTAP who worked directly with dry cleaners.

To help cover these costs, some dry cleaners took advantage of the city’s Green Cost Share program, which helps businesses adopt more sustainable processes.

MnTAP now hopes to apply the model established in Minneapolis to dry cleaners across Minnesota. “[We want to be] available as a resource for dry cleaners in the entire state of Minnesota so they don’t have to figure things out on their own,” Babcock said.

Hanlon said he hopes the continued outreach could

lead to a statewide perc ban.

Today, about 100 dry cleaners operate in Minnesota. This number is down from a peak of about 350 dry cleaners in the state during the 1970s and ‘80s, said Keith Aune, president of the Minnesota Dry Cleaners Association and owner of Clean’n’Press, a dry cleaner based in West St. Paul.

The decline in dry cleaners stems from changing clothing styles and more casual work settings, among other factors.

Aune said he believes a shift in the industry is coming as perc machines age and the environmental and financial costs of the solvent are recognized.

“I do think that sooner or later there’s a good chance that [perc] is out of the industry completely,” he said.

“It’s just a matter of time.”

ILLUSTRATED BY HAILEE SCHIEVELBEIN, DAILY

Trans health

DAILY FILE PHOTO

Megan Thee Stallion to headline the University’s annual homecoming concert The rapper and Phoebe Ryan will perform on Oct. 4 at TCF Bank Stadium.

BY KATRINA PROSS kpross@mndaily.com

In a Student Unions and Activities tweet sent out Friday, rapper Megan Thee Stallion was announced as the 2019 University of

Bias incidents u from Page 1 but not shocking, was the University’s response doesn’t really exist,” said Ruwayda Mohamed, former president of the Muslim Students Association, a group which has been targeted several times by vandalism and flyers.

“They’ll send out an email.

They’ll maybe say they disagree with this, but that’s all the action that there really is.”

The BRRN, which specializes in tracking incidents on and around campus and providing resources and referrals for students, notifies UMPD about all bias incidents which are then reviewed by a bias investigator, said Laura Knudson, assistant vice provost for student advocacy and support.

Although UMPD logs these incidents for review, there is little action that can be taken unless a message is

Asylum u from Page 1 Jonathan Kirsch, assistant professor in the University’s medical school, was trained to perform asylum assessments years ago. He said looking beyond the scope of medicine and learning the legal context of a patient is often crucial to providing care.

“People’s legal status, whether it’s the patient we’re dealing with or [a] family member’s, is a ma-

Minnesota homecoming concert’s headliner.

Megan Thee Stallion will perform at the annual concert on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at TCF Bank Stadium. Singer-songwriter Phoebe Ryan will be the supporting artist.

DJ Steve Aoki and singer-songwriter Bea Miller performed at the concert last year.

The concert is one of several traditions planned for homecoming week — the parade will also be held on Oct. 4, at 6:30 p.m. on University Avenue Southeast.

On Oct. 5, the Gophers will face the Illinois Fighting Illini in the annual homecoming football game. This will be the University’s 99th homecoming game.

deemed threatening, UMPD Chief Matt Clark said.

“Though you may disagree with it, we’re not gonna infringe on people’s constitutional right to say things,” Clark said.

According to a survey conducted by the Fund for Leadership, Equity, Access and Diversity, 77 percent of professionals who work in university diversity or student affairs offices said one uncivil, hate and bias incidents had occurred on a college campus within the last two years.

While graffiti and vandalism is reported to Facilities Management for removal because it is not permitted on campus, the case is different with flyers and posters, Knudson said. Flyers deemed non-threatening cannot be removed unless they are in violation with University’s policy, which guides the dissemination of information through publications, banners and chalking.

“We’re all committed to upholding free speech but also recognizing that free speech can hurt, and it can have a really negative impact,” Knudson said.

Acknowledging the impact of bias incidents and supporting those affected is important, Knudson said.

The University promotes a welcoming and respectful campus climate, she added.

“Flyers that have hateful, hurtful expressions are not upholding our University values,” Knudson said.

However, the University’s lack of action in these situations can be frustrating, Mohamed said. “They told us [an investigation] was happening, but there was no update — there was no following through.”

Going forward, Knudsen said the BRRN has plans to create a free speech website to provide information to community members about what speech is allowed under the First Amendment.

jor social determinant of health.

Understanding what they might be dealing with outside the clinic is critical to understanding how we can best care for them,” Kirsch said.

The Advocates for Human Rights organization has provided several asylum assessment trainings to physical and mental health providers over the years in collaboration with providers at The Center for Victims of Torture and the University’s Psychiatry

and Behavioral Sciences Department. The Advocates for Human Rights’ role in these trainings includes describing what asylum is and what kinds of evidence can help asylum seekers prove their case, Griffith said.

“We’re trying to join the ranks of these other people who have been working very hard in this area for a very long time and trying to help pull groups together in a more united effort,” Bass said.

u from Page 1 $1,000 grant from the University’s Institute for Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy.

“Our job as educators and professionals is providing high quality care to everyone who needs healthcare,” Avery said. “We’re on a learning curve, our students are on a learning curve. Our goal is to broaden their education and get a little further.”

Avery said she was surprised by how enthusiastic the students were about taking part in the simulation.

“Our students are so happy to be getting this content and wanting to know more,” she said.

The simulation is necessary because of downfalls in professional care everywhere for transgender people, Avery said. Avery and her partner on this project, Maria Ruud, a clinical assistant professor at the University, agree that much of the mistreatment transgender patients get in medical settings comes down to a lack of education.

“People just don’t know how to take care of them,” Avery said.

While care for transgender and nonbinary patients has improved over the last 20 years, patients still face problems, Ruud said.

“We are really a heteronormative society and healthcare is really heteronormative. There’s that assumption,” she said.

Jennifer Demma, clinical practice director at the Family Tree Clinic in St. Paul, has worked closely with Ruud and Avery on this simulation, including

providing the patient teachers and writing the scenarios with them. Family Tree Clinic cares for many LGBTQ patients in the Twin Cities area.

Demma, who spends half her time in an administrative role and half as a midwife, cares for her own transgender patients, some of whom come from around the country.

“People travel from seven different states to receive care from our clinic,” she said.

Family Tree is restricted by the number of staff it has and sometimes has to connect patients elsewhere, Demma said.

“The idea is not just limiting this to midwifery and nurse practitioner students, that it’s imperative for medical students,” she said.

Mikki Coleman, one of the patient teachers and a medical assistant at Family Tree Clinic, joined the simulation because of the need for simulations like this.

“The system isn’t really built to understand our bodies,” they said.

Being a part of the simulation and getting paid for it, they said, is important because in medical settings the patient often has to inform the provider of how to treat them or speak to them.

“It’s putting trans people in a place of power where we can determine how we’re being cared for in a medical setting and our providers are properly educated,” Coleman said.

Another patient teacher, Kaija Tan, was recruited for the simulation by an Instagram post asking for volunteers.

“Reading the case files, I think they’re a good enough representation, at least for beginning learners,” they said. “Without it, people wouldn’t really learn about trans people and how to take care of trans people, especially in the healthcare setting,” Tan said.

Haruka Yukioka, the University’s Queer Student Cultural Center outreach manager, said they liked the example the simulation set.

“I was really impressed with the fact that they talked about bringing in folks from the [LGBTQ] community,” they said.

It’s important for transgender and nonbinary people to receive genderaffirming care from other transgender and nonbinary people, Yukioka said.

Yukioka also had suggestions for making a transgender patient comfortable, such as including pronouns in their email signature or asking what the patient’s preferred name is.

“That’s usually a sign that the provider is willing to listen to the patient,” they said.

“Our job as educators and professionals is providing high quality care to everyone who needs healthcare.”

MELISSA AVERY professor and a simulation creator

4

Sports

MNDAILY.COM

MN DAILY

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

VOLLEYBALL

Gophers shine bright for home crowd After dropping back-to-back road matchups, U beats Florida 3-0 at home.

BY NOLAN O’HARA nohara@mndaily.com

It was a dominant performance by the Gophers volleyball team on Saturday, as they took down the No. 7 Florida Gators to get their second win of the season.

The Gophers won the match in straight sets: 25-20, 25-17 and 25-22. It was an all-around team effort by Minnesota in the first. Opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy, outside hitter Adanna Rollins and middle blocker Regan Pittman combined for 11 kills in the set. Florida led early, but it wasn’t long before the Gophers were able to climb back. They went up 7-6, and led for the remainder of the set.

Outside hitter Alexis Hart was able to close out the first with a kill, giving the Gophers a 1-0 edge in their home opener.

“I think the crowd was a huge advantage,” setter Kylie Miller said. “The fans were loud, everybody was there, it was just really nice to feel the support.”

Saturday was Miller’s first game playing at Maturi Pavilion for the maroon and gold. She transferred to Minnesota in January.

“It was much better being on this side of the court,” she said laughing.

The Gophers’ defensive intensity was the driving force behind their win in the second. Liberos C.C. McGraw and Rachel Kilkelly both made incredible digs in a possession

JACK RODGERS, DAILY

Outside Hitter Adanna Rollins reaches to receive the ball at the Maturi Pavilion on Saturday, Sept. 7. The Gophers defeated Florida 3 sets to 0.

that ended in a Samedy kill, giving the Gophers an 11-9 lead. They would go on to win the set 25-17. McGraw and Kilkelly finished the match with a combined 21 digs. Rollins had a teamhigh 13 digs.

The Gophers held Florida to a .043 hit percentage in the second set.

“It was good,” head coach Hugh McCutcheon said of the Gophers’

defensive performance.

“I was particularly impressed with [McGraw] and [Kilkelly], I thought they both did a good job back there. Certainly, [Rollins] had a few nice digs and some good tip coverage, and I think overall that can be a strength for us.”

Florida didn’t back down in the third. Miller opened the set with an ace, but Florida answered with

a 4-0 run. They held a slim lead until Minnesota went on a 6-0 run, giving them a 17-13 advantage. Later in the third, the Gophers took a 20-15 lead after a Pittman and Rollins block.

Florida answered once again, this time with a 3-0 run. In the end, it wasn’t enough. Hart and Samedy combined for the team’s final five kills, giving the Gophers a sweep in their

home opener.

“One thing we wanted to work on was our presence coming onto the court,” Samedy said. “Just wanting to get out there and compete from the start and just play Gopher volleyball. I think we did that.”

The Gophers will play again in the Big Ten/PAC 12 Challenge on Sept. 13 and 14. They’ll take on No. 9 Oregon and No. 1 Stanford.

“I think the crowd was a huge advantage. The fans were loud, everybody was there, it was just really nice to feel the support.”

KYLIE MILLER Gophers setter

CROSS COUNTRY

Men’s and women’s teams grab Oz Memorial title Women claim top 15 spots, junior Owen Hoeft grabs first career win.

BY BRENDAN O’BRIEN bobrien@mndaily.com

Minnesota’s cross country program could not have asked for a better start to their season as both the men’s and women’s teams won the 20th annual Oz Memorial Run at Les Bolstad Golf Course Friday night.

On the men’s side, the four-mile race came down to a tight finish for first place between three of the Gophers’ top runners.

Ultimately, redshirt junior Owen Hoeft won the race with a time of 20:37.8, with redshirt sophomore Jordan MacIntosh and redshirt junior Jack Manderscheid finishing closely behind at second and third respectively. Redshirt junior Alec Basten, the Gophers’ top runner a season ago, did not compete in the meet.

Hoeft said it felt good to run with his teammates after training throughout the offseason. This was Hoeft’s first career win, and he is the first on the men’s team to win the Oz Memorial since 2016.

Minnesota divided their runners into two different teams for the meet.

KAMAAN RICHARDS, DAILY

Redshirt Junior Owen Hoeft approaches an intersection with his teammates at the Les Bolstad Golf Course on Friday, Sep. 6.

The Gold team won the meet with 21 points, and the Maroon team finished second with 34 points.

Minnesota-Duluth and Drake finished third and fourth respectively.

Men’s Head Coach Steve Plasencia said it is difficult to judge how the

team is doing because of it being the first meet of the season. However, he said it was a breakout meet for some of the runners and was pleased with the results.

“I think it’s a good start to get going and get moving,” Plasencia said. “I

think there’s better things to come.”

After the men competed, the Gopher women beat Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State in the sixkilometer race. Minnesota finished with a total of 15 points and had the top 15 runners in the race.

Redshirt sophomore Anastasia Korzenowski finished in first place with a six-kilometer time of 21:40.3. Behind Korzenowski, redshirt sophomore Jaycie Thomsen finished in second by 28 seconds. Redshirt junior Carissa Dock, redshirt junior Lindsey

fumbled the punt as his own player ran right into him and Fresno State recovered the ball on the Gophers 38-yard-line.

The Bulldogs found the end zone six plays later and scored a touchdown to give themselves a 28-21.

The Gophers forced overtime with touchdown pass from Tanner Morgan to Chris Autman-Bell on fourth down with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“It was an elite call and an elite catch by Chris [Autman-Bell],” Morgan

told the media.

The back-and-forth game continued in overtime.

Following an incomplete pass on third down, Fresno State was forced to settle for a field goal attempt. However, a flag for roughing the passer kept the Bulldogs drive alive, and on the the very next play, Reyna found Rivers in the end zone for a touchdown.

Minnesota answered with a touchdown of their own, forcing the game into a second overtime.

In double overtime the Gophers were unable to find the end zone, settling for a field goal, putting them up 38-35.

On the first play of the Bulldogs next drive, the mistakes looked like they finally had caught up to the Gophers as Reyna appeared to have a wide-open receiver in the end zone. However, a streaking Winfield Jr. got position on the receiver and intercepted the pass, ending the game.

“It’s surreal,” Fleck told the media about the

interception. “He’s just an unbelievable football player.”

Despite the struggles, Winfield and his teammates never lost hope.

“We knew as long as we stuck together, we could pull it through,” Winfield said after the game.

“We just have awesome leadership on our team. We were telling ourselves the entire time that we could win this game, we could win this game. No matter what the score was we knew could win it as long as we pull through together.”

Greenlund and resdhirt sophomore Tate Sweeney rounded out the top five scorers for the Gophers.

Seniors Bethany and Megan Hasz competed in this race but ran unattached, meaning their scores did not count toward Minnesota’s team score.

Bethany finished third overall while Megan finished fourth.

Minnesota’s cross country program does not compete again until the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 28.

Both women’s Head Coach Sarah Hopkins and Plasencia plan to use this atypical break as a time for their runners to recover and prepare for the remainder of the season. “[I’m] pleased that we can come out of this and get back to training but really gain some great experience so that we can keep building off of this,” Hopkins said. “But I think this is a great spot to be building from just even compared to last year at this time.”

The Oz Memorial race is in memory of Gary Osborn. Osborn was the head coach of women’s cross country at Drake University from 1989 to 1999 and was a friend of former Minnesota coach Gary Wilson. Osborn passed away on May 21, 2000 at the age of 56.

FOOTBALL

Fresno u from Page 1

another touchdown pass to his night. A successful twopoint conversion brought Fresno’s lead to 21-14.

Still the Gophers responded, tying up the game on the next possession. On Fresno’s ensuing possession the Gopher defense forced the Bulldogs to punt and it looked like Minnesota had shifted the momentum.

But, wide receiver Demetrius Douglas

“He let the other guy get to him.

It’s a teaching moment. It’s an educational moment. Nobody’s perfect. It’s a heated moment, but we have to keep our cool in that situation.”

PJ FLECK head coach

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MN DAILY

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

MUSIC

Sister Species melds color with chaos The seven-piece band blends intentional pop with introspective lyricism.

BY KSENIA GORINSHTEYN kgorinshteyn@mndaily.com

Emily Kastrul is sitting on her parents’ old couch with her feet up on the coffee table, looking through her phone.

“Do you want to hear what I said to the band?”

Kastrul said.

The groupchat she refers to includes six other individuals, all part of her band, Sister Species.

“I said, ‘If everyone could just tell me how big their range is and what they love, that would be useful, thanks,’” Kastrul said.

One of the members said they have a three-octave singing range and love to squeal, while another mentioned their guitar can reach four octaves if she tunes it weird.

“Range is a capitalist construct to sell more pianos,” said another member.

Sister Species, a self-described orchestral pop band, is in the midst of recording their third EP after the release of “Heavy Things Do Move” last May. “[This next EP is] almost like a bird’s eye view on pain or suffering,” Kastrul said.

“A lot of it’s about being present and showing a blueprint for healing.”

“Heavy Things Do Move” focused on the relationship someone might have with mental health, and this new record is an extension of it.

“It’s not like a sharp direction shift from that record,” Kastrul said. “It’s more just like as you continue to grow and mature, you have different views on the world.”

The band has also had a shift in their lineup recently. Kastrul’s sibling, Abby Kastrul, left the band to devote more of their creative energy to baking for their project Bakery Box, and Willow Waters joined the band on guitar.

“I went to play with the group and it just kind of locked right in and felt really good,” Waters said.

EVENTS

JASMIN KEMP, DAILY

Emily Kastrul poses for portraits on Wednesday Sept. 4.

Kastrul leads a band of seven named, “Sister Species” that meets every week to practice and create new content.

Kastrul also says, “My songwriting is concerned with where I stop and the rest of the world begins. I also use a lot of natural imagery in my songwriting so it’s like a metaphor for my emotions or other experiences.”

“There’s great energy in the group and in the room.

Everyone supports and uplifts each other.”

Sister Species sounds a lot like what Kastrul’s home looks like — colorful and chaotic, yet everything has its perfect place.

In addition to the traditional instruments of a three-piece band, Sister Species adds three trumpets and an accordion to the mix. On top of the tightly arranged instrumentation, Kastrul sings lyrics like, “are we lost in the finding, or found in the losing?”

“The arrangements they had written just sounded like music that people had spent time on and really thought about,” said Jason McGlone, who produced

their last EP. “It wasn’t haphazardly just put together.”

Kastrul predicts their next release might happen sometime next winter, but they’re in no rush. She says they are following a “get it while it’s hot” technique, suggested by one of their three trumpet players, Jake Baldwin, and recording the songs as soon as they’ve finished writing them.

“A lot of these songs are a little fresher,” Kastrul said.

“One of them we didn’t even play out before recording, we were just like, ‘Well it’s pretty close to done. I think we can figure it out.’”

Many of Kastrul’s lyrics focus on natural imagery, which has also influenced Waters’ solo music. One of the songs on the new Sister

EVENTS

Rocking out for a worthy cause Local musicians united at Rock for the Rainforest, raising over $2,000 for the Rainforest Trust.

BY NORAH KLEVEN nkleven@mndaily.com

In the weeks since news broke of devastating fires in the Amazon rainforest, celebrities, environmental groups and civilians have taken to social media to raise awareness and funds for the rainforest.

In Minneapolis, local artists did the same. Rock for the Rainforest was organized by local reggae-rock band Space Monkey Mafia.

As many as 60 people turned out to dance for a worthy cause on Thursday night at Veterans of Foreign Wars in Uptown. They rocked for the rainforest.

“My band and I were driving to a gig in Fargo last Friday and the whole situation had been weighing on all of us pretty heavily,” said Blake Foster, the band’s guitarist. “We just wanted to do something.”

After a few phone calls and no more than an hour, Foster said the event was confirmed.

“Everybody’s down for the cause so that’s really cool,” Foster said.

When it came to curating a lineup, Foster said a few environmentally-minded bands were an easy pick.

Thursday night’s lineup featured The Immaculate Beings, Smokin’ Joe and The

JASMIN KEMP, DAILY

Kristin Hawkinson works on a painting to sell at Rock for the Rainforest, a benefit for the wildfires burning in the Amazon, on Thursday, Sept. 6.

Floating Perspectives.

Smokin’ Joe, led by Joe Scarpellino, started the night off. The group paid tribute to the wildlife lost in the Amazon blaze with an ecofriendly setlist.

“I think about it all the time – the environment and what we’re doing to it,” Scarpellino said between songs. “That’s why I write songs about it, because what else can you do?’”

As the night continued on, people migrated to the dance floor. The Immaculate Beings delivered an emotional indierock set.

In addition to live music, there was an auction. Items included donations from local artists, concert tickets and merchandise from First Avenue and the headlining band, Space Monkey Mafia.

Off to the side of the stage, local artists painted rainforest-inspired scenes.

Lauren Thompson traveled from Turtle Lake,

Wisconsin — about 75 miles away — to attend the event.

Thompson, a tattoo artist, put her artistic talents to work at the event, painting abstract Amazon scenes on canvases.

The event raised a total of $2,050. One-hundred percent of the proceeds were donated to the Rainforest Trust, which purchases and protects endangered lands and species in the Amazon.

Among the most moving moments of the night came when Kyle Samejima, executive director of the Minneapolis Climate Action and University alumnus, delivered an impromptu address about the importance of activism.

“When we go out to do these things, it makes a difference. Our voices need to be heard,” Samejima said.

“I believe that every action that we take — every time we say no to a plastic bag, every time we say no to a plastic cup … makes a difference.”

Species EP speaks of cottonwood trees and loss.

“Whenever we sing that chorus line together about the cottonwood trees, it makes the hairs on my arms stand up,” Waters said. “It’s really special.”

Sister Species will be performing some of their new music at Moon Palace

Books on Friday, Sept. 13 under a full moon. The EP remains nameless for now until they settle on what kind of message they ultimately want it to carry.

The band is letting the completion of their EP run its course in the same way that healing does: slowly and intentionally.

“I think we just like, really understand what we’re capable of as a band,” Kastrul said. “It feels comfy.”

Sister Species + Ester

$

Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m.

Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis Free

6 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

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MN DAILY

Uma Venkata columnist

his year, President Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Art Laffer, a former economic adviser to Ronald Reagan, for what is widely known as the Laffer curve.

The Laffer curve posits that there’s a tax rate between 0 and 100 percent where government revenue is maximized. Therein begins every economist’s separate pursuit for that ideal rate. Imagine a plot with tax rate on the x-axis, and government revenue on the y-axis. Using the Laffer curve’s logic historically means pushing down tax

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rates in order to get higher government revenue — i.e., lower taxes means more tax collected. In practice, lower taxes means less tax collected, which directly contradicts Laffer’s promise.

Laffer pitched it to the Ford administration in 1974 and was rejected. But in 1981, the Reagan administration took it and ran.

Thus began multiple Laffer curve case studies, most immediately the massive tax cuts from Reagan’s Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, and not long after, Reagan’s request for a third of the lost revenue back.

The point is that the Laffer curve is used to justify that tax cuts will increase tax revenue. If that doesn’t sound right, you’re probably on the right track. But when the Laffer curve enters the political arena as a campaigning point, enough smoke and mirrors can confuse the voter.

My favorite example is from former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, or Scottdog, as I call him when my friends and I hit the bars. Walker gave a speech in his home state and explained the Laffer curve in the context of the discount retailer Kohl’s.

He compared the curve to Kohl’s discount scheme, meaning if you slash prices, more people will buy. Therefore, the store will generate more revenue by selling more slashed-priced articles than if they priced them regularly.

But that’s just unrelated. It’s not even the main basis for Kohl’s. Kohl’s keeps prices down by leasing cheap buildings on cheap land, laying out the store properly, advertising to the right demographics and other low-cost retail strategies. Also, Kohl’s is a clothing store here to make a profit. The government and taxes are, theoretically, here to serve the people. These aren’t the same.

As you can see, the Laffer curve has quickly evolved from an economic postulate to a political ideology. President Trump’s award to Art Laffer is not just a commendation for contributions to tax theory, but a signal that this contentious idea is entirely valid and a pillar of American progress.

Tax cuts justified by the Laffer curve had thrown the state of Kansas into $1 billion of debt and lost $600 million in revenue in 2012 when then Gov. Sam Brownback dramatically cut taxes. It was called the “Kansas Experiment.” The state stalled.

Job creation, school operation, labor force participation and economic output all plunged. Then, Brownback was barely reelected against a Democrat, and Kansas did it again in 2017.

The Laffer curve is an emperor’s new clothes of supply-side economics. We can see how the theory fits into the Trump administration and why Laffer would earn

Jonathan Ababiy columnist

It’s extremely difficult to find an affordable unit in Minneapolis.

That will continue to be true, at least in the University area, because of a vague, selfinflicting exemption in a recent inclusionary zoning ordinance passed by the city council.

Since January of this year, as part of the inclusionary zoning ordinance, developers who ask for a significant increase in density are required to include affordable units in

their project. Essentially, in exchange for permission to build bigger, developers have to set aside 10 percent (or more if city financing is involved) of the units as affordable.

But the interim ordinance exempts new private student housing within a half mile of the University from the affordability requirement. The city defines student housing as projects close to or owned by a university where sixty percent of units are expected to be leased by students. As a result, much of the new development around the University won’t have to include the affordable units that other non-student developments are obligated to build.

Complex federal rules do make it very difficult for most students under 25 to use affordable housing, but the housing would be an excellent option for older families that work and study at the University.

In Boulder, Colorado, another college town with an affordability crisis, an exemption for student housing would be an issue of fairness, said Michelle Allen, Boulder’s inclusionary housing project manager.

The fast-growing city has leaned heavily on inclusionary zoning to provide affordable housing. The policy can create units right away in places where growth is concentrated and amenities are high.

Importantly, the inclusionary zoning policy that she administrates has no

exemption for private student housing, unlike Minneapolis.

“It seems like a very odd policy to me to exclude a market developer just because they somehow market or include students. It doesn’t feel very fair to me, for one thing,” Allen said.

Allen expressed that it is also very hard to verify housing as strictly student housing.

Buildings change in demographics over time, so a building could be primarily students one year, and no longer be majority student another year. It’s also unfair to private developers with a different specialty, like workforce or senior housing.

“It seems like something that could be manipulated by a developer to get out of their inclusionary zoning requirements,” she said.

It’s frustrating because the inclusionary policy works so well.

“One big [benefit] is leveraging the strength of the private market,” said Stephanie Reyes, a policy manager at Grounded Solutions Network, which is the organization hired by the city to research and provide guidance for the inclusionary zoning ordinance.

“So, when developers are able to build profitably in the community they can afford to provide some affordable units with little to no public subsidy,” she said.

Additionally, as Allen noted, the policy

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My big fat Greek column

A GDI’s outside perspective.

I

a Medal of Freedom. Tax implications as explained by the Laffer curve diverge with reality in such a cosmic way that further validation can and will hurt working people, like in Kansas. And our politicians reward it though there has been not actually been evidence to support that tax cuts to the wealthy increases revenue, instead only evidence to the contrary. Even David Stockman, a Reagan budget director, agrees.

Is this suspension of disbelief? Is tax theory a Gabriel García Márquez novel? Is everything just a blood feud between the liberals and conservatives?

I hope not. But ultimately, the Laffer curve is a political masquerade of cutting taxes, often for the rich and corporate, promising fictitious results and ending up totally absent once consequences hurt real taxpayers. The first step to accountability is awareness.

Uma Venkata welcomes comments at uvenkata@mndaily.com.

The student housing loophole

Why private student housing shouldn’t be exempt from the city’s affordable housing requirement.

I

Editorials & Opinions

The Laffer curve never gets old

The joke is on us.

T

MNDAILY.COM

n the spirit of rush Caroline Skoog week, I’ve seen a lot of columnist promotions on social media for “Going Greek.” Greek chapters cite a few signature statistics as evidence that joining a Greek organization builds character, teaches integrity and helps cultivate successful individuals. The statistics they cited were not necessarily sources I find to be adequately credible, but they are widely used to help recruit students into Greek life.

The North American Interfraternity Conference cites that about 44 percent of U.S. presidents have held a fraternity membership. An archived webpage from Cornell’s official website states that fraternity members and alumni, though accounting for only 2 percent of the U.S. population since 1776, make up 80 percent of the top Fortune 500 executives. Fraternity men have made up about 85 percent of the supreme court since 1910, according to the same article.

So, what do Greek chapters know that the rest of us GDIs (God D*** Independents, a term for non-Greek life students) don’t?

Perhaps it’s each other. Pledging a Greek house immediately connects you with a network of hundreds of thousands of people, and the ties embedded in brother or sisterhood strengthen loyalty, which can be difficult to find when entering the workforce.

Oh wait, I think I kind of just described

nepotism. No, that can’t be right. There’s no LinkedIn in nepotism.

It’s unlikely that the secret to prosperity rests in a locked chapter room somewhere on frat row. The date party-to-congress pipeline might be better understood when taking socioeconomic factors into consideration.

Paying dues, for example, could indicate that Greek life is more accessible to people coming from privileged backgrounds.

The large amount of time that a member is expected to devote to their house could also impede students with jobs from participating. Of course, this is all speculation, as the North-American Interfraternity Conference and the National Panhellenic Council don’t publish demographic information, according to the Century Foundation. Nevertheless, it’s worth entertaining the idea that maybe wealthy individuals propagate Greek life rather than Greek life propagating wealth.

I know that for some people my point is delegitimized by the glaring GDI tattoo on my forehead. That’s kind of what I’m talking about, though. Going after a person for questioning the conventions of Greek life kind of emulates the whole ‘exclusionary’ club stereotype. Besides, I can’t walk down University Avenue or take a case to the Supreme Court without coming into contact with the Greek life perspective.

I have friends in Greek life that have deeply benefited from joining their house, and I absolutely believe them. The positive impact that Greek life makes on many individuals is substantial, but just because a system benefits individuals within it doesn’t mean that it’s good for society, or a campus, at large. Likewise, just because a system doesn’t outright dismiss people from varying backgrounds doesn’t mean that it doesn’t assume an environment that encourages homogeneity.

Formal sorority rush, for instance, dictates the five “Bs” to avoid in conversation between potential new members and recruiters: booze, boys, bucks, Bible, and Bama (Obama)/Bush (meaning politics, although

I think even referencing Obama’s general existence could get you into trouble). So, sexuality and voting are off the table (again). In the process of determining which sisterhood is a good match, one isn’t allowed to discuss topics that substantially influence their identity. Is it possible this process consciously stifles individuality?

The five “Bs”also presume certain aspects of one’s identity. Most noticeably, “boys” presupposes that potential new members are straight; sure, the logic is meant to discourage talking about relationships or hookups all together, but in that case, update the acronym, be creative with it or something.

Leaving money out of the conversation is a privilege in and of itself, but it also sets an odd precedent leading to the day of recruitment that’s devoted to informing potential new members about dues and fees. That may be the designated day to discuss finances, but it’s also half way through a week that expects a snappy-casual outfit for each day. Formal recruitment sounds like an exhausting performance (of both cheers and gender) for both recruiters and potential new members.

With all that running from house to house and forging new connections amidst rigid conversation rules, it seems more like unpaid labor than empowerment.

A lot of people love Greek life, and I don’t want to take away from that. Greek life is a system, process and institution that’s fueled by tradition; sometimes tradition needs critique. Most of the time, actually.

Speaking as a dirty GDI, I think stigmas surrounding Greek life could be addressed if houses were more transparent (which is difficult given all the passwords and secret handshakes). Demographics, live-in and liveout dues, and their recruitment expectations might be useful information to potential new members and could expand the types of people that Greek life attracts.

Caroline Skoog welcomes comments at cskoog@mndaily.com.

helps put units where development is happening. These kinds of places are usually not cost-effective for affordable housing agencies. Inclusionary zoning is an excellent way of creating the mixed-income communities that often elude urban planners.

Its exemption of educational institutions is needed and common sense. However, the rest of the exemption needs to be revised.

There is no reason for the exemption to remain as the city transitions from its interim plan to a more permanent ordinance. That means affordable units should be in new development near campus, both in the slender luxury towers by the river and in mid-rise buildings in Dinkytown and Stadium Village.

A proposal for a 16 or 25 story tower in Dinkytown is currently the campus buzz.

Under the ordinance, it has no legal obligation to provide affordable units, although developers haven’t ruled out voluntarily adding some.

That needs to change. Our city can’t wait.

Jonathan Ababiy welcomes comments at jababiy@mndaily.com.

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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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

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HOROSCOPES

Today’s Birthday (9/9): Discover domestic joys this year.

Pursue a passion with steady diligence. Hearts intertwine and connect this winter, before new directions confront your crew.

Next summer brings a domestic shift before your friends pull together for a shared success. Savor time with the ones you love.

MNDAILY.COM

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

Written by Nancy Black

Aries (3/21 - 4/19): Today is a 9 — Celebrate team accomplishments. Reinforce strong traditions and bonds. Share the love and acknowledge great moves and vision.

Libra (9/23 - 10/22): Today is an 8 — Move quickly to make a good impression. Get creative and artistic. Find romance in ordinary vistas. Share your quirky side.

Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): Today is an 8 — Strengthen your professional infrastructure.

Use the best equipment you can afford. Take charge for an interesting opportunity.

Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Today is an 8 — A domestic dream seems within reach. Make repairs and upgrades. Surround your family with a comfortable, nurturing space.

Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): Today is an 8 — Investigate and explore possibilities. Classes, seminars and conferences impart valuable skills and resources.

Travel expands your horizon to new views.

Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): Today is a 9 — Keep following threads. The answer you’ve been looking for is closer than you think. Creativity with communications can have lasting benefits.

Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Today is a 9 — Measure and track shared funding goals. Collaborate for greater impact. Accept a generous offer.

Organize plans for best value on expenses.

Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): Today is a 9 — Be assertive, not hasty. Heed a warning, and save money. A great assignment develops. The profit potential of this venture entices.

Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Today is an 8 — Share words and action for collaborative effort, and get farther than expected. Ask for more, and get it. Consult an expert. Listen to suggestions.

Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): Today is an 8 — Prepare to launch a personal dream. Put your worries aside, and enjoy the moment. Stay gentle with yourself. Strengthen foundational integrity.

Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): Today is a 9 — The pace is picking up. Toss the ball to a teammate.

Collaborate to get farther. Step lively, and keep the action going. You’re growing stronger.

Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Today is a 7 — Stay close to home. Meditate on what has been and what is still to come. Enjoy this present moment.

Share sweetness with your inner circle.

DR. DATE Dr. Date,

I don’t know much about football, but I do know that our team isn’t exactly the greatest. We’ve done well at times (the axe is back, baby!!!!), but throughout my four years of college, I’ve seen way more losses than wins. My boyfriend, however, is a HUGE fan. We met at a Gopher watch party, but I didn’t realize how big of a deal football was to him until we started dating six months ago.

Now that the season has started again, my boyfriend is glued to the TV with all of his friends. When there’s a Gopher game that night, I know I won’t see him for 48 hours — he’ll be pre-gaming all day, then dealing with a hangover the next day. I barely see him! I told him I wished he wasn’t so involved, but he said I was overreacting.

We decided to make a bet: when the Gophers inevitably lose that game, he has to spend the next day with me and me alone, no matter the hangover. I figured it would bring us closer together and help us talk about something other than football. Plus, I was DEFINITELY going to get the better end of that deal — we’re not exactly winning many championships, right? If the Gophers win, I have to ... perform a sexual act we don’t normally do. Don’t get me wrong, we are both consenting adults, but it’s just more work for me.

I’m sure you see where this is going.

The Gophers have won both games they’ve played, and I’ve been spending more time “celebrating” in bed than actually hanging out with my boyfriend. I’m worried this winning streak will continue and I’ll never see him outside of tailgating and sex. However, he’s obviously a big fan of this bet, and I don’t know how to ask him to call it off (especially because it was my idea in the first place).

Outside of hunting down PJ Fleck, what can I do?!

—Sore Winner

Dear Sore Winner,

Rule number one: Don’t make bets you’re not comfortable losing.

But, I don’t think the bet is really the problem here. It sounds like you and your boyfriend don’t spend as much time together as you would like, and you came up with a bet to force him into doing it (which, seriously, you shouldn’t have to do. You’re his partner!). Have

a conversation about what’s really masquerading behind the bet. If he’s a decent boyfriend, he should recognize that you feel like your needs aren’t being met and will discuss how you can both get on the same page. But if he yells that rules are rules and you’re being dramatic, dump him as fast as ... I don’t know, insert something about football here?

—Dr. Date

Dr. Date,

After a month of being unemployed, my boyfriend has found a new job as a server at a new restaurant ... I think.

He just started the job and I’m a little concerned he may be lying to me. For one thing, this restaurant doesn’t seem to exist! He told me it’s new and very underground, so they don’t want to have a website or online presence. Despite me telling him that sounds like they’re hiding from the health department, he’s adamant it’s a cool hipster thing.

Ever since he’s been working there, he’s come home with tons of small bills, mostly ones. He’s been receiving some weird packages that seem to be coming from adult companies, if you know what I mean, and every night when he gets home from work he’s absolutely exhausted. Long story short, I think he’s working at a place that shows more skin than his work shirts allow. How can I get him to be honest with me?

—Concerned Boyfriend

Dear Concerned Boyfriend,

While I certainly haven’t been to an underground restaurant with no online presence — dating advice columnists aren’t exactly the rockstars of the journalism world (or any world) — it’s possible this mystery place may exist, especially considering the other suspicions you listed can be attributed to bad tippers, potential gifts for you and customer service exhaustion. If he’s insisting it’s a real job, ask to come with him for a day or see if he’ll take you to dinner there. Hey, both of you could be correct — do strip clubs serve food?

—Dr. Date

Want advice from the love doctor? Email Dr. Date at drdate@mndaily.com

SUDOKU CROSSWORD

Last Issue’s Puzzle Solved Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.

9/9/19

For strategies on how to solve sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk.

Last issue’s solution

© 2019 Michael Mepham. Distributed

by Tribune Media Services.

All rights reserved.

8

Monday, September 9, 2019

Gabel discusses first day of school, her legacy and various topics in between UMN President Joan Gabel talked with the MN Daily late last week.

BY DYLAN ANDERSON danderson@mndaily.com In her first monthly sit down with the Minnesota Daily, President Joan Gabel discussed promoting diversity, student mental health and the next steps in the process of reckoning with the University’s history.

How was your first, first day of school as UMN President?

It was great. Welcome Week and the first day of school were really fun.

When you do this for a living … you’re really happy when the students come back. That’s what you’re here for. It’s always just the best energy when the students come back and seeing their excitement, and also where possible, helping with questions or concerns and just being a part of making sure that it’s the best next chapter of their life. It’s been wonderful.

You’ve made an extra ef for t to note the University of Minnesota was built on the traditional homelands of the Dakota people. Why is that so impor tant to you to note?

I think that doing acknowledgments is part of how we own a history and move forward together in a spirit of reconciliation.

That requires being overt, and I think that that’s how we get better. I think people come to universities … because we want things to continuously improve.

That’s what universities do and that includes doing things like land acknowledgments.

JASMIN KEMP, DAILY

University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel fields questions in her office on Thursday, Sept. 5.

You’ve talked about promoting diversity quite a bit. It’s a priority for the Board of Regents this year. How specifically do you want to promote diversity among students, faculty and staff?

Those work differently, but they fit together if you do them the right way. For faculty recruitment … it’s very relational, and very specific to the needs of a department. You don’t just hire a professor, you hire a professor who does a certain type of work, who has

a certain type of expertise, and has the ability to expand knowledge. ... That is in and of itself a type of diversity, a diversity of thought and scholarship and expertise. Then you want to layer upon that a diversity in background and perspective. … We have very robust implicit bias training … and that can help us overcome anything we inadvertently do. … When we’re looking for the way in which we fill out a portfolio of academic expertise, we’re also filling out a portfolio of

perspective. We would expect to see some of the numbers come up as a result of that. … This is a welcoming place we have. ... And that is true for faculty and staff.

For students, we know that in order for students of a variety of backgrounds and perspectives to choose an institution, they need to have a relationship with [the University]. … [We have to] make sure that our story is being told early … that we’re there and that they see the opportunity here.

And then once they’re here, that they have what they need in order to be successful, that would be true for all of our students. But we need to be overt about it so that we don’t inadvertently leave someone out of that conversation.

Student mental health is an issue that you have made clear you want to address. Why is this issue so important to you and how do you want to address it?

I want our students to be successful. And I also believe very much that we meet students where they are. … In the last few years, meeting students where they are has very much come to include the fact that a very real percentage of our students experience a mental health challenge, some of which rise to the level of a diagnosis and some of which don’t. …

We want our students to be well, because it will make them successful. … That includes being well, and being well includes being mentally well. So that’s why we want to do it.

The how is being developed as we speak. We already do a lot. … We realized we needed to take a short but real pause to evaluate what we’re even doing. We call that an environmental scan … that shows everything we’re doing.

What I learned was there was no one person or one group of people who knew everything we did around student wellness or student well being. And so therefore, how could a student possibly know all of their options and where they could find them easily, particularly when they were feeling stressed? … We want to make that clear and robust so that students can find it easily. … Once we have that done, we’ll do a gap analysis and figure out what we have.

We have one gap that we already know about, which is the access to services on the West Bank. … That’s already underway, we’re not waiting for the environmental scan. But we suspect we’ll find other things that we could be tweaking or fundamentally changing that would improve the services we provide.

Last May the Board of Regents voted to not rename several buildings on campus. And they charged you with finding other ways of reckoning with the University’s histor y. What do you envision that being and what is the process for fulfilling that, and where are we in that process? … It’s a never-ending process. And I mean that in the best way, which is that we will always learn more about ourselves. That is the nature of history, and the scholarship of history. … So while the board did not vote to rename, they did vote to have sustained educational opportunities and learning opportunities.

The task force ... included options in addition to renaming that are extremely helpful in a conversation around sustained educational programming. So we’re looking at those options, including things like event series ... that would start at some point this year.

We expect there to be physical space where we could have reflection on our history that would allow us to learn more about what has happened here, but also give us the opportunity to find a sense of peace as we move forward.

We’re looking at learning opportunities … It’s very valuable and helpful for universities to remember who they are, when difficult, painful, social questions arise, and who we are, are learners and curious people and scholars with expertise with a shared mission of service. And so if we can take the pain of what has happened historically, and make it an ongoing instructional opportunity and research opportunity, and incentivize that, I think that we can move from reckoning into reconciliation. And that’s my goal. And so I’m working with a couple of our deans and some of our faculty on whether we could think of an instructional opportunity — a standing course, for example. And I know we have one launched already. ... I want to be clear that that’s just the beginning of the conversation. We expect this to be something we just do, you don’t finish this, this is something that you strive to continuously improve on.

In July, the University came under scrutiny for mishandling public data requests. How important is transparency to you and what steps are you taking to ensure that public data requests are handled properly?

It’s critically important.

It’s a question of public trust. It is very difficult in very large, complex

organizations to be perfect all the time, but that’s what we should strive to be. We do sometimes make mistakes. And so I think when mistakes happen, you have to own them and apologize for them, you need to look at systemically what allowed the mistake to happen and fix that.

If that’s … human error, which sometimes there is, then you have to do the training to try to mitigate or minimize if not eliminate the likelihood of that error happening again.

In this case, we had a little of all … we had a large document production that had a small number of documents that were questioned in terms of the amount of redaction and some of the documents questioned were over redacted. We’re doing a full sweep of the data production unit in our in our office for whether we are doing the entire process well and accurately. Those of us who are very active … in data production have gone through training to make sure we understand what we’re supposed to provide. … I believe in self reporting, even when it is awkward or painful, which we did in this case. And the hope is that we would find ways to improve the systematic process. We should have the results of that internal review soon.

We’re just two months into your presidency.

Have you thought about what you want your legacy to be, and if you have, what would that be?

I thought about it a lot.

I will say that, I think the best time to really start to articulate the legacy is after we’ve done the strategic planning process. And that’s not a hedge. That’s because that’s the absolute best way to hear what people want the University to be. And one of the questions we’re asking … is what are what we’re calling “north star goals,” things you might never achieve, but that we should still be striving for: 100 percent graduation rate, zero student debt, number one in research productivity. What would those goals be for us? … And then you work backwards from that. I think that there are things that I would like to see happen, but I really think the role of a presidency in a system and in a land grant mission is to curate and cultivate a vision and a legacy that comes up from the constituencies and that shared voice. I have opinions, but I’m going to tailor my opinions based on what I hear.

This interview has been edited for length, grammar and clarity.