September 23, 2019

GOPHERS VOLLEYBALL DOMINATES, EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO FIVE PAGE 4

EARLY WEEK MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

MNDAILY.COM

Thousands say no to climate change

As part of global strikes, activists packed the capitol in St. Paul Friday.

BY JASMINE SNOW jsnow@mndaily.com

Joining millions of protestors scattered across 150 countries, thousands turned out to speak against climate change in St. Paul Friday.

An oppressive heat settled over the Minnesota Youth Climate Strike as participants marched to the Capitol Building, gathering at the Western Sculpture Park in protest of what organizers call the “climate crisis.”

Speakers included students and organizers from around the state, with speeches centered around the intersections of the “climate crisis,” the oppression of marginalized people, and what they call a lack of response from politicians and civil leaders.

Speakers said that marginalized

SERVING THE UMN COMMUNITY SINCE 1900

ENVIRONMENT

people were impacted first by the climate crisis, often to a greater degree than those with more systemic privilege.

MN Youth Climate Strike is a branch of the U.S. Youth Climate Strike, a national organization “that works toward engaging, advocating and organizing youth about the climate crisis and getting people involved,” said Juwaria Jama, a 15-year-old high school sophomore at Spring Lake Park High School and co-state lead for the strike.

Jama said she became passionate about the environment and the intersectionality between climate change and oppression after noticing the effects of climate change in her community.

“Something that’s very important to the Minnesota Climate Strike is uplifting voices of communities of color and low-income communities that have been disproportionately affected by the climate crisis,” Jama said.

Protestors voiced a strong level of commitment to supporting and

Above: Demonstrators attending the Global Climate Strike pack the rotunda at the Minnesota State Capitol Building on Friday, Sept. 20. In protest of the current state of environmental legislation and the proposed climate crisis, participants staged a “die in.”

Right: Protestors pose with signs outside the Minnesota State Capitol Building on Friday, Sept. 20. The Global Climate Strike drew crowds protesting the current state of environmental legislation. (Kamaan Richards / Minnesota Daily)

u See CLIMATE Page 3

ADMINISTRATION

Gabel inaugurated as UMN’s 17th president After the ceremony, the University offered free food, music and activities to those in attendance.

BY MICHAEL MCGOUGH AND EMILY SIZEN mmcgough@mndaily.com, asizen@mndaily.com

Attendees of the inauguration of Joan Gabel, the 17th President of the University of Minnesota, take selfies with her outside Northrop Memorial Auditorium on Friday, Sept. 20. (Jasmin Kemp / Minnesota Daily)

Joan Gabel was formally inaugurated Friday as the 17th president of the University of Minnesota.

The day started with an installation ceremony in the regents boardroom in McNamara Alumni Center, followed by a march down Scholars Walk to Northrop Mall, where Gabel delivered her inaugural address. Throughout the

events, Gabel drew attention to the University’s rich history and the tribal nations of Minnesota.

Gabel is the firvst female president in the University’s nearly 170-year history.

Board of Regents Chair Ken Powell, University law professor Carol Chomsky and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke at the invite-only installation ceremony.

Gabel was granted a ceremonial mace by Walz and a medallion by Powell.

From there, Gabel walked the length of Scholars Walk to the steps of Northrop Auditorium, where she gave her inaugural address. Lining Scholar’s Walk were students, faculty, administration and other University community

TECHNOLOGY

members, including union demonstrators.

Powell and Minnesota Student AssociationVice President Jael Kerandi also spoke before the address.

“We are hopeful that our president’s passionate advocacy for mental health and the prevention of all forms of sexual misconduct will improve the experience that students have on our campus,” Kerandi said.

In her speech, Gabel spoke about the University’s past and evoked a sense of shared responsibility among the University community.

“We must embrace this u See INAUGURATION Page 2

STAFF

Using canoes and VR, U project explores Indigenous traditions Union workers UMN professors led a project to bring Dakota, Micronesian and Ojibwe communities together.

BY JOE KELLY jkelly@mndaily.com

Researchers at the University of Minnesota developed a virtual reality canoe simulator as part of a larger project that aims to revitalize cultural Indigenous traditions.

Professors Vicente Diaz and Daniel Keefe, among others, have led a team to bring Dakota, Micronesian and Ojibwe communities together in a project called “Back to Indigenous Futures.” The project — shown during President Joan Gabel’s inauguration week — is part of the University provost’s Grand Challenges research.

“Here are communities that have suffered deeply from colonization and exploitation,” Keefe said. “This is a situation where you want to approach … it in a way that is really engaging with the communities.”

The virtual reality canoe simulator involves a headset, a stool and a makeshift tiller and rudder to control the canoe’s direction, while the participant can pull a rope to move the mainsail to adjust speed.

The virtual reality transports the user to Chuuk Lagoon in Micronesia — a cluster of islands located in Oceania — where constellations are marked as directions to the surrounding islands.

“We’ve tried to be accurate in recreating what would the stars look like from this point on Earth at this latitude and longitude,” Keefe said.

Keefe said that they used

satellite imagery along with height fields to reconstruct the 3D terrain around Chuuk Lagoon in the simulator.

The simulator was displayed on Thursday during an event called “Navigating Indigenous Futures,” where members of Dakota, Ojibwe and Micronesian tribes came together for ceremonial prayer, songs and canoeing.

Keefe said canoeing is an essential part in understanding traditional ecological knowledge, or TEK. “It’s the entry point to everything,” Keefe said. “This is all about navigating, going large distances; this is about knowing where you are in the world, your literal orientation, and your figurative orientation. To learn about the canoe is really learning much more broadly.”

In order to navigate while

sailing, one has to be knowledgeable about the weather, constellations, how they move and where they’re positioned compared to the moon. Mario Benito, a navigator from Micronesia who appeared at the event, described the importance of the moon and stars.

“They are associated with each other,” Benito said. “The moon for us [is] a month, it’s always 30 days.”

However, the simulator is just a part of the project. There are two streams in the project: the first stream includes native scholars, while the second stream involves science, technology, engineering, art and math — or STEAM — researchers, which includes their work on the virtual reality simulator.

The first stream, headed by Diaz, brings together scholars u See TRADITIONS Page 3

CITY GOVT.

As economy shifts, city to offer protections for freelancers City officials and local freelancers hope the proposal will increase client accountability.

BY MOHAMED IBRAHIM mibrahim@mndaily.com

As more people turn to the gig economy as their main source of income, city officials are looking to help independent workers hold stingy clients accountable.

Building on protections laid out by wage theft legislation on both the city and state levels earlier this year, city of Minneapolis officials published the first draft of an ordinance Sept. 12 that would outline protections for freelance workers. While still in its early stages, local freelancers hope the policy will help retrieve payment from clients who fail to pay for

their services.

As a companion piece to the city’s wage theft policy that will go into effect Jan. 1, the freelance workers protections ordinance would provide steps for the city to take if employers fail to compensate freelancers for their work.

City officials first announced their intent to draft the proposal at a City Council committee meeting in June.

“As we are seeing our economy shift, it’s really important that we as a governing body adapt to these changes,” Ward 4 City Council Member Phillipe Cunningham said at the meeting. “I’m grateful to be able to be a part of this work.”

The policy, co-authored by Cunningham, Ward 13 City Council member Linea Palmisano and Ward 3 City Council member Steve Fletcher, requires employers to establish a written contract

ILLUSTRATION BY HAILEE SCHIEVELBEIN, DAILY

for potential independent workers. Employers who violate the

u See FREELANCE Page 3

demonstrate at inauguration

After discontent with contract negotiations, members of workers unions gathered Friday.

BY NIAMH COOMEY AND HANA IKRAMUDDIN ncoomey@mndaily.com, hikramuddin@mndaily.com

Members from two workers unions, Teamsters Local 320 and AFSCME Local 3800, held demonstrations as President Joan Gabel walked toward Northrop Auditorium for her inauguration speech Friday morning.

Over the past weeks, these groups have expressed discontent with contract negotiations with the University of Minnesota.

The groups feel their demands on wages and other issues have not been met, and have been taking steps to become more visible to the University community, as well as its leadership.

Last week, AFSCME demonstrated at the first Board of Regents meeting of the academic year. They showed up with signs, and union Vice President Stephanie Taylor gave a brief speech to the board and Gabel, claiming they have not listened to their concerns.

The Teamsters have been active as well. They held an ‘informational picket’ at the grand reopening of Pioneer Hall last month to voice their frustrations over worker treatment in residential dining halls.

Both Teamsters and AFSCME members lined Scholars Walk early Friday, holding signs and handing out flyers. As the procession passed them, Teamsters followed along, holding signs.

Gabel shook hands with Teamsters Vice President Curt Swenson during her walk, thanking the u See UNIONS Page 3 VOLUME 120 ISSUE 7

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

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Monday, September 23, 2019 Vol. 120 No. 7

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY

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Joan Gabel, the 17th president of the University of Minnesota, shakes hands with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during her inauguration ceremony at the McNamara Alumni Center on Friday, Sept. 20. (Nur Adam / Minnesota Daily)

Joan Gabel inaugurated as UMN’s 17th president

Inauguration u from Page 1

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unfinished business, and we must live up to the calling we share, knowing that the most important tasks of our University are done by everyone,”Gabel said.

Gabel thanked her family, friends and mentors in her address, and also mentioned the tribal nations of Minnesota.

“It is important to acknowledge the peoples on whose land we live, learn and work as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with our tribal nations,” Gabel said.

The address was filled with references to the University’s history and notable alumni, including m u s i c p ro d u c e r L i b b y Larsen and football player Bruce Smith, but Gabel emphasized progress.

“As we pivot ahead, I look forward to working with you to take leaps where needed, and incremental steps as necessary – but to ensure that each step, no matter how large or small, moves us forward,” Gabel said.

After the ceremony and address, the University community was invited to a “festive lunch” on the Northrop Mall in celebration of Gabel’s inauguration.

The event offered free food, activities and music.

Many students who attended the inauguration responded positively.

“I’m excited to see how she interacts with students in the future,” said Reed Grumann, a third-year student studying microbiology and political science.

Kaiya Woller, a firstyear student majoring in youth studies, said, “I really like that she did this instead of having a stuffy banquet.”

The festive atmosphere of the inauguration attracted a lot of students who were unaware of the event. “ I wa s j u s t w a l kin g around and I saw all the bustle,” freshman Nolan Litschewski said. “I think [Gabel] is pretty awesome from what I’ve seen.”

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Above left: Attenders gather for the inauguration of Joan Gabel, the 17th president of the University of Minnesota, on Friday, Sept. 20. Above right: Students enjoy petting animals as part of the PAWS program. Left: Crowds fill the lawn outside Northrop Auditorium. Festivities included a parade, food trucks and vegan chili.

Below: Apples grown at the University of Minnesota are handed out to students to help celebrate the inauguration. (Jasmin Kemp / Minnesota Daily)

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.

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Monday, September 23, 2019

Climate u from Page 1

advocating for what many speakers said were “black and brown bodies” thrown in the path of climate change.

As much as she wants to inspire a gathering, Jama’s goals are very much grounded in a sense of importance.

“We are hoping to be able to inspire people, but also have people under-

stand that there is a sense of urgency within the climate crisis,” she said.

Protestors at the strike seemed absorbed by this sense of urgency. Waves of chants rippled across the protestors, with slogans like “your mistakes are my future,” and “hey, hey, ho, ho, fossil fuels have got to go.”

Protestor Jess Sendin was inspired by her own generation’s involvement in climate change. “[Climate change] is human-made and

shameful,” she said. “The environment was one of the first things that I was political about and we didn’t do a very good job in sorting that out in my generation.”

The strike was supported by organizations like MN350, a local environmental advocacy group, which banded together to support the strike.

“The real leaders of the climate strike are the youth who’ve pulled this all together,” said Brett Benson, communications director

for MN350. “There’s 500 organizations that are partnered and supporting the youth, including MN350.”

The University of Minnesota’s Health Students for a Healthy Climate, which focuses on the intersection of healthcare and environmentalism, also participated in the strike.

Jack Inglis, a medical student and member of HSHC, mentioned how difficult it was for he and fellow medical students to be excused from their

other duties. “I just told the superiors that this is something we’re doing and we’d like it excused. It’d be a bad look for administrators to prevent the health care community from showing up to something like this . . . They were pretty receptive.”

There was also a strong presence from religious organizations, with groups like the First Universalists Church of Minneapolis and Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light showing their

support of the movement.

“We’re demonstrating for the youth, who we hope to see coming out,” said Judy Gobel, a member of the FUCM. Though the strike was primarily a youthoriented movement, Gobel said she noticed that large segments of the crowd seemed to belong to older generations.

“We seem to be mostly old here, but we’re hoping they’re on the other side of the crowd,” she said.

Top right: Co-Chair of the Minnesota Youth Climate Strike Mia Dilorenzo delivers remarks at the Minnesota State Capitol Building on Friday, Sept. 20. One of several speakers at the Global Climate Strike, Dilorenzo advocated for improved environmental legislation. Top left: Demonstrators at the Global Climate Strike carry homemade signs calling attention to the climate crisis.

Bottom right: Director of Black Visions Collective Kandace Montgomery delivers a prepared speech. One of several speakers at the Global Climate Strike, Montgomery advocated for improved environmental legislation and acknowledged the risks climate change poses to marginalized communities. Bottom left: Crowds gather on the lawn in front of the Minnesota State Capitol Building.

The Global Climate Strike is a national movement led by youth organizers in protest of current environmental policies. (Kamaan Richards / Minnesota Daily)

Freelance u from Page 1

agreement will have to pay compensatory damages to the freelancer, in addition to the unpaid wage, and face a fine of up to $3,000 by the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights.

Metropolitan State University student and freelance photographer Awa Mally said the possibility of untimely payment is something she considers before agreeing to work with every client. The policy would make getting compensation from clients for unpaid work much easier, she said.

“Just messaging people doesn’t work because they’re not accountable to anything,”

Mally said. “If the city gets involved, and it’s a law, then people have to respond and be liable for the agreements that they made.”

71 percent of independent workers have trouble getting paid on time by clients at least once in their careers.

The average freelancer loses up to $6,000 per year from unpaid work, according to a 2015 report from nonprofit organization Freelancers Union.

Hibak Mohamed, a Minneapolis-based freelance writer and photographer, said she hasn’t always been paid on time for her work in the past.

“I’ve had instances where I’d get paid really late, like I’d do a project and then I’d get paid for it like three to four months afterwards,”

Mohamed said. “That’s like a really big issue within the freelance writing community.”

The Minnesota Legislature passed a wage theft bill late last session that would make minimum wage violations and withholding tips a felony.

New York City’s 2017 Freelance Isn’t Free Act was the first policy on the city level to penalize employers for failing to pay freelancers.

Mohamed said having those protections for freelancers to fall back on will benefit the often-ignored workforce demographic.

“Freelance workers are often taken advantage of and swept under the rug, and it’ll kind of hold people accountable,” Mohamed said.

Ganebik Johnson wears a virtual reality headset and attempts to steer a canoe at the “Navigating Indigenous Futures” event on Thursday, Sept. 19. (Jack Rodgers / Minnesota Daily)

Traditions u from Page 1

from history, anthropology, women’s studies, astronomy education and more to research Dakota, Odawa and Pacific Islander communities.

“At every phase in research, we collaborate with our ‘subjects’ rather than simply study them top down like research objects,” Diaz said in an email to the Minnesota Daily. “Such methods — sensitive and attentive to indigenous communities’ interests, values, logics, temporalities — determine how research is to be defined and carried out.”

Water ways, rituals and how they relate to the land, sky and stars are important to Indigenous communities, Diaz said. Most Indigenous peoples have relations to components of nature and other things that aren’t

necessarily human, Diaz said.

Professor Katie Johnston-Goodstar, who has a background in youth work, is one of the members of stream one that helped Diaz with the project. “[We’re] coming together to recover and revitalize traditional water knowledges,” Johnston-Goodstar said. “[We] are mainly interested in youth work and education, so we’re interested in preserving that knowledge and developing … [curricula] with our community partners.”

By bringing the two streams together, Diaz said he hopes to combine TEK with modern engineering, math, art and architecture.

“The design and engineering of these technologies will also loop back to inform yet new ways for native scholars to engage science and engage Indigenous peoples,” Diaz said. “They will also hopefully demonstrate to Indigenous communities

the potential and power of engaging with STEAM.” Diaz and Benito tried out the virtual reality canoe simulation for the first time in its current state at the event. Afterwards, they gave Keefe handshakes of approval.

“It’s amazing to see everything,” Benito said after he tried out the simulator. “You can see the island … you can see the stars.”

A modification that Keefe and his colleagues made recently included bumping up the frame rate, making the simulation feel more realistic so the user felt like they were transported to Chuuk Lagoon.

“In VR, we call that presence,” Keefe said. “You really feel that you’ve left this environment and you are now present in this other world.

So it’s pretty special.”

Hana Ikramuddin contributed to this story.

Unions u from Page 1

Teamsters for attending.

“Thank you for coming, thank you for everything you do,” Gabel said.

Pearl McClintock, a new member of AFSCME, said she wants to support her union members and be more visible to Gabel.

“I want to be here with my comrades and make our voices heard and be seen,” she said.

Teamsters member Mick Kelly said the union is working to raise wages for food service workers and be heard by the University.

“What we are doing today is letting the Uni-

Union members demonstrate at President Gabel’s inauguration on Friday, Sept. 20. (Michael McGough / Minnesota Daily)

versity community know, including President Gabel, that Teamsters at the University need proper pay,” he said. “We are pushing

for adequate wages to feed ourselves and our families and we are pushing for full-time work for food service workers.”

4

Sports

MNDAILY.COM

MN DAILY

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

VOLLEYBALL

Gophers dominate in win, extend streak

The team now heads into Big Ten play with a fivegame win streak.

BY NOLAN O’HARA nohara@mndaily.com

The Gophers closed out their non-conference schedule and the Diet Coke Classic Saturday, with a dominant performance against Oral Roberts at a sold-out Maturi Pavilion.

The Gophers won the match in straight sets: 25-15, 25-9 and 25-12.

Minnesota had it going early. Outside hitter Adanna Rollins had backto-back kills early in the first which sprung the Gophers into a 5-2 lead. Oral Roberts trailed for the remainder of the set. Opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy and middle blocker Shea Rubright combined for back-to-back blocks late in the set to give the Gophers a 24-15 lead, and a kill by outside hitter Alexis Hart put the set away for Minnesota.

The Gophers didn’t let up in the second. Minnesota opened the set on a 5-0 run following consecutive aces

from setter Kylie Miller.

The Gophers extended their lead 7-1, before Oral Roberts called timeout.

Out of the timeout, middle blocker Taylor Morgan had back-to-back kills, combined with Samedy on a block and followed the block with another kill, extending Minnesota’s lead to 11-1. That capped a 6-0 run from the Gophers.

For Oral Roberts, it didn’t g e t m u c h b e t t e r f ro m there. Morgan and Samedy combined for a block once again, giving the Gophers a 12-2 lead. Minnesota led the entire set, and Miller closed out the second with an ace.

“I felt like we were just really connected today,” Morgan said. “We were operating on all cylinders like Hugh [McCutcheon] said. We were just doing what we do, being very efficient, very clean. It was a good night for everybody.”

The third set wasn’t any more favorable for Oral Roberts. Libero C.C. McGraw recorded three aces during her serving rotation early in the third.

Her rotation at the service line shot the Gophers into a 12-2 lead. The Gophers were consistent and didn’t

The Gophers huddle to celebrate defeating Oral Roberts three sets to none at the Maturi Pavilion on Saturday, Sept. 21.

(Kamaan Richards / Minnesota Daily)

let up. Eventually, an Oral Roberts error gave Minnesota the set and the sweep.

“I thought it was a strong performance, really consistent across all phases of the game.

A nice way to end the preseason,” head coach Hugh

McCutcheon said.

The Gophers closed out their non-conference schedule on a five-game win streak as they approach Big Ten play. One of the keys to the Gophers’ success over this stretch is the team’s closeness and camaraderie.

“We’re very connected.

We love to joke around with each other in the locker room, on and off the court,” Morgan said. “And when we’re on the court we just connect, it doesn’t matter if it’s in practices or in games, we’re just always

connected. I think that is going to be one of our biggest strengths going through this year.”

The Gophers will be back in action this weekend when they take on Indiana and No. 21 Purdue at Maturi Pavilion.

CROSS COUNTRY

Anticipation builds ahead of Roy Griak Invitational Minnesota is looking to repeat the success it had last season.

BY BRENDAN O’BRIEN bobrien@mndaily.com After a three-week period between meets, Minnesota’s cross country program is back in action Saturday, Sept. 28 for the 34th annual Roy Griak Invitational.

The women’s team is looking to repeat the success they had at this meet last season. Thenjunior Bethany Hasz finished first overall on the women’s side, leading the women’s team to its first team victory at the meet since 2008. Hasz was the program’s first individual champion at the meet since 2009.

Women’s head coach Sarah Hopkins has used this time as one last

training block for the team before the season begins to ramp up. Hopkins said the three weeks of training has helped her gauge how physically prepared her runners are.

But what might be even more important to her is being able to see how the team reacts to the pressure that comes with competing at the Griak. According to Hopkins, the meet can be difficult for runners because it is Minnesota’s largest home meet of the season. Les Bolstad Golf Course, the location of the meet, can also be physically grueling with several hills along the course.

In order to combat the pressure, Hopkins wants the team to approach the meet as if it were their first mid-term exam for a college course. She said that while the first “midterm” meet is important, it does not completely dictate their final grade for the

Bethany and Megan Hasz finished first and second overall at the 33rd annual Roy Griak Invitational at Les Bolstad Golf Course on Sept. 29, 2018. (Minnesota Daily File Photo)

season. After the Griak, the team has two important meets in October at Notre Dame and Wisconsin before competing in the

Big Ten Championships on November 3.

“These races don’t have to go perfectly,” Hopkins said. “We would like them

to go well so we don’t have to dig out of a hole. But we don’t need perfection at Griak, we don’t need perfection at Notre Dame.

We need to get better each week.”

Some of the teams participating in the Griak include North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Duke’s men’s team and Gonzaga’s women’s team. Of all the participating teams, Minnesota is the second highest ranked team on both the men’s and women’s side of the competition.

The meet will start at 9:30 a.m. with the Division I men’s race followed by the Division I women’s race at 10:20 a.m. There will also be two Division II and III races as well as four high school races.

“I think it’s going to be an awesome opportunity to just really see where we are,” Hopkins said. “Griak is really the first time that the lights are really going to come on and we are going to see who’s going to step into those roles. I’m just excited to see where we’re at.”

FOOTBALL

Gophers’ running offense lacks as team enters Big Ten play The production from the rushing attack has dipped from last season.

BY JOHN MILLER jmiller@mndaily.com After a week to get healthy and prepare for the season ahead, the Gophers head into Big Ten play undefeated, but with much to work on.

An area of strength that Gophers teams have almost always had is running the ball. However, that is far from the case this season.

Inconsistent play by the offensive line has resulted in little time to throw and has made it hard for the running backs to get momentum.

“I don’t think we played very well up front. We have to get things fixed, we have to get people developed,” head coach P.J. Fleck said after the Gophers’ game against Georgia Southern.

In 2018, the Gophers had no problem running the ball despite injuries to star running backs Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith. After those two went down, Mohamed Ibrahim stepped up when the team needed him most and accrued 1,160 yards rushing on 5.7 yards per carry throughout the season. He was a key reason why the Gophers were able to finish the season strong, winning the Axe and a bowl game.

Running back Rodney Smith carries the ball at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 14. Minnesota defeated Georgia Southern 35-32. (Kamaan Richards / Minnesota Daily)

Coming into the season, the run game was supposed to pick up where it left off from the year before: as a position of strength. Heading into the 2019 season, the Gophers were returning players with more than 6,000 career rushing yards collectively, and had four running backs with starting experience.

However, after three games

against non-conference opponents, the team currently has the 100th ranked rushing offense in the FBS. They are averaging 123.7 rushing yards per game, but that has only translated to 2.61 yards per carry. In 2018, the team averaged almost 50 yards more per game and ranked 64th in the FBS, while also playing a tougher schedule

than the 2019 team has so far.

The team hasn’t given up on the run by any means.

They’ve rushed the ball 142 times, while only attempting 72 passes. If the Gophers hope to repeat the success it found at the end of last season, the rushing attack will need to improve.

Minnesota’s offensive line has allowed quarterback

Tanner Morgan to be sacked 11 times in 3 games, which has lost the team 81 yards, which ranks 122nd in the country. They have also allowed 24 tackles for loss, 113rd in the country.

Youth is the potential reason for the offensive line’s struggles so far. This Gophers team is young, especially on the offensive line.

A pair of underclassmen are starting on the right side of the offensive line: redshirt freshman right guard Curtis Dunlap, who is 6-foot-5 and 345 pounds, and sophomore right tackle Daniel Faalele, who is 6-foot-9 and 400-pounds.

Faalele from Melbourne, Australia is only in his third year of ever playing football. According to Fleck, the only way for them to get better is by gaining experience, but the starting five offensive linemen are the best ones they have.

“Time with those guys is the number one thing for them, which we don’t have when they are really young,” said Fleck before the Fresno State game. “You’ve got to do everything you can, more film study and give them more looks and just continue to get them that much better every single day.”

The continued improvement of the offensive line and the health of the running back core is what Fleck and the Gophers are counting on heading into Big Ten play, where they will see stronger run defenses than they have faced so far.

Ibrahim hurt his leg in practice leading up to the Georgia Southern game, and Smith got hurt during the game.

“They’ll all be back very soon,” Fleck said after the Georgia Southern game.

5

MNDAILY.COM

MN DAILY

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

THEATRE

The Museum of Russian Art’s “Bone Mother,” which is about femininity’s perseverance, bond with nature and expression through genders, performed on Wednesday, Sept. 18. (Jasmin Kemp / Minnesota Daily)

“Bone Mother” fantasizes folklore The Russian Museum of Art and Sandbox Theatre’s “Bone Mother” runs through Sept. 27.

BY KSENIA GORINSHTEYN kgorinshteyn@mndaily.com

Russian folk music swells as a woman climbs up green aerial silks, wrapping them around her legs as she climbs higher and higher.

A moon is projected against the wall and she is posed in the middle of it. It feels as though everyone is collectively holding their breath.

She drops suddenly, and everyone exhales. This is the story of Bone Mother.

The aerial performance, combined with musical numbers and scripted

dialogue, is presented by the Museum of Russian Art and Sandbox Theatre. The show is based on the Russian folk story of Baba Yaga, an old woman who is rumored to be a witch.

“She was this figure that was so ambiguous,” said Evelyn Digirolamo, a co-director of the show. “We were really interested in exploring her power. She’s shown up [in stories] for hundreds of years and has this power that usually isn’t attributed to someone who’s female-identifying.”

All three aerial silks are hung from the ceiling in the middle of the main floor in the Museum of Russian Art. Chairs are set up for an audience with the art on the walls surrounding the performance. Audience members are so close to the

performers they can feel the rush of air as one of the actors runs past, physically placing them in the story.

The show follows the journey of a woman named Vasilisa through three stages of her life: childhood, adulthood and as an elder.

During all three stages, something is pulling her to visit Baba Yaga in the forest, at her house perched upon chicken legs.

Through Vasilisa’s story, “Bone Mother” explores femininity, its relationship to nature and its persistence against impeding forces.

“I am very stoked on gender energies and all of these things that are really prescient in our culture right now,” said co-director Danielle Siver. “That makes the story feel urgent to me and not just something that’s

stuck in ancient folk tales.”

The concept for “Bone Mother” was practically invented out of nothing.

Sandbox Theatre’s productions are a collaborative effort by the company, meaning the script is written by everyone and the scenes are staged by everyone. Many of the actors had to learn how to maneuver aerial silks for the show.

“In a traditional theater piece, you’re working from a script that someone’s made,” said Henry Ellen Sansone, a University of Minnesota alum who played the role of the Cat in the show. “And [for “Bone Mother”] there was nothing other than our research and what was resonating with us at the time.

Now there’s a full show.”

And it transports the audience. They felt Vasilia’s

struggle to swim through the river to get to Baba Yaga. She screams for help from the Cat and her voice echoes in tandem with the dark folk music. “[The audience is] going to be wowed by the spectacle of it,” Siver said. “Then, hopefully left with this mysterious feeling, this curiosity about the shadow that’s within them.”

Through dark lighting and swift costume changes, “Bone Mother” highlights the ambiguity that can come with gender and identity.

“I appreciate being able to do a show that really is looking at and trying to grapple with what it means to be ambiguous and have contradiction in your body,” Sansone said.

The remaining runs of the show are sold out with

limited opportunity to get a ticket if someone doesn’t show. For a performance anchored in the past, its relevance to the present moment makes it all the more enchanting.

“We showed this struggle in grappling with shadow sides of yourself, with the ambiguity of life, which I think is something everyone can relate to,” Digirolamo said. “So, I’m curious [to see] how it comes up in everyone.”

Bone Mother

$

Sept. 19-27, 7:30 p.m.

The Museum of Russian Art, 5500 Stevens Ave S., Minneapolis Tickets $24, with student tickets available for $22.

September 25 features a Pay-What-You-Will night with $5 tickets

SEX ED

DANCE

Smitten Kitten is not your high school’s sex ed class

Dancing with purpose

The educationbased sex toy store celebrates its 16th year of business.

BY NORAH KLEVEN nkleven@mndaily.com

BY KSENIA GORINSHTEYN kgorinshteyn@mndaily.com

Upon first stumbling in, this building on Lyndale Avenue South looks like an average bookstore, displaying shelves lined with books placed against an exposed brick wall and a few couches for lounging.

But when you take a closer look, you realize that reading materials are not all Smitten Kitten offers.

The incredibly inclusive, education-based sex toy store in Uptown also provides products that are safe to use in and around the body. When they opened their store, their first box of vibrators actually melted.

“The owner, [Jennifer Pritchett] was like ‘This can’t be good for our bodies,’” said Archie Bongiovanni, sex educator and outreach coordinator at Smitten Kitten.

Since then, they have only carried products with non-toxic, ethically-produced, body-friendly materials, specifically with sexual health in mind.

“We’re supporting brands that are an extension of our own values,” said Elani Davidson, the store’s general manager.

Smitten Kitten opened its doors 16 years ago, a time in which manufacturers were not necessarily aware of what their products were made of.

Pritchett has centered its mission on education, too. Each floor associate is given formal training in sex

“Pulling Back the Curtain: Remastered” sheds light on the marginalization of African Americans.

The entrance of Smitten Kitten as seen on Sunday, Sept. 22. The sex toy store focuses on inclusivity though body-friendly products and workshops. (Nur Adam / Minnesota Daily)

education that allows them to help customers with questions they may have.

“A lot of people come in and say, ‘This is probably a really weird question,’ and almost always it’s a question that we hear often,” said Cat Hammond, the store’s website manager. “We really affirm that for a lot of us in daily life, [sex is] not something that we have a lot of experience talking about.”

Smitten Kitten is aiming to change that. The store frequently hosts workshops to discuss how factors like age, gender and preferences intersect with those intimate moments you share with a partner.

“Whether it’s us doing the workshop, or we bring someone else in, that has always been a part of our store,” Bongiovanni said.

“It’s about sex education accessibility. We really try to

highlight voices that aren’t necessarily at the forefront of conversations in sexuality.”

Everything in the store, from the lending library in the front to the products on the shelves, are available to touch and ask about.

“You can pick things up [and] familiarize yourself with the products that we sell,” Hammond said. “We have a lending library, which is an additional educational resource. The big takeaway is just meant for it to feel like a familiar safe place where you can ask questions and get informative answers by our educated staff.”

Those who have frequented Smitten Kitten since its opening have typically been people who are less concerned about the stigma around sex. More recently, that has changed.

“It’s just really awesome to see folks thinking about sex and sexuality in a new way,” Bongiovanni said.

“It kind of opens up their eyes, when they realize that they’re not alone when they’re experiencing a thing, whatever that might be. That can be really powerful to be a part of that conversation.”

While sex education is an important aspect of the store, so is having fun.

Smitten Kitten celebrated its 16th anniversary with a “Kinky Bingo” event on Sept. 20.

“We’re really optimistic about our future,” Davidson said. “We’re blessed to be in this industry for 16 years and be a trustworthy resource to the community.

If you haven’t heard of us or been in the store, give us a chance. It’s a place for everyone.”

On Sunday, the curtain closed on a three day dance series highlighting the personal stories of African American dancers.

“Pulling Back the Curtain: Remastered” is a dance series created by University of Minnesota graduate Gabriel Blackburn, 22. The series aimed to shed light on the marginalization of African Americans.

Though Blackburn is caucasian, he said he was inspired by his many African American friends. During the performance, Blackburn acted as the emcee.

“Its vision is to create the visibility of marginalization,” Blackburn said of the series.

“A huge part of ‘Pulling Back the Curtain’ is to create a conversation that permeates past the performance and into the greater community.”

The show featured four African American artists, each with unique backgrounds and experiences.

Each artist choreographed and performed their own routines, sometimes inviting supporting dancers into their performance.

Self-worth, death, sexual trauma and haunting thoughts were addressed through movement at the Southern Theatre over the weekend.

In an emotional performance that included sensual, jazz and ballroom dance styles, Rayna Howard expressed her history of experiencing sexual violence. A move repeated throughout the piece was the uncontrollable shaking of her hands, representative of the traumas of

her past.

“This is a piece I’ve had in my head for a very long time,” Howard said. “I’ve never been ready to actually share it… [so] I thought this would be a safe space to present that.”

Nehemiah Lucas performed next, stumbling onto the stage in chains, which represented the negative thoughts that invaded his psyche before turning to religion.

A unique part of “Pulling Back the Curtain: Remastered” was the integration of conversations during the performance.

Known as “talk backs,” the conversations were conducted between performances and provided an opportunity for the audience to ask questions of the artists and vice versa.

In a performance that moved people from their seats, Peace Madimutsa expressed his experiences with death. A bench became a casket and Madimutsa broke into a “krump,” a highly energetic and expressive street form.

Gabrielle Abram was the last to take the stage. Often dancing from the floor, Abram bared her struggles with self-love.

After the individual performances concluded, the company came together for one group piece. Meeting at the center of the stage, the artists danced united while still maintaining their individual styles. Though each artist addressed their unique issues, each performance was connected by the overcoming of their respective struggles.

“This type of performance will definitely make some people uncomfortable and that’s kind of the point. It’s not a performance for entertainment value,” Blackburn said. “We’re trying to actually create a statement and create conversation that permeates past the performance into the greater community.”

6 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

MN DAILY

MNDAILY.COM

Editorials & Opinions

COLUMN

Words carry weight: ending fat talk

Reframing how we talk about our bodies can reframe how media portrays bodies to us.

Caroline Skoog I lost 18 pounds in columnist three months during my sophomore year of college. The somewhat abrupt change in my body worked its way into conversations with old friends and acquaintances I hadn’t seen in a while. My baggy pants answered the “What’s new with you?” question for me. When I visited my grandma she doused me with compliments on my new image and asked, “What’s your secret?”

Feeling like a fraud for having accidentally lost weight, I just said: “I don’t know.

It’s a secret to me too.” Truthfully, I hadn’t slept more than four hours a night during that three month period. I struggled to buy sufficient groceries. The bags under my eyes had to be checked luggage on flights.

My hair was thinning; I was not well.

When your physical being changes, a lot of people assume that grants permission for them to discuss it.

Still, the unexpected attention made me ask myself what I was doing right. People who brought up my weight loss always painted it in a positive light, yet every comment about my size intensified the pressure I felt to remain the same weight.

Despite feeling like a stranger to my body as a result of the change, I felt obligated to continue unhealthy behaviors in order to sustain a certain image and keep others happy or proud, or whatever.

Conversations about weight are so normalized and embossed into U.S. culture, I remember asking if I looked fat in my Girl Scouts uniform. The idealized image — thin — is spewed through mainstream media, advertisements, the fashion industry and, most insidiously, discussions with our friends and loved ones. Things we say, how we communicate our relationship to our body, demonstrate what we consider to be normal and desirable with regards

to our own bodies, and consequently with others; for instance, ordering the same meal at a restaurant with a friend. The friend says, “I can’t believe I’m eating this, I’m so fat.” That comment can’t be considered solely self-deprecating, whether that was the intention or not.

‘Fat talk,’ a term created by researchers in 1994, is a toxic manner of discussing or shaming body shape, type and size (one’s own or others). The irony of the phrase is its reinforcement of stigmas against fatness, in a way re-classifying “fat” as a bad word. However, it pretty accurately describes the nature of these commonplace conversations; lots of “oh my god I’m so fat” and “if you think YOU’RE fat, what does that make me?” As mundane and trifling as these conversations can be, they leave seeds of self-doubt, self-hate and fatphobia in the subconscious. Fat talk contributes to behaviors linked with eating disorders. What’s worse is that fat talk tends to happen in circles of female friends, and the collective self-deprecation actually forges bonds between those who participate.

Weight-centric, as opposed to healthcentric, thinking and talking emerges from the overwhelming amount of industries that sensationalize thinness and vilify fatness: show business, designer fashion and of course the fitness and weight loss industry are all examples of industries that

uphold a standard of beauty and size that’s virtually unattainable for most. However, the growth of the body positivity movement, which prioritizes valuing one’s relationship to their body rather than their body itself, has made waves in our current society’s culture.

Instagram, for one, recently updated its policy on the commercial promotion of detox or weight loss teas and has resolved to remove any post advertising the product(s).

Even Weight Watchers — a program based on assigning point values to food to assist in weight loss — has rebranded and is now called “WW,” with “Wellness That Works” as their new tagline.

A lot of us exist in the in-between of admiring or endorsing the body positive movement but still find ourselves in situations that reinforce stigmas around fatness.

Awareness of the conversations we engage in and of our own insecurities is important to dismantling the idealized body image.

Language matters. It directly impacts ourselves and others. Reframing the way we talk about bodies with one another can reframe the way media conveys bodies to us.

Caroline Skoog welcomes comments at cskoog@mndaily.com.

COLUMN

Patronage at the University’s energy transition lab State Rep. Jamie Long set himself up with the perfect gig at the U. That’s until the public found out how he got it.

Jamie Long, a Jonathan Ababiy Minneapolis attorney columnist with experience in environmental policy, had an incredibly easy time getting his job at the U’s Energy Transition Lab this year.

He got to write much of his own job description, choose his hours and have the length of the job adapted to his inflexible schedule. The local McKnight Foundation would provide the funding, and Long would make a solid $44,600 for “dissemi-

nating scientific research on climate and energy policy” in between the five months his other job needed him.

That other job also explains how Long got those incredible perks; Long is a representative in the Minnesota State Legislature. And, his amazingly flexible and accommodating boss at the Energy Transition Lab? A former DFL state senator.

State Representative Jamie Long (DFL) is the assistant majority leader and vice chair of the House Energy Climate Division. He is no ordinary politician.

Rep. Long has since resigned and has been reassigned since media began asking questions about this position. But, his controversial fellowship delegitimized the University and tars the excellent work it has done on climate science. Clout isn’t a qualification for a job at the University.

How Long Got the Job From the beginning, Rep. Long’s position stunk of corruption, emails provided to the Daily by the House GOP show.

The executive director of the Energy Transition Lab, prior to Sept. 10, was former state Sen. Ellen Anderson of St. Paul.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Energy Transition Lab has a focus on creating practical solutions to carbon issues and Anderson is a former chair of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

However, in her communication with Long, she abused her position and crossed

the line into patronage.They began talking months before Long’s fellowship began in June, even while Long was still in his legislative session. Anderson wrote Long an email saying, “Any information you have about what would be optimal for you would be helpful.”

So, Long told her that he wanted to work four days a week and suggested numerous things that ended up in his job description, though not word-for-word.

When the job was posted online, Anderson let Long know. It sat for fourteen days.

Six people applied and three interviewed.

Long got the job, just five days after a warning to not rush the process from the U’s Human Resources Department, according to the Star Tribune.

In Plain Sight To be clear, this did not violate University policy. The director of the Institute on the Environment, which runs the Energy Transition Lab, confirmed with the Star Tribune that it was within HR guidelines to design the job with Long in mind. The director also denied that Long would lobby other lawmakers for the Institute, despite Long suggesting a job description that would “Provide support for local and regional governments...” and “Pursue bipartisan strategies for ... clean energy outcomes,” according to the emails.

In addition, the local foundation providing the money for the fellowship pulled out after the news about Long came out,

EDITORIAL BOARD

“Cancel culture” is not the epidemic its cracked up to be

saying its agreement clearly prohibited the use of the grant money for lobbying or legislative purposes.

The U is now using licensing revenues to fund Long’s time at the Energy Transition Lab, according to the Pioneer Press.

It’s unrestricted revenue, so it can be used for this purpose, but it’s still University money that wouldn’t have originally paid for this fellowship.

In essence, Long stiffed the U and he also stiffed anyone who cares about climate science in this state. The controversy tars much of the University’s noble work on climate science.

It got the Republican state legislator who exposed his fellowship (his team provided the Daily Long’s email), Chris Swedzinski, some free paragraphs to repeat his anti-climate change hocuspocus in the newspaper, too. After falsely claiming that human caused temperature change was “up for debate,” Swedzinski told the Pioneer Press, “I think we should get away from the issue.”

The trouble is, why did Long, Anderson, and the Institute on the Environment ever have to make it one?

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.

Celebrities don’t actually lose power when they face “consequences.”

Last week, freshly hired Saturday Night Live cast member Shane Gillis was exposed for using racial and homophobic slurs in his past comedy routines. SNL made the choice not to have Gillis join the cast, releasing a statement that said “The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.”

His firing sparked a debate on the internet about the merits and drawbacks of what’s been dubbed “cancel culture,” where accusations of bigoted language or sexual harassment lead to celebrities’ apparent fall from grace.

However, pretending that “cancelling” a celebrity affects more than a single moment in their career is disingenuous to reality. Yes, Shane Gillis will no longer get to be on SNL, but if he follows the path of his predecessors like Kevin Hart, he’ll get to bounce back. The consequences will not be severe.

“Cancel culture” gave women, people of color, and other minorities the chance to criticize celebrities publicly for bigoted words that come out of their mouths, but not much beyond that. The real power remains in the court of the people who have always controlled Hollywood. Rich, privileged men, most of them white, have faced one iota of criticism for the first time, which they see as an attack.

Celebrities’ lives aren’t ruined by criticism. Sean Spicer, once the laughingstock of late night comedy, is currently making money and getting public exposure again on Dancing With The Stars. “Cancelling” someone doesn’t actually permanently remove anyone at all — they will inevitably appear in new forms later, just as rich and just as powerful.

Whether or not those who are “cancelled” deserve this criticism or eventual forgiveness isn’t the point. They will retain their core fan bases regardless.

Even if they don’t get to be on SNL or host the Oscars, they’ll continue making movies, music and most importantly, money.

The men and women who did wrong continually make comebacks, and oftentimes double down on whatever they were criticized for instead of learning or even apologizing.

That’s the real problem inherent in “cancel culture.” Gillis, like Hart and others before him, did not explicitly apologize or admit wrongdoing for any of his actions. There was no mention in either of his public statements of regret over

using racial and homophobic slurs. He likely doesn’t think using these words was wrong, or deserving of criticism in the first place.

“Cancel culture” gives these celebrities something to blame other than their own actions. If they can believe that women or people of color are out to silence their voices, they don’t have to address their own bigotry, take responsibility for their own actions, or be held accountable. We, as the audience, should be careful to whom we commit our time and money. Cancelled or not, celebrities will only be as powerful as the number of people who faithfully back them. While they should be held accountable for their actions, we should be holding ourselves accountable for what we engage with. Let’s not help to perpetuate an unhealthy narrative that has historically held back communities from success.

letters@mndaily.com Fax: (612) 435-5865 Phone: (612) 435-1578 Letters and columns to the editor 2221 University Ave. SE Suite 450 Minneapolis, MN 55414

EDITORIALS & OPINIONS DEPARTMENT Editorials represent the voice of the Minnesota Daily as an institution and are prepared by the editorial board.

THE EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS DEPARTMENT IS INDEPENDENT OF THE NEWSROOM

7

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

MN DAILY

HOROSCOPES

Today’s Birthday (9/23): Your creativity flowers and produces brilliant results this year. Discipline with domestic responsibilities pays off big. Complete a home renovation project this winter, before navigating shifting work responsibilities. Resolve a communications breakdown next summer, before your career takes off. Share about what 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 7 — The next month favors partnership, delegation, and collaboration, with the Sun in Libra. Alliances grow your enterprise. Share the load for strength.

Libra (9/23 - 10/22): Today is a 9 — Professional opportunities take shape. You have an advantage this month, with the Sun in your sign.

Personal growth and development blossoms.

Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): Today is a 9 — Get into a busy and creative phase this month under the Libra Sun. Practice growing your physical health and fitness. Your work seems energized.

Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Today is a 7 — Plot your course under the Libra Sun. Enjoy this annual planning phase. Envision an amazing life.

Get especially productive behind closed doors.

Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): Today is an 8 — You’re especially creative, charming and attractive. Let your heart be your guide this month under the Libra Sun. Love makes everything easier.

Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): Today is an 8 — Share resources, opportunities and solutions.

Social connections thrive this month, with the Sun in Libra. Participate with parties and events.

Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Today is an 8 — Home and family take priority. Domestic projects flower under the Libra Sun. Put energy into reinforcing your household infrastructure.

Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): Today is an 8 — Focus on advancing your career this month, with the Sun in Libra. Assume greater responsibility and leadership. Grow toward your passions.

Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Today is an 8 — Creative expression, travel and research take the spotlight this month, with the Sun in Libra. Communication blossoms. Make something wonderful.

Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): Today is an 8 — Prioritize your health and work. Spread your wings and explore. Pursue travel this month, with the Libra Sun. Make long-distance connections.

Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): Today is an 8 — Connect with friends. Nurture financial growth. Pursue lucrative developments this month, with the Sun in Libra. Cash flow increases with attention.

Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Today is an 8 — Relax and enjoy the game. This month could get lucrative, with the Sun in Libra. Grow family fortunes with steady action. Increase your financial security.

DR. DATE Dr. Date,

I dated this guy a couple years ago who was great during the relationship, but we didn't have much in common. We went out for around six months before he cheated on me while drunk at a party, which sucked but was a good excuse to end things. Thankfully, we never got serious enough to meet the parents or have the same friends.

Anyway, there's a problem. Last month, I was at a bar downtown when a hot older dude bought me a drink. I was smitten. I've never been much into older dudes (he had to have at least 20 years on me), but when a guy has a steady job, a great house and a nice car, I'm not going to argue with it. He told me he was divorced with a kid, which didn't matter to me much, and we've been going out for a couple weeks now. He's been sleeping over at my place until last night, when I stayed over at his.

I rolled over this morning only to see a photo of, you guessed it, my EX on his nightstand. I've been sleeping with his dad! I don't know what to do, I really like this guy. I've told him in the past about being cheated on before, and he even got angry on my behalf. I'm scared he'll ask me to meet his kid now and I won't be able to say no. What do I do?

–Stuntin' with his daddy

Dear Stuntin' with his daddy,

Awkward. Don't ever get into a whowas-better discussion.

Well, you have to figure out how to explain you dated his son without making it seem like you did this as an act of revenge (not gonna lie, that would have been the perfect move). If you want to keep dating this guy, you have to tell him as soon as possible. While I'm sure you don't want to talk to his son, aka the ex, it might be good to give him a heads up – otherwise that family reunion is going to get real weird.

–Dr. Date

Dr. Date,

I'll just say it – I'm a stoner (this column is anonymous, right?). I met most of my friends at smoke spots, my boyfriend and I bonded over a joint at a party, my dealer and I are practically BFFs – most people in my life have something to do with marijuana. It's not my whole life (I'm still making the Dean's List and working two jobs, I don't just sit around smoking!), but it's a big part of it.

It was my birthday last week, and my boyfriend came over to my parents' house to celebrate with my family. We decided we would do presents all together, so he brought my gift to open in front of my parents. Because of this, you would think it would be family-friendly, right?

WRONG. I unwrapped it to see a lamp – shaped like a bong! I tried to shove it in a nearby bag in horror, but my parents definitely thought it was a real bong, even from the first glance. They're super antidrug (my dad was the head of his D.A.R.E. chapter in college) and anything even relating to weed is like, the worst thing in the world. My boyfriend was cracking up, but I was absolutely humiliated the entire night.

My parents reamed me out about drugs, told me to break up with my boyfriend and said they'll never accept him in their house again. Honestly, I'm considering it! Is this worth ending a relationship over, or are they being too blunt?

–Weed Him Out

Dear Weed Him Out,

Yeah, he was definitely in the wrong here. Gag gifts are funny in front of friends, but he should have known better!

You don't necessarily have to break up with him, but if you see this relationship lasting he has to repair things with you AND your parents. Just make sure it's not marijuana-related – with his track record, you gotta be careful.

–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.

9/23/19

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 23, 2019

Some educators have both witnessed history and become a part of it.

From left to right: Shashi Shekhar, Maria Gini and Kenneth Doyle pose for portraits on Wednesday, Sept. 18. (Jasmin Kemp, Minnesota Daily)

University professors’ legacies bring history to the classroom

BY DYLAN MIETTINEN dmiettinen@mndaily.com The legacy professors: those who have worked at the University for decades on end. Through years of work, their names have become synonymous with innovation. They are a group of authors, researchers, scientists, friends and mentors, their stories as varied as their respective backgrounds and life experiences. These are the individuals who have both witnessed history and become a part of it.

From Tear Gas to Tenure The role of the journalist is to act as a record

keeper for history. Kenneth Doyle, a professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has done just that since joining the University in September 1966.

“I think life today at the University is much more boring than in the past,” Doyle said with a light chuckle.

Doyle has lived through things most students can only experience through black and white photos printed in history books.

He can remember watching Vietnam War protests from an upper floor of Ford Hall.

Students had barricaded Washington Avenue and

were met with soldiers and police officers with batons.

“It really was like a war zone,” Doyle said. “They were throwing tear gas across the mall. Helicopters were flying overhead and the ‘pud, pud, pud’ sounds of the blades made the adrenaline surge.”

Doyle has noted a distinct shift in student life since his own college days, when he and his friends would “commandeer” tables at a nearby coffee shop and “talk on end about philosophy and theology.”

Now, he said the world is too hurried to do that; with the expense of college tuition, students may work multiple jobs and lack the

luxury of time for contemplation. More than that, Doyle misses a culture that encourages discussion.

“It is much harder recently for students to discuss controversial issues. You can’t run a university on the belief of not offending people, you must believe that a university is the marketplace of ideas,” he said.

In the more than 50 years that he has been at the University, Doyle said he enjoys the relationships he has built with students and the chance to be a mentor the most. “[Now], I think students may view me less as a fatherly figure and more of a grandfather,” he said.

A Field All on Her Own When she started at the University in 1979 to teach and research the effects of early childhood adversity, Dr. Megan Gunnar still used a typewriter. Things have changed a bit since then.

In the following four decades, Gunnar has taught, researched, mentored, raised a family and helped found an institute which bears her name: the Gunnar Laboratory for Developmental Psychobiology Research. Though she admits it was hard work, Gunnar credits her success in large part to her colleagues.

“It’s a fabulous department and a wonderful place to be. There’s a lot to be said for a supportive, cohesive department with great people who care about what they’re doing,” Gunnar said.

Graduate student Carrie DePasquale, who currently researches in the Gunnar Lab, said she also feels thankful for the chance to work with Gunnar.

“The way that [Gunnar] thinks through problems and … helps me through my research is really helpful,” DePasquale said. “When I was looking at graduate schools, I looked at a bunch of other professors only to realize that the educators I liked had all been mentored by Megan.”

Gunnar said the opportunities for guidance and mentorship have proven most gratifying to her.

“I had no idea when I started teaching how much I would truly, truly enjoy mentoring,” Gunnar said. “My legacy? I think

it will be all those brilliant students out there changing the world.”

Expansion and Innovation Dr. Shashi Shekhar came to the University around Christmas 1989.

It was the same year that the Berlin Wall fell, a time when shoulder pads were almost as large as the hair.

Shekhar had just received his doctorate in computer science from Berkeley. Over the following decades, he watched his field grow beyond belief. Students now have computers that fit in their pockets; in 1989, the newly introduced Macintosh portable computer weighed in at 16 pounds.

Since coming to the University, Shekhar has worked with the U.S. government and NASA. He literally wrote the book on spatial data: “There were no books, so I figured I’d be the one to write one,” he said.

His field grew rapidly after the expansion of the internet, Shekhar said. His name quickly became synonymous with research and innovation to his colleagues.

“Shekhar is a researcher who can easily see how the algorithms and mathematical proofs he develops can be applied to real-world engineering problems,” said William Northrop, an associate professor at the University who has collaborated with Shekhar since 2014. “He has changed my outlook on the field of computer science.”

Yet in his 30 years in the field, engineering problems are not the only ones Shekhar has fought to address. For years, he has advocated to lessen disparities, especially gender and racial, among the computer science field.

“If we look at some of the underrepresented minorities, very few are in computer science,” he said.

Though there is still more to be done, Shekhar said he’s blown away by the progress, both socially and technologically, in the past 30 years.

“In your lifetime, you see those ideas and technologies you’ve worked on become very prevalent in society,” Shekhar said.

“How amazing is that?”

‘Family Style’ “We met at Stanford.

I was a student, she was a postdoc,” said professor Dan Boley. “The rest from there is history.”

Boley came to the Twin Cities with his girlfriend, Maria Gini, in 1981. Gini, o r i g i n a l l y f ro m I t a l y , studied artificial intelligence; Boley focused on data science. The two married shortly after moving.

Boley got a job at the University in 1981 and Gini accepted a position in the same department at the University a year later.

“We were lucky … the department faculty was only 14 people. I interviewed and they offered me a job.

That doesn’t always happen,” Gini said. “Having two jobs in the same place at the same time makes a lot of things simpler.”

The two witnessed massive changes both at the University and in their field of study. There is just more on campus, Gini said: more bureaucracy, more formality, more students, more buildings.

“The computer science department was just in the infancy of getting connected by email to the rest of the country,” Boley said.

Both Boley and Gini came to the University around the advent of the internet — most students they teach now have never lived in a pre-internet world.

Neither questioned ever leaving the University or Twin Cities: the art, the greenery and the friendliness of the people helped cement their roots here. Gini said she enjoys working at a place that emphasizes research, while still offering simple life pleasures.

“If I want to look at the Mississippi, I go outside my office, go on the bridge and watch the river. You can just watch the water and think about life,” Gini said. “I love the students and faculty — it’s like family style here.”

For Boley and Gini, the secret to their legacies is simple but vital: love.

For one another, for their home, for their students and for their work.

“I always hope I helped students in discovering themselves and what they wanted to do,” Gini said.

“I always tell students that money is important, but if you have a job and every day you go to work and you’re happy because you’re going there, that is worth more than money.

That’s what I’ve got.”