RECENT SHOOTINGS DON’T SHOW CRIME INFLUX PG 3 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
SUSTAINABILITY
U invests in renewable energy plan
LATE WEEK
THE U AREA HAS SEEN THREE SHOOTINGS THIS MONTH
MNDAILY.COM
ADMINISTRATION
Low turnout, loud opinions
New solar panels were added for the UMN goal to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050. BY MEGAN PALMER mpalmer@mndaily.com
The University of Minnesota is steadily increasing its investment in onsite renewable energy through the addition massive solar panels to nine different on-campus sites. Discussions about implementing onsite solar panels started in 2015, and concrete plans were solidified in November 2016. “Until recently, solar had not been cost effective for the campus, which is why we hadn’t implemented it except a few demonstration projects at a smaller scale,” said Shane Stennes, sustainability director for the University. The sites span the East Bank, West Bank and St. Paul campuses. The only complete site is located in the field behind Andersen Library. The University is currently building solar panels on the roofs of the Center for Excellence in the Athletes Village and Continuing Education building and the parking lot of Mondale Hall. Five more sites will begin construction in the coming months around campus. In addition to the new onsite solar panels, the University also purchased more than 20 megawatts of community solar power from outside sources and has a contract with Xcel Energy that ensures 100 percent of the energy purchased from the company is renewable, Stennes said. The increase in renewable energy is a u See ENERGY Page 6
A&E
A tradition of keeping art close to home The Weisman Art Museum has been renting artwork out to University students since 1934. BY LIV MARTIN lmartin@mndaily.com
Hudson Walker, a Harvard-educated art collector and historian, was christened the first curator of the Little Gallery on the University of Minnesota campus in March 1934. What began as the Little Gallery grew into a big gallery. We now know it as our beloved campus museum, the Weisman Art Museum. Hudson and his wife Ione were not in Minneapolis long before they left for New York City to establish another gallery. Still, the Walkers began a long standing tradition at WAM of lending art to students; the practice continues today. Last Wednesday, the WAM Collective hosted its annual “Homework Art Rental Launch Party” at the museum. The Collective reserved 45 artworks specifically for students from their larger 1200-piece rental collection. Priced at $15 per piece for the semester, students could choose from a variety of works including drawings, paintings and prints. Another 850 works from the rental collection have already been rented out, mostly to University faculty and departments. University students and staff can rent any piece of art from the rental collection. And they might want to. According to Laurel Darling, a senior WAM Collective member who studies English and art history at the University, the collection has some real gems. “There’s a piece of Abraham Lincoln that’s blurred, but if you go up close it’s a naked woman,” Darling said. The event, which hosted in conjunction with WAM’s monthly study night, had students filtering in throughout the evening. Twenty pieces of art in total went to new homes by the party’s conclusion; each student had their own reason for choosing their specific piece. Denise Lauj, a geography and geographic information science junior, came to the event with a purpose. She just moved into a new apartment in Stadium Village. “I wanted to get something for my room because I’ve heard from a lot of people that have come over that it looks like I don’t live there because it’s not home-y at all,” Lauj said. Lauj has been working to spruce up the place, and getting a piece of fine artwork was the finishing touch. She chose “Seefeld in Tirol” (1958), a woodcut on paper by artist Hanns Kobinger that illustrates a calming forest scene in black and white. Keert h i M an ik onda, a freshman u See WEISMAN Page 5
TONY SAUNDERS, DAILY
Austin Kraft, student representative to the Board of Regents, spoke to the board at a listening session in Coffman Memorial Union on Monday, Sept. 24. Kraft said he thinks the next president should continue the positive work that President Kaler has done, but also to use it as an opportunity to improve on inclusiveness at the university.
UMN held listening sessions over the last week to gather input on its presidential search. BY MICHELLE GRIFFITH mgriffith@mndaily.com
As Regent Abdul Omari finished asking his questions, audience members nervously glanced at one another, each hoping they weren’t the one who had to speak first. Long, silent pauses and empty seats were common at the Twin Cities listening sessions for the search for the next University of Minnesota president.
In the past week, the University’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee held seven public listening sessions across at system campuses across the state, including three on the Twin Cities campus. The sessions were intended to be chance for the University community to provide input on what they want to see in the next University president. However, few people attended the sessions. Around 100 people collectively attended the three Twin Cities sessions. In contrast, the system campuses, who have considerably less students, faculty and staff, had attendance numbers ranging from 80 to 150 attendants per session.
“If you look at a per capita basis, the turnout has been much higher at the majority of the system campuses,” Omari said. “Definitely less shy, if you will, in the first commenters.” PSAC even changed the venue of the sessions on the Twin Cities campuses in anticipation of a larger turnout based on what they saw at the system campuses. Even with low turnout, people were still able to voice their opinions. Faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members had many opinions on what qualities and characteristics they u See SEARCH Page 6
CAMPUS LIFE
Improv group teaches communication skills to student scientists Speaking Science Improv was formed this fall after receiving a grant from a UMN institute. BY SUNNY LIM slim@mndaily.com
Science students at the University of Minnesota are exploring how to better communicate their research through acting. Speaking Science Improv was formed this fall when actors saw a need for scientists to better communicate their research to the public. The club is funded through a $3,000 grant through the Institute on the Environment.
Similar improv classes created around five years ago inspired University graduate student Samuel Reed, who is studying forest ecology and climatology, to form the bi-weekly club this fall. He said Speaking Science Improv addresses communication hurdles some science students face when sharing research. “There’s so many different things that professional actors, who are involved in the theater realm, learn that would practically take a lifetime for scientists to learn all of that, but there’s elements that we can teach people,” Reed said. “It’s way better than maybe practicing once a week for 50 minutes — we have a year-long program now. We can really focus on training individuals.”
During the group meetings, founders of the original improv classes Luverne Seifert and Dario Tangelson lead the members through a number of exercises. Through these activities, the students are trained to control breathing and thoughts while they are presenting on stage. While the goal of the club is to practice effective research communication, the students take additional steps to incorporate acting into their skill set. “We do one technique in which scientists will come up and they’ll talk about their research, but then we ask them to embody their research and they start actually u See IMPROV Page 6
NEIGHBORHOODS
Despite tragedies on Como train tracks, safety solutions lag After two people were hit by trains, SE Como is frustrated with a lack of safety solutions. BY J.D. DUGGAN jduggan@mndaily.com
Following the death of a 19-year-old University of Minnesota student last October, residents of Southeast Como are at an impasse for improving the safety of a segment of railroad tracks through the neighborhood. Questions of property ownership, effectiveness and economics have slowed the problem-solving process at the closed-crossing of 21st Ave SE. and Talmage Ave SE. A pedestrian was most recently struck by a train in early August, prompting the neighborhood to reach out to the City again. The east-west track portion is flanked by two dead-end roads with steel vehicle barriers. Despite nearby official crossings, some pedestrians cross through this section as a shortcut. Reported train impacts along this shortcut date back decades, but it was the fatal incident on Oct. 8, 2017 that prompted the community’s initial call to address safety concerns in the corridor. The pedestrian hit this August was struck by a train 20 feet away from the site of the October fatality. The victim was “laying on the tracks, and … made no apparent attempt to move away,” according to a statement from BNSF Railway Company. Cody Hoerning, a Southeast Como Improvement Association board member, said a Minneapolis Police Department officer informed him the person was alive when
JACK RODGERS, DAILY
A BNSF Railway Company freight train passes by an unofficial railroad crossing in Como on Monday. Sept. 24. Despite a death last October and an injury at the site in August, neither the city nor BNSF has put up a fence or more signs that encourage safety.
transported from the scene by ambulance, although no official reports were released. Since community members, state officials, the City and BNSF Railway Company started discussing potential safety measures last October, no major actions have been taken. “We’ve had a couple suggestions that have been offered. There’s been a strong push from some state-level officials to actually close that [entire] intersection,” said Ward 1 Council member Kevin Reich. “That
was the solution they felt [would] address the concerns of the community.” Community members and the City have considered closing the legal crossing as far back as 2006. Much of the community opposed the proposition, as the crossing is one of three main east-west thoroughfares through the neighborhood. Reich said these issues aren’t typically the City’s concern, so his staff is seeking u See TRAIN Page 6
VOLUME 118 ISSUE 72