March 1, 2018

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STUDENT GOVT.

CAMPUS

Push to divest from Israel may see vote

CBS student, 20, dies Sunday

The petition to withdraw UMN dollars from select companies gained around 600 signatures.

A memorial was held for Mitchell Hoenig Wednesday night at Coffman Union.

BY MAX CHAO mchao@mndaily.com

An initiative demanding the University of Minnesota to divest from companies who support Israel is gaining support from some students, while others oppose the push.

As of Wednesday night, a petition for the divestment referendum, which may be added to the all-campus election ballot upon review and approval from the All Campus Election Commission, reportedly has over 600 signatures. The minimum number of signatures needed is 400.

On Sunday, Minnesota Hillel, a campus Jewish student group, filed a complaint to the ACEC about the petition, claiming it unfairly targets Israel and does not provide adequate time for discussion.

The ACEC could not be reached for a comment.

The petition, which is being organized by student group coalition UMN Divest, calls for a referendum in next week’s all-campus election that would push a student vote for the University to divest from companies that — according to UMN Divest — support Israeli occupation of Palestine and associated human rights violations.

“We believe that this University shouldn’t be invested in companies that commit human rights violations,” said Malak Shahin,

BY OLIVIA JOHNSON ojohnson@mndaily.com

MADDY FOX, DAILY

President of Students for Justice in Palestine Malak Shahin speaks about divestment efforts to a group at the La Raza Student Cultural Center in Coffman Union on Feb. 28.

president of Students for Justice in Palestine, a group supporting the petition.

The companies UMN Divest has highlighted in its petition are Raytheon, G4S and Boeing.

Still, students in Minnesota Hillel had issues with the referendum.

“The process of introducing this referendum has bred discrimination and silencing

of the Jewish community, and we sincerely hope the greater campus community will support us in our efforts to create a more inclusive dialogue around this issue,” said Leeore Levinstein, president of Minnesota Hillel in an email statement.

Minnesota Hillel’s complaint to ACEC u See DIVEST Page 3

CAMPUS

U students to protest guns

A University of Minnesota student died on Sunday at the age of 20.

Mitchell Hoenig was a junior in the College of Biological Science majoring in biochemistry. A memorial was held in Coffman Union on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Campus Club room, according to an email addressed to members of CBS from Dean Valery Forbes.

According to an obituary published in the Star Tribune, Hoenig was from Plano, Texas, a member of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity and a TA at the University.

Hoenig’s family has set up a YouCaring page, where almost $22,000 has been raised for a scholarship and a memorial park bench at Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis in Hoenig’s honor.

The University has not shared any details regarding Hoenig’s death.

STATE GOVT.

Campus repair funding will fall on bonding bill Both President Eric Kaler and Gov. Mark Dayton called for the full sum in their requests.

BY MADELINE DENINGER mdeninger@mndaily.com

University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler laid out the school’s infrastructure needs alongside students and faculty at a House Capital Investment Committee meeting Tuesday.

Kaler stressed the University’s need to revamp current facilities instead of asking for “shiny new objects.” The University is asking for $238.5 million in its 2018 capital request.

“Our request is focused on renovating, restoring and remaking the oldest pieces of our 29 million square feet across our campuses,” Kaler said at the hearing. “Our capital request this year is about transforming our facilities, some of them built in the 19th century, into the 21st century places of teaching and research for students and faculty.”

The request includes $200 million for Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement (HEAPR). The University uses HEAPR funding to maintain, repair and renovate existing facilities. Gov. Mark Dayton’s public works proposal recommends $300 million in funding for the University, including $250 million for HEAPR. Max Hurst, government and legislative u See BONDING Page 3 CARTER BLOCHWITZ, DAILY

James Farnsworth leads a meeting of Gophers to Washington D.C. in Coffman Union Feb. 27. Farnsworth started a fundraiser and is raising money for UMN students to participate in March for our Lives in Washington DC on March 24.

NEIGHBORHOODS

The planned march coincides with others nationally after the Parkland, Florida shooting.

Student groups, U admins seek more area safety lighting

BY MAX CHAO mchao@mndaily.com

Several University of Minnesota students are organizing to protest gun violence later this month in response to recent events that have led to a national discussion

on gun regulations.

The group, using the name “Gophers to D.C.,” is currently raising money to travel to the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. The rally, set for March 24, was planned in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February, and organized in part by its survivors.

University organization efforts are being led by sophomore James Farnsworth, who was inspired to act after hearing about a group of students from nearby Henry Sibley High

School who are raising money to attend the march.

“I think it’s essential that we stick with our peers from Parkland, Florida in their efforts to really say, ‘Never again,’” Farnsworth said. “It’s time for youth voices to take over the conversation and make some change.”

As of Wednesday, the group has raised more than $7,000 to cover travel expenses. u See GUN MARCH Page 3

RESEARCH

Lab-made miniature brains may eventually treat diseases University researchers first made the tiny organ that could ease Parkinson’s by accident.

BY MICHELLE GRIFFITH mgriffith@mndaily.com

Minnesota has been the birthplace for a number of important creations, such as Scotch tape, the automatic toaster and now, miniature brains.

A University of Minnesota research team accidentally created the mini-brains while making diabetic islet cells. With more research and development, they hope the brainlike organoids will one day be useful in treating Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

While creating diabetic islet cells, researchers thought putting the stem cells into a Jell-O-like substance might make more cells faster. They were surprised to find that this actually created mini-brains.

“The trick was to recognize what we had,” u See BRAINS Page 2

ELLEN SCHMIDT, DAILY

Dr. Timothy O’Brien swirls “mini brains,” which are being researched as Parkinson’s disease therapy, within a storage container on Thursday, Feb. 22 in the Stem Cell Institute at McGuire Translational Research Facility.

The Minnesota Student Association helped find streets to improve near Dinkytown.

BY KASSIDY TARALA ktarala@mndaily.com

The Minnesota Student Association and Office of Off-Campus Living are looking to add more streetlights in areas west of Dinkytown to increase neighborhood safety.

MSA and OCL have identified residential blocks between 13th Avenue Southeast and I-35W as areas that could benefit from the extra lighting. The two groups have been discussing the project since 2016, but the effort has gained momentum this semester.

MSA Infrastructure Committee Director Austin Kraft and other members will meet with OCL Program Director Kendre Turonie on March 8 to discuss the project’s future.

MSA used their previous research and neighborhood crime data to determine that areas just west of central Dinkytown would benefit most from the additional lighting.

Their meeting with OCL will help determine which sites should be targeted first.

The infrastructure committee started researching lighting options for Dinkytown in 2016. Students began advocating for changes last year.

“Since August 2017, the infrastructure committee has regularly attended MarcyHolmes Neighborhood Association meetings, demonstrating students’ interest in making a safer environment,” Kraft said.

Turonie said OCL and MSA worked with MHNA nearly a decade ago to install low-level u See LIGHTING Page 3

VOLUME 118 ISSUE 43

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Thursday, March 1, 2018 Vol. 118 No. 43

An Independent Student Newspaper, Founded in 1900.

2221 University Ave. SE, Suite 450 Minneapolis, MN 55414 Phone: (612) 627-4080 Fax: (612) 435-5865 Copyright © 2018 The Minnesota Daily This newspaper, its design and its contents are copyrighted.

1932 The 20-month-old son of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped from the family’s new mansion in Hopewell, New Jersey.

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OFFICE OF THE PUBLISHER Mike Hendrickson Editor-in-Chief mhendrickson@mndaily.com (612) 435-1575 Kathryn Chlystek Business Operations Officer kchlystek@mndaily.com (612) 435-2761

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NEWS STAFF Nick Wicker Managing Editor nwicker@mndaily.com Cedar Thomas Managing Production Editor cthomas@mndaily.com Jack White Sports Editor jwhite@mndaily.com Gunthar Reising A&E Editor greising@mndaily.com Alex Tuthill-Preus Multimedia Editor atuthill-preus@mndaily.com Maddy Fox Assistant Multimedia Editor mfox@mndaily.com Sheridan Swee Copy Desk Chief sswee@mndaily.com Molly Tynjala Assistant Copy Desk Chief mtynjala@mndaily.com Harry Steffenhagen Visuals Editor hsteffenhagen@mndaily.com Jane Borstad Visuals Editor jborstad@mndaily.com Desmond Kamas Chief Page Designer dkamas@mndaily.com Rilyn Eischens Campus Editor reischens@mndaily.com Olivia Johnson Campus Editor ojohnson@mndaily.com Ryan Faircloth City Editor rfaircloth@mndaily.com David Clarey Features Editor dclarey@mndaily.com =

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ELLEN SCHMIDT, DAILY

Katie Kummerow, center, runs through a class-choreographed combination on Thursday, Feb. 22 at Barbara Baker Dance Center on West Bank.

STATE REPORT MAGA HAT, #METOO PIN? HIGH COURT WEIGHS VOTER CLOTHING LAW WASHINGTON — They were all dressed in basic black robes, but the Supreme Court’s nine justices had a serious discussion about fashion Wednesday as they heard arguments over a Minnesota law that bars voters from wearing political clothing to the polls.

Almost every one of the justices had some hypothetical article of clothing to talk about as they explored the issue of free speech at polling places and whether various clothing items could be prohibited.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked about a #MeToo pin. Justice Elena Kagan wanted to know about clothing that says “Resist” or “Make America Great Again.” And Justice Samuel Alito’s laundry list of items included a National Rifle Association T-shirt, shirts with the text of the First and Second Amendments and a shirt with a rainbow flag.

Amid the arguments over apparel, several justices suggested support for at least some polling place restrictions. Chief Justice John Roberts told the attorney arguing against Minnesota’s law that he wondered if, after months of a “maybe bitter, sharp, political campaign,” if “maybe, just before you cast your vote, you should be able to have a time for some quiet reflection or to do that important civic obligation in peace and quiet without being bombarded by another campaign display.”

Most states have laws restricting what voters can wear to the polls, but Minnesota’s law is one of the broadest. It bars voters from casting a ballot wearing clothing with the name of a candidate or political party or related to an issue on the ballot. But Minnesota voters also can’t wear clothing promoting a group with recognizable political views. That means no tea party T-shirts, AFL-CIO hats or MoveOn. org buttons.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Student Service Fees allocates funds for UMN group activities The Aurora Center, Boynton Health and a number of student groups got funding.

BY KAYLA SONG ksong@mndaily.com

About $1.4 million in student service fees was distributed last week to 94 student groups to fund operations and programs this semester at the University of Minnesota.

Continuing a restructured application process, funding included requests for a mental health expansion at Boynton Health, a continuation of the men’s engagement coordinator at the Aurora Center and money for a NASA Robotic Mining Competition.

All but $250 of the $1.4 million in fees was allocated for the 2017-18 academic year, said Sara Carvell, associate director of the Office

for Student Affairs.

GOFIRST Robotics received the most total funding over the academic year, about $48,000, while the least amount of money, $200, went to the Coptic Orthodox Christian Association.

GOFIRST Robotics requested and received about $6,000 more than they received in the fall. This was justified by the fact that the robotics team will be competing in the NASA Robotic Mining Competition and requires funds for resources to build their robot, said Ryan Zoeller, Treasurer of GOFIRST Robotics.

Six administrative groups also requested funding, including Boynton, Student Unions and Activities, The Aurora Center, University Recreation and Wellness, Student Legal Services and the Student Conflict Resolution Center.

Using a different process, Boynton requested

$9.2 million for the 2018-19 fiscal year, which included a $248,400 increase for mental health expansion cost.

The Aurora Center requested about $371,000, which included about $56,000 to fund a men’s engagement coordinator.

The requests from the administrative groups are still being processed and will be decided by mid-March.

Five media groups — G-TV, the Minnesota Daily, Students for a Conservative Voice, The Wake Magazine and Radio K — also requested funding at the beginning of February. Media groups request funding annually, rather than each semester.

The current application process for student groups was first used to allocate money for fall semester and was continued into this semester.

It requires student groups to apply for funding each semester rather than receive

funding for the full academic year. The process also caps how much can be requested, limiting groups to asking for $30,000 per academic year for programs.

“Before a year ago, there weren’t any limits, and so groups could request a lot more,” Carvell said. “What a group received last academic year may look very different from what they received this academic year.”

Carvell said the process is “viewpoint neutral,” and the content of a group’s programming or message is not taken into consideration when the committee makes funding decisions.

“Each group starts from zero, and it’s just based off of how much they request, how well they justify each of those requests, also how much total money the committee has to allocate,” said Jude Goossens, chair of the Student Groups Student Services Fee Committee.

Mini-brains: the latest U creation Brains u from Page 1

said professor and research lead Dr. Timothy O’Brien.

These organoids were created from sample cells, either from a donor or an individual with a neurodegenerative disease, that were genetically modified to be virtually identical to an embryotic stem cell, he said.

Even though these organoids have been named mini-brains and act like a human brain in specific ways, they do not have all the components of a human brain, O’Brien said.

They can’t think on their own and lack certain blood vessels and immune cells, said professor and Veterans of Foreign Wars Endowed Chair in Pharmacotherapy for the Elderly Ling Li. Since researchers cannot sample brain tissue from a living person, Li said the mini-brains could be used to

provide an accurate experimental model to study the human brain.

“This will give us [the] opportunity to develop a more human-like model,” Li said.

Pharmaceutical drugs could also be tested on these mini-brain models since they are closely resemble a live brain, O’Brien said.

O’Brien said he hopes to create accurate models of the brain to test treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Researchers can also use these organoids to create individualized treatments for people with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. By taking a skin sample from a Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s patient, researchers can create mini-brains with the individual’s exact genetic makeup and inject the organoids into the parts of the patient’s brain to regenerate damaged cells, O’Brien said.

The mini-brain organoids have been injected in rats

to test their effectiveness.

O’Brien said the next step is to test them on primates, and if that’s successful, start a clinical trial with humans.

Current research for Parkinson’s disease treatment, which affects about 1 million Americans, is focused on finding ways to stop or slow the degeneration of dopamine in the brain, said Rose Wichmann, manager of Struthers Parkinson’s Center in Golden Valley.

Most people with Parkinson’s use medication to restore the lost dopamine, but this is not a cure, Wichmann said.

Similarly, people with Alzheimer’s disease — about 5 million people in the U.S. alone — take medication to slow the symptom progression, but memory loss is still inevitable, said Katie Roberg, program and education manager for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Even though the minibrains have promising

“This will give us [the] opportunity to develop a more human-like model.”

LING LI Veterans of Foreign Wars Endowed Chair in Pharmacotherapy for the Elderly

research and treatment applications, they’re not perfect, Li said. As technology improves, researchers hope to make the mini-brains more representative of the human brain.

Plus, more research is needed, and the organoids are still years away from potentially treating Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, O’Brien said.

“I’m very excited and hope that this keeps working out. Everything’s so far, so good,” O’Brien said.

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EDITORIAL BOARD Anant Naik Editorials & Opinions Editor anaik@mndaily.com Aleezeh Hasan Editorial Board Member ahasan@mndaily.com Ray Weishan Editorial Board Member rweishan@mndaily.com Mike Hendrickson Editor-in-Chief mhendrickson@mndaily.com BUSINESS Genevieve Locke Sales Manager glocke@mndaily.com David Keane Controller dkeane@mndaily.com Corrections The Feb. 26 print version of the Reggie Lynch story incorrectly stated that the resolution has been sent to Coyle. The resolution has not yet been sent and the members of the committee are unknown at this point.

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.

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The Daily’s mission is: 1) to provide coverage of news and events affecting the University community; 2) to provide a forum for the communication and exchange of ideas for the University community; 3) to provide educational training and experience to University students in all areas of newspaper operations; and 4) to operate a fiscally responsible organization to ensure its ability to serve the University in the future.

The Daily is a member of the Minnesota News Council, the Minnesota Associated Press, the Associated Collegiate Press, The Minnesota Newspaper Association and other organizations.

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Thursday, March 1, 2018

3

Residents dispute renaming of local park Cedar-Riverside residents feel they weren’t consulted by the park board.

BY CARTER BLOCHWITZ cblochwitz@mndaily.com

Cedar-Riverside residents are organizing to oppose the recent renaming of a historic neighborhood park.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board passed a resolution Feb. 7 to rename Riverside Park after the late Annie Young, who was one of the longestserving commissioners on the park board. Officials voted to rename the park to “Annie Young Riverside Park,” and the lower portion of it to “Annie Young Meadow.”

The park board has opened a comment period on the renaming until late March. Residents say they weren’t adequately consulted about the renaming, and few were able to voice their concerns.

“It feels gratuitous for those of us that have lived here for several years,” said Phil Heywood, a Cedar-Riverside resident who lives near the park. “The name

defines the neighborhood — Riverside Park.”

During a community meeting Feb. 19, a group of residents aired their grievances with the name change and discussed how to oppose the action.

“We got a letter two days before the meeting,” said Marie Olofsdotter, another resident of the neighborhood. “We emailed like crazy, people spoke up in letters and that’s why we have the 45 days. If we had not gone there, [the park] would already be renamed.”

Aiya Butler, a CedarRiverside resident who attended the park board meeting on Feb. 7, said she felt her input was ignored by the board.

“I’m sure [Annie Young] was a great woman, and she did a lot of great things — but she didn’t do anything for our park,” Butler said.

Residents hope to find a compromise with the park board, and say they are willing to see the lower portion of the park renamed to commemorate Young. But they want the main park’s name to stay.

Ward 2 Minneapolis City Council member Cam G o r d o n s a i d t h e p a rk

CARTER BLOCHWITZ, DAILY

The sun sets on Riverside Park on Feb. 26. Neighbors have opposed the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s decision to rename the park after one of the longest-serving board members, Annie Young, who died earlier this year.

renaming was first proposed in 2005, but was declined. “[The Park and Recreation

University of Minnesota campus repairs hinge on bonding bill Bonding u from Page 1

affairs director for the Minnesota Student Association, said funding HEAPR will improve students’ learning environment.

“When I started classes at the U, I was a bit surprised in seeing our great facilities in disrepair, whether a leak in the library basement or the ceiling falling apart in the tunnels on my way to class,” Hurst said at the hearing.

“As students, we find this HEAPR request essential.”

Abbey Benning, a University senior majoring in English, spoke about the proposed renovation of Pillsbury Hall.

The University is asking the state for $24 million to renovate and modernize

Pillsbury Hall.

The renovated building would house the English department, which currently shares space in Lind Hall with the College of Science and Engineering. “[The renovation] is an incredibly important way to enhance that community and make the English department as beneficial to students as it possibly could be,” Benning said.

Kaler stressed the importance of investing in these renovations now and said they’ll only grow more expensive as time passes.

Rep. Raymond Dehn, DFL-Minneapolis, said HEAPR funding is an important part of the bonding bill.

Still, he said he doesn’t think the University’s capital request will be fully funded and that the school’s final

appropriation will depend on the size of the bonding bill.

“They’re not going to get everything they asked for.

There’s just not going to be that big of a bonding bill this year,” Dehn said. “But I think some of the key priority projects, they’ll be able to get funded.”

Last year, the Legislature funded roughly $120 million of the University $245 million capital request.

Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, chair of the House Capital Investment Committee, said the University’s request is “legitimate,” but funding depends on the Legislature’s priorities.

“I don’t think there’s anything in that request that isn’t needed. It just comes down to how much we can do,” Urdahl said.

Students will march against guns Gun march u from Page 1

The group hopes to start taking student applications Friday, but around a dozen students met Tuesday night to begin planning transportation and financial logistics.

“For me, like quite a few people at this point, it was kind of the last straw with what happened in Florida,” said junior Winona Johnson.

Lighting u from Page 1

lighting along 15th Avenue Southeast.

OCL will help MSA determine which street lights to propose, where they can be placed and how much they will cost.

Turonie said the City of Minneapolis updated its street lighting policy in 2015, which could complicate the project.

The city will only fund street lighting if it’s installed during reconstruction, according to its Street Lighting Policy.

Since the streets targeted

Divest u from Page 1

about the petition claimed it unfairly targeted Israel and didn’t allow enough time for conversation.

“It concerns our community that Israel, the only nation in the world where the majority of its citizens are Jewish, is the only nation named in this referendum for censure,” the complaint said.

The complaint also said the referendum’s wording

“Something needs to happen quickly, and we have a really powerful voice as young people.”

Several University faculty members have offered their financial help and support in spreading awareness about the cause to their students.

University educational psychology professor Rose Vukovic said she is supporting the movement because it is youth-led.

“That’s what I love about

it, that’s what feels energizing about it, that’s what feels different about it to me,” Vukovic said.

Several local politicians, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, DFL-Minneapolis and Sen. Kari Dziedzic, DFLMinneapolis have supported the effort by sharing the fundraising page on social media.

The March for Our Lives will be held on March 24. A sister march will be held in St. Paul on the same day.

by MSA and OCL are not under reconstruction, the proposed lighting would have to be funded by outside sources.

“We need to convince property owners in the area [to add lighting] because they bear the cost of the project,” Turonie said. “The street lighting would bring property [costs] down for owners, but they would have to pay the cost of the lighting up front, which they might be opposed to.”

If property owners agree to fund the lighting, the project would have to be approved by the Minneapolis City Council before construction could begin.

Kraft said MSA will push city officials to approve

the project.

“We are hopeful that street lighting will be improved in the next several years,” he said.

“It is a lengthy process to advocate for these improvements, but the work that we do now is crucial in making positive, long-term change happen.”

Kraft said additional street lighting would make Dinkytown more appealing and benefit residents and businesses.

“When people feel safer in the neighborhood, they’re more likely to engage more with the community, including with businesses. So I see lighting improvements as a very wise investment in the area,” he said.

asked students to make decisions about an “incredibly complex conflict, thousands of miles away, without any opportunity for nuanced education or discussion.”

In 2016, SJP and other student groups ran a similar campaign, demanding the University divest from companies involved with certain Israeli interactions with Palestine.

The movement targeted four companies — two of which are the same as this year’s movement

— Caterpillar Inc., Elbit Systems Ltd., G4S and Raytheon.

The original 2016 resolutions didn’t reach a vote, but the Minnesota Student Association passed a general resolution calling the University to divest from companies violating human rights.

If the referendum is placed on the ballot and passes, it will be sent to the Board of Regents for discussion.

The all-campus election will be held March 5-7.

Board] was in the middle of a process to define a process for naming parks after people, and they still are,”

Gordon said.

He said he believes the 45-day comment period and the prospect of

only renaming the lower area of Riverside Park is the best compromise for the dispute.

U of M study looks at gender and speech ties Researchers say the analysis could shed light on how children learn speech skills.

BY WESLEY HORTENBACH whortenbach@mndaily.com

Gender dysphoria may impact the way children learn speech patterns, according to new research from the University of Minnesota.

The study, presented earlier this month at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, found that boys with gender dysphoria may sound less typically male than boys without gender dysphoria. Researchers say this analysis of the relationships between gender, speech and language could shed light on the way children learn speech from social cues.

During the study, researchers collected speech samples from children between 5 and 13 years old.

Adults listened to the samples and rated how male or female the speech sample sounded.

“We are analyzing adults’ perception of children’s speech to better understand how boys with gender dysphoria are perceived, compared to boys and girls without [gender dysphoria],” said Emily Larson, a University senior involved in the research.

This study debunks the commonly-held belief that people with gender dysphoria — which occurs when a

“We are analyzing adults’ perception of children’s speech to better understand how boys with gender dysphoria are perceived, compared to boys and girls without [gender dysphoria].”

EMILY LARSON University senior

person identifies with a different gender than the sex they’re assigned at birth — have anatomical or physiological differences that might cause them to speak differently, said Ben Munson, lead author and University SpeechLanguage-Hearing Sciences professor.

“Cases where children’s gender development is reflected in their speech are not instances of speech or language disorders,” Munson said. “This is a particularly hard point to emphasize because so many people seem to associate speaking differently from the way that it is expected with speaking incorrectly.”

Instead, the findings suggest that boys with and without gender dysphoria might have learned different sets of speech features during development, he said.

“Lots of groups speak differently from others, so finding that two groups differ in the way that they speak is not in and of itself remarkable,” Munson said.

“The thing that is remarkable, or at least interesting,

is that children’s emerging sense of self influences the way they speak, even very early in life.”

Katie Bangert, a Ph.D. candidate and research assistant, said she was motivated to start this research project after realizing that many speech language pathologists don’t know how to best provide service for transgender individuals.

“Some people who are transgender seek the services of speech language pathologists to change the way they speak to better match their gender identity, so they wish to sound more feminine or masculine,” Bangert said.

With this study, researchers hope to better understand the impact of gendered voice characteristics on outsiders’ perceptions of children’s genders, and use the findings in clinical applications, Larson said.

“These findings could lead to the development of improved language enrichment programs across the lifespan for individuals with diverse gender identities and gender expression,” Bangert said.

4

Sports

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018

MN DAILY

MNDAILY.COM

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Destiny Pitts sees big role in first year The guard earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year after averaging 13.1 ppg.

BY ELLIE MARTIN emartin@mndaily.com

In her short time playing for Minnesota, guard Destiny Pitts didn’t expect to receive a big role with the team, but she has embraced it nonetheless.

Pitts was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year Monday. She is one of four players on the Gophers who average double digits, 13.1 points in her case. Also, she leads the team in rebounds per game with 7.4.

Pitts is the lone member of Minnesota’s freshman class on the team this season. Head coach Marlene Stollings said the team had an eye on the Detroit native for around three years.

“We love her physical strength, her ability to shoot and her basketball I.Q.,” Stollings said. “Those are things that captured our attention about her.”

Pitts is in good company as a Big Ten Freshman of the Year for Minnesota.

The other three are Amanda Zahui B., Rachel Banham and Janel McCarville, who are all either current or former WNBA players.

She also tied the record for Big Ten Freshman of the Week, winning it seven times this season. Guard Carlie Wagner said Pitts came in ready to play at the college level.

“She is one of those rare freshmen that comes in and doesn’t play like a freshman, doesn’t act like a freshman,” Wagner said. “Giving her confidence was the biggest

Gophers guard/forward Destiny Pitts dribbles the ball during Minnesota’s game against Penn State on Sunday, Feb. 11.

thing, boosting her up because she is a huge part of this team.”

Pitts was not in the starting lineup right away, but that changed early in the season. She has started 26 of the team’s 29 games.

“October was kind of rough,” Pitts said about the preseason. “But after I got acclimated, things slow down for me a lot.”

Pitts is one of the top freshmen in the conference, but she ranks just fourth on the team in scoring. Guard Kenisha Bell leads the team with 19.6 points per game.

Wagner and guard Gadiva Hubbard are also ahead of Pitts.

As the season comes to a close, the Gophers continue to receive Big Ten honors.

Along with Pitts, Wagner

and Bell were each named to All-Big Ten teams on Monday. The Gophers have relied on their first-year player, but they also have a balanced attack.

Since Pitts is in her first year, she does not have a taste for postseason basketball. The Gophers enter the Big Ten Tournament this season with a double-bye, the first time the team has

clinched that in a decade.

They did so by defeating Illinois 84-75 Sunday.

“It would mean everything to me,” Pitts said about potentially winning a Big Ten Championship.

“It would be for our seniors, for our coaches, for our fans.

We know we are capable of doing it.”

The Big Ten Tournament starts Wednesday in

MADDY FOX, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Indianapolis. Minnesota plays the winner of Thursday’s game between Northwestern and Iowa. The Gophers game is on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

“We haven’t really been looked at as a team that can win the Big Ten,” Bell said. “But we want to be seen, we want to be that team that everyone talks about.”

SOFTBALL

Katelyn Kemmetmueller’s work ethic comes from farm life The team visited Kemmetmueller’s dairy farm twice in the 2017 season.

BY DREW COVE dcove@mndaily.com

Katelyn Kemmetmueller’s ability to manage her life in college and softball came from a routine.

The routine on the Kemmetmueller Dairy Farm to be exact, owned by the family of the Minnesota shortstop. The sophomore likes to go back to her home when she’s away from her Division I sport.

While there haven’t been any trips this year because of the weather so far, the farm is a special place for Kemmetmueller. The Gophers and she visited the farm in Rogers, Minnesota last season.

“I got to show them all that stuff,” Kemmetmueller said. “It was kind of funny to watch them. Some of them didn’t like the smell, one of the pigs actually pooped on one of my teammates.”

She said she took the team on a trip right away in the fall last year, when

SOFTBALL PREVIEW

SAN DIEGO CLASSIC SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA MINNESOTA VS OREGON STATE WHEN: 4 p.m. Friday SAN DIEGO STATE WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Friday

MINNESOTA

VS

LONG BEACH STATE WHEN: 1:30 p.m. Saturday

MINNESOTA

VS

MINNESOTA

VS

UCLA

WHEN: 4 p.m. Saturday COLORADO STATE WHEN: 11 a.m. Sunday

MINNESOTA

VS

SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM

she was a freshman. Some of Kemmetmueller’s teammates were more apt to the sights and smells of the farm, while some might have been less impressed with the experience.

The Gophers got to experience the farm, but also experience a dinner prepared by Kemmetmueller’s mother, Karen.

Katelyn traces her roots back to the dairy farm, where

ELLEN SCHMIDT, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Utility player Katelyn Kemmetmueller swings during the game against South Dakota on April 4.

she still takes care of the animals with her family.

Kemmetmueller said when she was in high school, she sometimes dreaded having to get up before classes to help her dad on the farm, but now she realizes the importance of it and enjoys going back.

“As soon as I came to college, [I] miss[ed] that,”

Kemmetmueller said. “I think it helped me a lot because it was very structured.

The work had to get done, so it’s helped me in college.”

The farm lifestyle is not a new one for the Kemmetmuellers. The Kemmetmueller Dairy Farm has been passed down for three generations, with Katelyn’s

great grandfather originally owning the property.

Over the years, the farm has accumulated animals of all kinds. There are dairy cows, pigs and goats, and teammate Amber Fiser looks forward to meeting Katelyn’s new puppy.

“I’m absolutely so pumped,” Fiser said. “It’s

a great experience to see people go to [their] places and see how they are at home and what their lifestyle is like.”

Kemmetmueller’s work on the farm is certainly a difficult task and the work ethic she gained in her time at home has helped her as a softball player. Head coach Jamie Trachsel said that, around the softball field, she works very hard, is quick to ask for help and will go out of her way to help people.

The Gophers haven’t made the trip yet this season, but the team has plans in place to go to the farm sometime in the future. Fiser is looking forward to the trip, since she missed the first couple visits.

To Kemmetmueller, a typical summer work day on the farm may look a lot different from inside a Minneapolis office. Her office is her backyard and the job starts very early in the morning.

“A typical day in the summer would be getting up at 5:00 [a.m.],” Kemmetmueller said. “We’re usually done about 7:00, 7:30 [p.m.]. If we’re baling hay, we’ll probably go until the sun sets. “

MEN’S HOCKEY

Gophers look to bounce back against Nittany Lions in second consecutive matchup The Gophers were swept by PSU last weekend when they gave up 10 goals.

MEN’S HOCKEY PREVIEW

BIG TEN QUARTERFINALS UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA NO. 1 15 PENN VS NO.STATE MINNESOTA WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday

BY DREW COVE dcove@mndaily.com

From taunting players to scoring five in each game, the Nittany Lions seemed to have it out for Minnesota last weekend, which resulted in Penn State sweeping the team.

The matchup will be renewed this weekend for the Big Ten tournament in State College, Pennsylvania — just six days removed from where the two teams left off Saturday.

“I think as a team we’re very pissed off about how last weekend went,” defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. “We’re going to come in there with an

WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday WHEN: 6 p.m. Sunday** **If necessary SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM

EASTON GREEN, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Gophers players rotate on and off the ice during a game at 3M at Mariucci Arena on Feb. 16.

edge to us and show them that last weekend was not Gopher hockey.”

Minnesota heads to Penn State after losing home-ice advantage in the losses last weekend. This weekend’s

best-of-three series is for the right to play in a one-game semifinal next weekend.

Before the Nittany Lions blew them out, the Gophers were one of the winningest teams down the stretch of the

last eight games. Not only did Minnesota struggle to defend Penn State, it also struggled to score. The Gophers scored three goals in the two losses.

“There’s some bad blood between us [and Penn State],” Lindgren said. “That will make the games a lot more fun, we’ll be ready for it and excited.”

Lindgren and Penn State forward Evan Barratt were in

each team’s penalty box at the same time Friday and they exchanged words throughout their two minutes in the box.

Barratt mimed a crying motion with his hands as the two exchanged words.

After his time in the box, Barratt came out and delivered a hit on Lindgren, scoring a goal shortly after.

There will be no shortage of emotion in the game as Penn State revived its season after an eight-game stretch, going 0-6-2 to come back with a three-game win streak as the regular season came to an end. The Gophers went 6-1-1 in their last eight games before last weekend.

“Certainly hope we bring emotion this weekend, we didn’t have a lot of it last weekend,” associate head coach Mike Guentzel said. “We have to play a bit more passionate,

with a little more energy and a little more attention to detail.”

Guentzel said the lack of intensity and lack of effort to get the one point they needed in the last weekend was the hardest thing to explain.

The Gophers had the chance to face Penn State at 3M Arena at Mariucci if they earned just one point of the six available over the Nittany Lions. They didn’t get the point and now the team plays in the Pegula Ice Arena with hockey fans waiting to see the home team advance to the semifinals.

In the end, Minnesota is thankful to go back there and play Penn State.

“It’s not often you get a doover, but we get a do-over,” head coach Don Lucia said.

“Hopefully, this weekend we’ll rebound and play the right way all weekend long.”

5

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018

MN DAILY

MNDAILY.COM

CATS

CULTURE to CONSUME

By Sophie Vilensky

Eat this: Brussels sprouts Every trendy restaurant I’ve visited recently has Brussels on the menu — they’re having a moment! And while the in-house takes are fantastic, they are oh so easy to do right at home.

Halve them, toss them in olive oil (with honey! turmeric! garlic! anchovies! whatever sounds fab!) and bake at 450 for 15 minutes or until they’re just how you like.

Apply this: Hyaluronic acid serum I’m not going to pretend I didn’t hear this tip from “Queer Eye”s Jonathan Van Ness. I’m no esthetician, but wouldn’t you also trust him with anything beauty related? Hyaluronic acid is naturally occurring in our bodies and absorbs 1000 times its weight in water, keeping your skin nice and glow-y while you wait for the snow to melt away.

Watch this: The Oscars I’ve seen all but two Best Picture nominees this year, and the selection is superb. Will highest actor honors go to Timothée or Daniel?

Will Warren Beatty reappear?

How will Sufjan Stevens’ Sufjan Stevens-ness carry over on the Academy’s stage? Will Jimmy Kimmel find a way to make a “Shape of Water” joke we haven’t already heard? We’d better watch and find out.

CULTURE COMPASS

By Sophie Vilensky

Friday MGMT I don’t think I’ve heard from MGMT since my “Skins U.K.” phase in 2011. So where the heck did this come from? While the band put out a brand new album this year, its top three songs on Spotify are still “Kids,” “Electric Feel” and “Time to Pretend.” So … go relive your 2011 “Skins” phase I guess? And please let me know what the vibe in there is like.

Where Myth Live, 3090 Southlawn Drive, St. Paul Hours 8 P.M. Cost $45

Saturday

MAX OSTENSO, DAILY

Clockwise from top left: Annabelle, Presley, Dillanger, Thea, Nana, Tinkerbell

The personalities at Cafe Meow Netflix and chill is over. Coffee and cats are in.

BY HALEY BENNETT hbennett@mndaily.com

T

urns out the recently opened (and super popular) cat cafe boasts a baker’s dozen when it comes to kitties in their cohort. Fluffy and goodnaturedly ferocious, these cats come from no-kill shelters throughout the Twin Cities: No Kitten Left Behind MN, Ruff Start Rescue and Pet Project Rescue.

The Cafe Meow opened on Friday, complete with both felines and coffee from St. Paul’s own Bootstrap Coffee Roasters.

Cozy and inviting, the cafe offers the homey setting other animal adoption sites cannot. With a cup of coffee in hand, you can enter the room, take a seat on the couch and see what cats you vibe with.

Which is important because all of the cats are up for adoption.

Since they opened, they shop has had five adoptions.

In fact, they’re so popular that they prefer when customers make appointments ahead of time.

Upon hearing this, A&E promptly made a visit to the cat cafe to get a read on the charmers’ personalities.

The founders, Danielle Rasmussen and Jessica Burge, have been working on putting together the cafe since 2014.

The daily routine at the cafe: several cats hang back while attention-seekers, mostly Tinkerbell and Annabelle, steal the floor.

Tinkerbell Tinkerbell, a marshmallow-shaped calico, typically

sits and surveys the room from the two green and white chairs that serve as her thrones. (She’s big. She needs two thrones.)

They have lots to say about Tinkerbell, queen of the kitten caboodle.

“She’s the sassy one,” Rasmussen said.

According to the owners, Tink is the most likely to survive the apocalypse.

Annabelle The owners say Annabelle has the most forgiving personality of all the cats.

“She had a rough start in life, so you’d think she might hate people. But that’s not the case at all,” Burge said.

“She’s cuddly and good with kids,” Rasmussen said.

Annabelle is a sweet, black-and-white spotted cowgirl who’ll accompany you to

The studio’s Facebook says it best: “We believe that everyone should have a place where they can experience the transformative power of art and the healing potential held in connection and community.” They’ll have coffee and numerous tools available for use. Have a favorite medium? Want to experiment? Go make something regardless!

BY MADDY FOLSTEIN mfolstein@mndaily.com

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Honestly, the biggest dream right now is for it to be midsummer. But that’s the beauty of theater — we can pretend! Spend a peaceful Sunday culturing yourself with a little Shakespeare. Put on by some marvelously talented students, you’ll get lost enough in the fairy world to forget it’s only March.

Where Rarig Center, 330 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis Hours 2 P.M. Cost $7-$17

Dillanger Dillanger is a reclusive tabby who spends most of his time perched in the cat tree hiding with his brother.

He’s the most likely to tell dad jokes.

“With a name like that, how could he not?” Burge said.

Nana Nana likes to snuggle and be brushed. She’s a patient, motherly type, likely to read you children’s books. That

Thea The beauty of the bunch is Thea, a fluffy tabby who stays tucked away in her perch above the window most of the time. She’d fit best with someone who doesn’t need too much snuggling.

The ideal cat parent?

“Someone who appreciates and respects the personality of their cat,” Burge said. “There’s no one type of person that’s the best suited to be a cat owner.”

As any pet owner knows, looking after furry fellows can be a full-time job. But Burge, allergy medication at hand behind the counter, reminds us that they’re worth it.

A&E’s 2018 Oscars picks The section weighs in on their dream Oscar ballot.

Sunday

Presley Then there’s Presley, the tortoiseshell who has taken the ceiling for her own personal playground. “She’s an instigator,” Rasmussen said. In classic cat fashion, her glowing eyes suggest she’s always plotting something.

probably explains why she’s just been adopted.

AWARDS

“All-Age Open Studio”

Where courageous heARTS, 2235 E. 38th St., Minneapolis Hours 9 A.M.- Noon

any rodeo.

T

he 2017 Academy Awards ceremony is now infamous for the “Moonlight”-“La La Land” fiasco. Will the drama this year be as monumental? Probably not.

There are, of course, the performances that were overlooked — James Franco’s performance as Tommy Wiseau in “The Disaster Artist,” which brought a cult classic to the forefront, and everyone loved “Baby Driver.” Michael Shannon (“The Shape of Water”) and Michael Stuhlbarg (“Call Me by Your Name”) warrant a new nomination category — best dramatic monologue in a film.

Nevertheless, as fans and critics fight between Greta Gerwig and Jordan Peele or Timothée Chalamet and Daniel Day-Lewis, A&E decided to put in our two cents.

Here are A&E’s choices for the 2018 Oscars: Best picture: “Call Me by Your Name” Maybe we all just want a summer romance in Italy.

Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me

by Your Name” encapsulated the intensity of desire, thanks to the performances

of Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer. The dance floor scene to “Love My Way”

by The Psychedelic Furs deserves an award of its own.

Best actor in a leading role: Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”) 2017’s best horror movie had a chilling social focus, and a talented ensemble of actors. Daniel Kaluuya starred as Chris, the confused boyfriend meeting his girlfriend’s strange parents for the first time. Kaluuya’s persistence and introspection in his role drove the movie, making it one of 2017’s best.

Best actress in a leading role: Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”) It’s hard to believe that Saoirse Ronan is actually a 23-year-old who grew up in Ireland and not a high school senior stuck in Sacramento.

Her performance as Lady Bird balanced the charm, precociousness and angst of the film’s leading teen.

Best actor in a supporting role: Richard Jenkins (“The Shape of Water”) What kept “The Shape of Water” from being just the adult version of “The Little

A&E EDITOR

RADIO K TOP 7

Gunthar Reising greising@mndaily.com

1. BROCKHAMPTON, Swamp 2. HOCKEY DAD, I Wanna Be Everybody 3. NO AGE, Drippy

Mermaid”? The gritty reality of the Cold War era del Toro inserted at every turn. Eliza’s best friend, Giles, is an illustrator who struggles against modernity and discrimination in the tense America circa 1962, and Jenkins’s performance keeps this reality as a focus of the film.

Best actress in a supporting role: Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”) If Ronan is going to win, then Metcalf must as well.

The two co-starred as the year’s best mother-daughter duo, and Metcalf’s portrayal of Marion McPherson is equal parts “warm and scary,” as one character in the film describes her.

Cinematography: “Dunkirk” and “The Shape of Water” These films brought the viewer to very different worlds of war. “Dunkirk” visually inserted the viewer into the grim reality of World War II, while the Cold War setting of “The Shape of Water” is all at once lush, imaginative and shadowy.

Director: Greta Ger wig (“Lady Bird”) Sacramento has never

HARRY STEFFENHAGEN, DAILY

looked sweeter. Gerwig also grew up in the California city, and her treatment of the film’s coming-of-age narrative is tender and incisive. Gerwig has made the ultimate call-your-mom movie.

Film editing: “Baby Driver” Watching “Baby Driver” is like being a part of one long, tumultuous road trip.

Typically overlooked by the average Oscars viewer, the editing of the film helped it

4. DIZZY FAE, Johnny Bravo 5. THE FINGERS, Time Passes 6. KELELA, Blue Light 7. RHYE, Taste

find its speed — a tempo that was lightning-fast and just as fun.

Original score: “The Shape of Water” “The Shape of Water” pulls from multiple genres — romance, sci-fi, horror, etc. Alexandre Desplat’s instrumental score features songs that layer all of these emotions, framing the romance between Eliza and the Creature in all the mystery and tenderness it deserves.

6 THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018

MN DAILY

MNDAILY.COM

Editorials & Opinions EDITORIAL

COLUMN

What’s wrong with campus hookup culture The lack of emotion and gender double standard make hookup culture on campus a toxic one. s someone who has had little to no success in her dating life in college, what I find most frustrating, and most obvious, is that men are setting all the rules.

I began my college ELLEN SCHNEIDER career in a long-term recolumnist lationship that started in high school. When that fizzled, I found myself in a bit of a culture shock re-entering the dating pool. It became clear quickly that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

The hookup and dating culture on college campuses has shifted in recent years in some ways, but in others it’s largely stayed the same throughout generations.

What I hadn’t realized is that it’s no longer the norm to have romantic feelings for a sexual partner. In fact, people actually go out of their way to disprove any emotional attachments to their partners. According to Lisa Wade, a sociologist at Occidental College, people will often

compete to prove that they care even less then the person they are having sex with.

Not only is it no longer a part of sexual normalcy to maintain romantic feelings for a partner, but it is often the case that it can be one of the biggest violations of social standards. The University of Minnesota isn’t immune to these cultural shifts; in fact, we have in some ways epitomized them. The constant athletic scandals, from the football players who allegedly had sex with just one woman, to the numerous charges that have piled up against Reggie Lynch, prove a general lack of respect for sexual partners. This has been broadly accepted by many students. It’s expected.

The University has been making strides to address issues like sexual misconduct, such as with the President’s Initiative to Prevent Sexual Misconduct, announced in February, which will require all staff and faculty to take mandatory sexual misconduct training. While these efforts are noble and certainly address relevant issues, they do not address the larger cultural problems surrounding sex on college campuses.

While this lack of emotion is an obvious shift from previous attitudes toward sex, there are some ways in which sexual cultures have largely stayed the same. Students continue to buy into the archaic double standard that condemns

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

COLUMN

A

Preser ving and expanding the UMCDC ser ves the University’s mission On Jan. 22, the Dean of the College of Education and Human Development announced the closure of the University of Minnesota Child Development Center. A month later, in response to research demonstrating the center’s value to the University, President Eric Kaler postponed the closure until “an alternative, or alternatives, [are] in place.”

UMCDC is the only full-time, infantthrough-preschool early childhood education and care (ECE) center on the Twin Cities campus. While UMCDC provides high-quality ECE for UMN faculty, staff and students, it also contributes directly to the University’s teaching, research and outreach missions. UMCDC provides practicum experiences to 75 percent of the early childhood education majors at UMN, thus helping to train a significant portion of the ECE workforce that serves the state. Visits to UMCDC are a regular part of courses exploring child development in the College of Liberal Arts and CEHD. UMCDC, in short, is far more than simply an ECE center.

The excellence of UMCDC’s staff and educational program have long been critical in attracting and retaining top-notch faculty, staff and graduate students. Yet because the University has not invested in on-campus ECE at the level of its peers, relatively few families have been able to take advantage of it. The University suggests limited capacity as a reason to close UMCDC, but the center’s very existence has been a vital symbol of the University’s support of working families. Closing it would send the opposite signal, particularly given the fact that the Twin Cities has one of the nation’s highest rates of dual-earner couples, resulting in widespread childcare shortages in the Metro area.

While the University has also argued that UMCDC is not cost-effective, the center’s tuition revenue exceeds its operational costs.

Tuition is already adjusted for family income, ranging from $445 to $750 biweekly; these brackets could be adjusted to broaden access for students while increasing overall revenue via higher-income families. Moreover, financial transfers made to UMCDC by the University should not be viewed as a subsidy. Rather, they should be viewed as an investment both in UMN’s core mission and in providing a family-friendly resource that maximizes employee productivity.

When the University has invested in it, UMCDC has demonstrated its ability to expand: at its inception in 1974, the UMCDC was housed in a West Bank warehouse, serving 75 children. Upon moving to its current site in the Como neighborhood in 1992, its capacity nearly doubled. However, no plans for further expansion have been made since then.

Any investigation of “alternatives” should also account for the fact that UMCDC’s current building was purpose-built for the center: it is designed for all-day care, and optimizes staff costs with a layout that flexes depending on the number of children in the center. When the building was commissioned, designed and built — all under the auspices of Auxiliary Services — parents donated at least $30,000, and participated in the design process. Retaining UMCDC at its current site while expanding to other locations, such as the West Bank campus, would offer additional possibilities for partnerships and outreach with the surrounding community, and permit greater integration with research and teaching programs across campus.

For all of these reasons, the conversation sparked by the closure announcement offers an opportunity to chart a new path forward for ECE at UMN. This path should build upon, and expand, the valuable resource the UMN already has in UMCDC. UMN’s Grand Challenge topic “Enhancing Individual and Community Capacity for a Changing World” intends to foster “physical, mental and cognitive wellbeing from early childhood.” We believe we can do this — through greater investment in the UMCDC. This letter was edited lightly for grammar and style.

This letter was authored by Antonella Borgatti, an associate professor of oncology in the department of veterinary clinical sciences, Barrett Colombo, manager for education and policy at the Institute on the Environment and Evan Roberts,an assistant professor of sociology and population studies in CLA on behalf of UMCDC Parents Organizing.

women but uplifts men for engaging in the same sexual behaviors. In many cases, men who accept this double standard feel justified in disrespecting their partners, according to Heather Kettrey at Vanderbilt University. I think I speak for a lot of women when I say that we are tired of being judged and disparaged for partaking in the same sexual conduct that men do.

This is an inherently gendered societal custom that continues to enhance the reputation of men for racking up another sexual conquest and at the same time belittles the worth of women.

The outdated notion of the sex-having harlot isn’t one we should continue to tolerate with such complacency. I refuse to feel guilty just because I’m a woman.

While this issue may be as old as time, it continues to be important because of its relevance on college campuses specifically. Universities are the institutions that prepare us to be productive members of society, foster our belief systems and show us how we should view the world. If the culture on our campuses continues to further these outmoded notions, we will never get past them as a society.

Ellen Schneider welcomes comments at eschneider@mndaily.com.

Janus v. AFSCME matters The public-sector labor is being threatened across the country.

O

n Feb. 26, the U.S. Supreme Court began hearing arguments for Janus v. AFSCME. Mark Janus is an Illinois public employee, and, since he is not a union member, he protests his legal UMA VENKATA requirement to pay the columnist fee that covers the cost of his union representation. The defendant, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, with 1.6 million members is the biggest public-employee trade union in the U.S. This case is important and complicated.

In 1977, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education argued the “agency shop” arrangement, implemented in 22 states, wherein every public-sector employee must pay the union fee (or “agency” or “fair-share fee”) — whether or not the employee has union membership. SCOTUS ruled that if unions use fair-share fees for “collective-bargaining, contract-administration, and grievance-adjustment purposes” it is indeed lawful, because these purposes are in the best interest of all public employees.

Then in 2015, Illinois’s Gov. Bruce Rauner delayed passing his state’s budget for two-and-a-half years, to invite a legal challenge again over the fair-share fee.

Then, in January of 2016, a few teachers argued against it in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association — thereby requesting a repeal of the Abood ruling. When Justice Antonin Scalia died, the remaining eight were split evenly between the final ruling, so the case was tabled. We return to Rauner’s campaign in Illinois, which became Janus v. AFSCME. Janus urges SCOTUS to overrule its Abood decision because even though unions spend fair-share fees only for the three reasons above — never for political purposes — the very nature of the collective bargaining is political enough to be the same as paying to support a group that lobbies for the government. The court is

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Many shortfalls in the University’s response to sexual assault

This is written in response to the Minnesota Daily article “Founder of #MeToo movement comes to UMN campus.”

This article covered the event where #MeToo founder Tarana Burke was guest speaker, and I am specifically responding to how the University of Minnesota has handled recent high-profile cases of sexual assault. Burke said that University administration’s response was “ahead of the curve” in comparison to other schools, and I believe that her input should have been elaborated on more in this article.

I find it hard to believe that Burke glossed over these recent cases. However, if she had, I think that our community’s response indicated that we are concerned with the environment we live in, and the author could have elaborated on this.

Our University should not have been congratulated for “managing” sexual assault cases, especially since two of the most prominent and recent ones have involved student-athletes at the University.

Student-athletes should be held to a higher standard of behavior, and the University should take a key point in ensuring this.

If the University is prioritizing “safety for the student body” and then appearing to do little to prevent these sexual assaults, I would question why Burke seems to be congratulating the administration’s response in this article.

This letter has been lightly edited for clarity and style.

Erika Guenther is a student at the University of Minnesota.

expected to rule in his favor this summer, with Justice Neil Gorsuch, making every state right-to-work.

Janus is backed by Rauner and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and has ubiquitous funding from the Koch brothers and the Bradley Foundation. Their goal is to dismantle labor unions in blue states.

(Red states are already right-to-work.) The organizations that try to demerit labor unions hide their intentions well by using consistently pro-worker vocabulary. They never attack unions outright, but claim to fight for “free speech,” “worker rights” and “workplace freedom.” However, internal documents clarify this frankly vague language — for example, the State Policy Network works with many other anti-union organizations to “defund and defang” government employee unions.

Union membership is a major determinant of social and economic mobility.

The effects are higher education, higher incomes (especially for families headed by low-skilled workers), health-insurance rates, stable home environments for children, parity for people of color —the list goes on.

Please remember that centuries of modern labor have proven that unions are central to the stability, security and equality of every working citizen.

If the legal jargon makes you feel like you can skip right through, please walk away knowing this: without labor unions, working people have no unified voice. Negotiating for fair pay, safe working conditions and other rights is practically impossible when opposition advocates for lower pay and less “inconvenience” to the employer. Without unions, all working people, and at a disproportionate rate, people of color, will suffer.

Unions are what make our country a land of opportunity for everyone. I believe that in Minnesota, the earning gap that unions fight against shouldn’t keep growing. American workers don’t deserve to lose the rights the unions look out for, and no American deserves to lose the equality that unions work for too.

Uma Venkata welcomes comments at uvenkata@mndaily.com.

CONTACT THE EDITOR Anant Naik anaik@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.

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

THE EDIT ORIALS AND OPINIONS DEPAR TMENT IS INDEPENDENT OF THE NEW SROOM

COURTESY OF SIMRAN MISHRA

The MN Daily’s endorsement for MSA president and vice president

T

he Minnesota Student Association, the undergraduate student government at the University of Minnesota, works on a multitude of issues each year. Various committees within MSA are managed by the administrative leaders of the body. Leaders work diligently, advocating for students to University officials, state and national legislators and representing students nationally at various conferences. To address the complexity and the multifaceted nature of leadership within the group, the president and vice president of MSA must demonstrate critical knowledge of how the many components of the University function, and must present a detailed vision that charts a path forward to improve the quality of education and the student experience of the students at our University. Starting on March 5 and ending March 7, University undergraduate students will have a chance to elect new leadership to MSA. We believe that Simran Mishra and Mina Kian have the strongest qualifications to lead the University’s student body for the next year as president and vice president of MSA.

Running MSA is a burdensome responsibility. It’s a job that requires experience and powerful leadership skills in conjunction with a broad vision that stands on the pillars of executable actions and policies. We believe Mishra and Kian have the ability to continue that work ...

In order to navigate the complex infrastructure of the University bureaucracy, any president or vice president must have the necessary relationships and knowledge to turn policy suggestions into actions. Mishra and Kian have not only been distinguished and recognized members of MSA for years, but have been effective leaders in the organization, including chairing various committees and facilitating dialogue with administration. Having already established these relationships makes Mishra and Kian’s vision far more achievable, as there will be a smaller learning curve. Key components of their vision include working toward a self-operated dining service for the University, expanding recycling options on and off campus and pushing toward conversations about renaming other buildings besides Coffman Union.

Dobbs DeCorsey and Larranz Guider are the second and only other ticket running in the MSA president/vice president election. We feel that DeCorsey and Guider have many strong ideas for policy changes needed at the University. They want to make MSA less intimidating to join and expand local community outreach.

We also believe DeCorsey and Guider are critical of the administration in important areas — something Mishra and Kian are hesitant to be. However, our board feels their plan to implement those strong ideas falls short. The depth of their campaign weighs heavily into our endorsement, as its lack of depth indicates an inability to hit the ground running when the candidates would assume the responsibilities of their leadership positions. While certainly any student should be able to run for a leadership role in student government, it’s important that all students running have a strategy for transitioning into the role of president and vice president.

Running MSA is a burdensome responsibility. It’s a job that requires experience and powerful leadership skills in conjunction with a broad vision that stands on the pillars of executable actions and policies.

We believe Mishra and Kian have the ability to continue the work that MSA has undertaken and institute new ideas to benefit the University and the student body.

We look forward to the election and to seeing what is in store for both tickets.

Editor’s note: The Daily editorial board interviewed the four candidates for MSA president and vice president on Feb. 16 and Feb. 18. The Daily will not be making endorsements in the COGS and PSG races.

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

7

MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2018

MN DAILY

MNDAILY.COM FOR RELEASE MARCH 1, 2018

HOROSCOPES Today’s Birthday (3/1): Explore new horizons this year. Tight team coordination widens the range of possibilities. Pursue a personal dream. Unexpected funding sources arise. Summer romance and a refreshing pause lead to surging physical health and fitness.

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle CROSSWORD Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

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

Written by Nancy Black

Aries (3/21 - 4/19): Today is an 8 — Reach a turning point in your physical health and fitness, with this Virgo Full Moon. Are you having enough fun? Enjoy time with loved ones.

Libra (9/23 - 10/22): Today is a 5 — You could get grumpy without some downtime. This Full Moon shines on a spiritual fork in the road. Ritual, symbolism and beauty soothe.

Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): Today is a 7 — Change directions with a romance, passion or creative endeavor under this Full Moon in Virgo. Hang out with family and friends. Relax and eat well.

Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Today is a 7 — Keep things respectful and practical. This Full Moon illuminates a new social phase, with changes between friends and group projects.

Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): Today is a 7 — Domestic changes require adaptation under the Virgo Full Moon. Renovate, remodel and tend your garden. Begin a new home and family phase.

Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): Today is a 7 — This Full Moon sparks a turning point in your career. Shift focus toward current passions.

Expect a test. Begin a new professional phase.

Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Today is a 6 — A new phase in communications, connection and intellectual discovery dawns with this Full Moon.

Shift the direction of your research.

Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): Today is an 8 — Begin an exploratory phase. This Full Moon illuminates a new educational direction.

Experiment with new concepts and philosophies.

Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Today is a 7 — A turning point arises around income and finances. Seek profitable opportunities under the Full Moon.

Gain strength from the past. Collect debts.

Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): Today is a 6 — Take a new direction with your shared finances under this Full Moon. Balance old and new responsibilities. Work out the next phase together.

Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): Today is an 8 — This Full Moon in your sign illuminates a new personal direction. Push your own boundaries and limitations. Open your heart and mind.

Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Today is a 7 — Love is your foundational support structure. A turning point arises in a partnership with this Full Moon.

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ACROSS 1 Tell target 6 Look for 10 Letting in some air 14 Dakota natives 15 Lyft alternative 16 Record, in a way 17 *Man Booker Prize winner for “Life of Pi” 19 Put out 20 When the fewest pieces are on the chess board 21 Detoxification diet 23 Lean-__: sheds 24 [Boring!]

26 “Letters From Iwo __”: Eastwood film 27 *Star of ’70s TV’s “Good Times” 29 “Thwack!”

32 Less ingenuous 35 __ window 36 Through 37 Scuttlebutt 40 Souvenir shop display 42 Farm sound 43 Farm animal 45 Watering hole 46 Brimless hat 47 *Actor in two “Jurassic Park” films 50 Steamboat fuel 52 Inflates, as expenses 53 Significant time 56 Eurasian plains 59 ADHD medication 61 Fuzzy fruit or fuzzy bird 62 Whole new person who can literally be found in the answers to starred clues 64 OPEC member 65 2-point G, e.g.

66 Dreadlocks wearer 67 Island goose 68 Zipped 69 Sp. titles DOWN 1 Up to now 2 Composer John Cage’s “Suite for Toy __”

3/1/18

By Craig Stowe

3 Cold cream name 4 Organ with alveoli 5 Richard M. Daley and Ed Koch 6 Scattered 7 Put down a hero 8 Corp. head 9 Party poopers 10 Elite squad 11 *Gomer Pyle portrayer 12 Driving company that sounds more like a flying company 13 “Thy love did read by __, that could not spell”: “Romeo and Juliet” 18 Eastern nurse 22 Frozen Wasser 25 Capture 27 __ chicken: Jamaican dish 28 Floor covering 30 Start to trust?

31 Fool (with) 32 Worn out 33 “The Last Jedi” general

Last Issue’s Puzzle Wednesday’s PuzzleSolved Solved

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34 *“Atonement” novelist 36 First antibacterial soap 38 Confucian text, with “The” 39 November tuber 41 Oater belt attachments 44 Economic fig.

47 Plant juice 48 Made 49 “With ya so far”

51 State one’s views 53 Slasher film setting: Abbr.

54 Western prop 55 Actresses Gunn and Kendrick 56 Hide 57 Wear out 58 Armada unit 60 Purim month 63 Full Sail Amber __

DR. DATE Dear Dr. Date, My boyfriend. Asked for dating advice. From Ben Shapiro. In front of a crowd of 400 when he spoke on campus on Monday. I’m a leftist.

I have buttons on my backpack. My beau, however, says that he wants to expose my conservative values.

What the hell should I do here…?

Thanks, Red, white and boo Dear Red, white and boo, I saw the speech. As Shaprio says, “You, my friend, are making a very large mistake.”

Your boyfriend starts with, “Let’s say there’s a young man here who’s dating a woman who tends to lean very far left.” Laughter and applause. Shapiro responded, “Is she present right now?” Your boyfriend said no. “Oh, good,” Shapiro said, “So I can be honest.”

He went on to explain that you could be swayed to the right side so long as your political values — your outlook on abortion rights or gun laws, for example — were funda-

mental to your identity, or whether they were “flotsam” floating on the top of your personality.

Shapiro does make a solid point: The basis of relationships, even before interests, is values. A roomful of 400 laughed at yours.

And anyway, have you actually heard this guy talk? He sounds like one of the minions from Despicable Me. Are you sure you want to be dating a guy who’d take advice from a corn-yellow pill-shaped troll?

-Dr. Date Dear Dr. Date, You know how the ’90s have been making a comeback? Yeah.

Well, I think I’ve taken it to a whole new level.

Let me explain. I’ve loved the Cranberries forever. I grew up listening to “Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?” every single day on my portable CD player. I still listen to them all the time.

When Dolores O’Riordan died this year, I was devastated. She’s

the one who taught me about passion, about self-love. What was I going to do without my Celtic dream pop queen?

This seemed like the prime oppor tunity to drag out the Ouija board my grandmother had given me so long ago. I just wanted to talk to Dolores, you know? I hadn’t anticipated that she’d answer. But she did, and the first thing she told me (after saying that being dead wasn’t so bad, since she got to hang with Leonard Cohen) was that I needed to keep the dream of the ‘90s alive. Punk rock feminism, grunge, pixie cuts and vinyl dresses.

I’m still reeling from the shock.

This actually WORKED. So, Dr. Date, who should I contact next?

Sincerely, Let It Linger Dear Let It Linger, First of all, take the woman’s advice! She knows what she’s talking about. Dig out your filthiest flannel

3/1/18

and your rip-iest jeans. Listen to Nirvana and Hole and Bikini Kill.

Watch Thelma and Louise, Goodfellas or Léon: The Professional if you run out of ideas. Get with that PJ Harvey eyeliner style. Don’t know who that is? Google her. You won’t be sorry.

Beyond that, toy carefully with this new discovery. I probably don’t need to tell you, but tread carefully around the dead. They’re trying to get their beauty rest. If you want to rouse someone, ask politely. Don’t leave more than a couple messages with the Grim Reaper (he hates being a go-between for new rock stars, anyway. Only millennials ask him to talk to people who were born after 1980.)

That said, I think I speak for all of us when I say PLEASE, please talk to Kurt. We gotta know. Did Courtney do it or not?!

-Dr. Date Want advice from the love doctor?

Email Dr. Date at drdate@mndaily. com

8

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Shapiro addresses venue controversy

JACK RODGERS, DAILY

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro speaks in the Northstar Ballroom of the St. Paul Student Center on Monday, Feb. 26. The speech drew a crowd of dozens of protestors.

Nearly 400 students attended Shapiro’s speech on the UMN St. Paul campus.

BY ISABELLA MURRAY imurray@mndaily.com

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro spoke to a packed ballroom of nearly 400 students on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus on Monday.

During his speech at the North Star Ballroom, Shapiro discussed the controversy surrounding his event’s venue, campus free speech and a petition circulating

campus to rename Coffman Union. Roughly 50 protesters voiced their disapproval of Shapiro outside of the St. Paul Student Center before the event.

“The University didn’t really meet the needs of the several hundred people on the waitlist who wished they could come but could not because the venue is too small,” Shapiro said.

State lawmakers, national media, conservative student groups and Shapiro himself have accused the University of institutional bias for its decision to host the event in St. Paul.

University President Eric Kaler and other admin-

istrators said safety was their primary concern when considering locations for the event. Shapiro’s speeches have drawn large protests at other colleges like the University of California Berkeley, costing the school roughly $600,000 for security, according to The New York Times.

Shapiro addressed the notion that the University moved the event to St. Paul because of the possibility of protests, and said the decision was an example of a “heckler’s veto.”

“We’ve been told that we have to hold events like this far away from the main campus because it might make

someone feel uncomfortable.

We had to move the event from venues that hold 1,500 people because obviously we don’t want to offend anybody,” he said.

After speaking to the crowd for nearly half an hour, Shapiro fielded questions from multiple attendees.

When asked about a student effort to rename Coffman Union, Shapiro said the name should stay despite the anti-semitic history of who it was named after.

“If it turns out that [Coffman] did a lot of terrible things, it’s important to recognize that people are people. There’s a mixed legacy

for a lot of these people,” Shapiro said.

The packed ballroom left standing room only by the end of the event. Students were eager to hear Shapiro’s commentary which was described as “fair.” Police officers stood at each corner of the ballroom during the event.

“I wanted to get a chance to see Big Ben,” University sophomore Tom Fredrickson said, “His debunking of white privilege is my favorite thing he’s said. There was this one debate with these Black Lives Matter people, and he was verbally obliterating them, and they were speechless. It was a

bloodbath.”

University freshman Lewis Mansfield sported a “Make America Great Again” hat at the event, and said he wanted to hear Shapiro’s views on gun control and the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

But Mansfield said he disagreed with Shapiro on some issues, like his criticisms of President Donald Trump.

Spencer Brown, a spokesperson for Young America’s Foundation, said the venue’s capacity maxed out at 400 people, and there were 500 more people on the waitlist.

“So, we definitely could have filled a venue like Willey Hall,” Brown said.