September 6, 2018

Page 1

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

LATE WEEK

MNDAILY.COM

ADMINISTRATION

CAMPUS

Some regents voiced concerns over the firm leading the search for the next UMN president.

New team to help student immigrants

Regents unaware of search firm history BY HELEN SABROWSKY hsabrowsky@mndaily.com

Some University of Minnesota Regents say they had no knowledge of an unsuccessful administrative search at the University by the third-party firm hired to find the University’s next president. The board announced last month that Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates will lead the next presidential search. Regents have voiced concern about the firm’s 2011 search for the position of the University’s Vice President and Chief Information Officer, which some say they were unaware of during the firm selection process.

The candidate hired, Scott Studham, was later asked by President Eric Kaler to resign when allegations of misconduct were discovered from his time of employment at the University of Tennessee.

“We had no idea.” MICHAEL HSU University of Minnesota Regent

Regents Michael Hsu, Randy Simonson, Steve Sviggum and Ken Powell said they were unaware of the firm’s involvement in the Studham search. “We had no idea,” said Hsu of Pimentel’s

involvement with the unsuccessful Studham search, although he said he was familiar with Studham’s resignation and the firm’s other successful work with the University. “[The Studham search] would have raised some questions, but I don’t think it would have provided an absolute ‘no’ vote, had we voted,” Sviggum said. “But I was not aware of that situation at all.” Hsu said it wasn’t necessarily the firm’s fault that they were unable to successfully place a candidate. He stressed the importance of running background checks and vetting. “So then the question is: whose responsibility is that,” he said. “I think it could be very embarrassing if we select a group of finalists and a bunch of accusations come out.” u See REGENTS Page 7

STUDENT LIFE

Teen Ph.D. student perseveres

The planned Minnesota Student Association task force is in its first stages. BY MICHELLE GRIFFITH mgriffith@mndaily.com

The University of Minnesota’s Minnesota Student Association recently created a task force that aims to support non-citizen immigrant students. MSA’s Non-Citizen Immigrant Task Force hopes to connect non-citizen immigrant and international students to University resources and encourage them to express their needs. The task force is using an online application to recruit members and is currently in the planning stages of development. “[This task force] was created in response to our national climate … as well as our campus climate,” said MSA President Simran Mishra. “We’re recognizing that right now at this point in time, in our University and in our country, we really need more dedicated attention to our vulnerable students on campus.” Immigration policies enacted by the Trump Administration impact many aspects of immigrant life, said Immigration Response Team Director Marissa Hill-Dongre.

“We’re just taking it one day at a time” “counting all our blessings” “He just moved very quickly through everything” “Lucas was an exception” “what an incredible young man” “He’s motivated and excited to start back at the [University]” “We’re just taking it one day at a CITY time” “counting all our blessings” “He just moved very quickly through Mayor’s opioid task everything” “Lucas was an exception” “what an incredible young force seeks community support to curb crisis man” “He’s motivated and excited to start back at the [University]” The task force, which includes University experts, is drafting “We’re just taking it one day at a time” “counting all our blessings” policies for the 2020 City budget. “He just moved very quickly through everything” “Lucas was an exception” “what an incredible young man” “He’s motivated and excited to start back at the [University]” “We’re just taking it one day at a time” “counting all our blessings” “He just moved very quickly through

u See TASK FORCE Page 7

BY J.D. DUGGAN jduggan@mndaily.com

JANE BORSTAD AND HARRY STEFFENHAGEN, DAILY

After sustaining critical injuries, 18-year-old Lucas Kramer returned to the U. BY PRECIOUS FONDREN pfondren@mndaily.com

Many teenagers are starting their first-year of college this fall, but life is different for Lucas Kramer. The 18-year-old is working his way toward his doctorate in computer science at the University of Minnesota and recovering from a severe car accident that almost took his life. On Aug. 16, while riding his bike to his internship at Google in Silicon Valley, Kramer was hit by a truck that veered into the bike lane. Kramer underwent emergency surgery due to his injuries and is now studying back at the University while he recovers.

Kra m e r h a s b e e n a t t e ndi ng t h e University since he was 11 years old, earning his bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering and his master’s degree in electrical engineering by age 15. The Minnesota native has always been academically gifted. At age two he was reading three-letter words and at age five began reading college-level texts, according to his mother Angela Kramer. “He just moved very quickly through everything,” Angela Kramer said. Kramer took online advanced placement courses when he was eight years old to keep his mind busy. After taking the ACT exam and almost receiving a perfect score, Kramer’s parents decided he was ready for college. While he has seen young students in his class before, Kramer was different, said Eric Van Wyk, an associate professor at the University. “I was surprised, but Lucas was an

exception in that he was enrolled in the University and finishing his undergrad degree at such a young age,” Van Wyk said. Less than a month after his accident, Kramer is back at the University, taking a class and working in Van Wyk’s research group, which is developing extensible programming language tools. Kramer was wearing a helmet when he was struck by the car, which his mother said may have saved his life. Kramer sustained a broken arm, broken elbow, over 300 stitches in his face, a completely shattered jaw and a broken nose from the accident, Angela Kramer said. “I don’t remember the accident actually,” Lucas Kramer said. “I just remember some people talking to me. It was kind of scary – blacking out for a little bit.” u See RECOVERING Page 5

The City of Minneapolis is taking a community-centered approach to address the opioid crisis by bringing together experts and community members, including those from the University of Minnesota. The Mayor’s Multi-Jurisdictional Task Force on Opioids consists of a collection of subcommittees made up of community members and experts with the aim of reducing opioid dependence and overdose through increased support. The task force, which was proposed in Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s annual budget, was first laid out in May. “Before, [the City] just accepted that this is something that Hennepin County or the state or other nonprofits should deal with and it wasn’t a City issue, and we’re changing that,” Frey said. “We’re devoting real funding … towards developing a really comprehensive approach.” Dr. Ryan Kelly, a graduate and assistant professor of medicine in the University’s Division of General Internal Medicine, is a member of the Community Systems Integration subcommittee. CSI aims to remove social barriers that inhibit those affected by the opioid crisis from seeking support in the community. Kelly said his experience in an opioid treatment clinic taught him the importance of harm reduction and medical intervention. He values the fact that the task force, u See OPIOIDS Page 5

TRANSPORTATION

Scooters swoop onto campus, leaving University of Minnesota to play catch up The U discusses usage on campus after Bird and Lime scooters arrived in mid-July. BY J.D. DUGGAN jduggan@mndaily.com

Dockless electric scooters descended on the Twin Cities nearly two months ago, and now the University of Minnesota is looking to work with the companies that operate them. Bird scooters came to Minneapolis on July 10, the same day the City Council’s T r a n s p o r t a t i o n a n d P u b l i c W o rk s Committee planned to draft ordinances for motorized scooters, with Lime scooters coming to the area shortly after. The University sent draft agreements to both companies last week, laying out how the school envisions parking and operations of the scooters. The scooters are “staged” at defined locations throughout the city after charging overnight. The University requested Bird and Lime not bring scooters to campus each morning, but welcomed riders.

“The University is a property owner here … [so] if somebody is going to do some activity on our property, we require an agreement from them,” said Steve Sanders, alternative transportation manager with Parking and Transportation Services. “We asked the scooter companies, please don’t set any out in the morning on University property until we have an agreement.” Sanders said the University has identified potential future areas on campus for staging scooters. Neither company entered Minneapolis with a permit to operate. But because an ordinance dictating the scooters was already underway, the City decided removing the scooters only to reintroduce them was too costly. Josh Johnson, on-street parking systems manager with the City, said agreements with the City allow the companies to operate 100 scooters each. He said that aside from parking rules, the laws are similar to those of bicycles — with operation of the scooters limited to the bike u See SCOOTERS Page 7

JACK RODGERS, DAILY

Dayshawn Brown uses his phone to pay for a ride on a Lime electric scooter in downtown Minneapolis.

VOLUME 180 ISSUE 67


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