March 19, 2015

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Minnesota State University, Mankato

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Furry friends gather in Hearth Lounge Exotic Animal Show brings students and wildlife within arms reach. YUSEONG JEON Staff Writer The Exotic Animal Show, an event hosted by the Special Events committee of IMPACT, took place Tuesday, March 17 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union Hearth Lounge at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Students who participated the event had a time to hold the animals and take pictures with them and join an educational presentation about the animals’ life story from experts. The animals included the American Alligator, Chinchilla, Hedgehog, Burmese Python,

Fennec Fox, Geoffroy Cat, Mindy the Monkey, Macaw Scarlet and Serval Cat. “There were a wide range of different animals that people don’t usually see, especially in Minnesota,” said Kelsey Pedersen, the chairperson of the Special Events committee of IMPACT. “The animals are not dangerous at all. All the animals are rescue animals. For instance, the alligator was like somebody’s pet in Florida. I know this snake is a Burmese Python, and those are really calm and they all are in captivity so they all are pretty much like house trained as much as wild animals can be,” Pedersen continued.

Photos by Yohanes Ashenafi With the assistance of handlers, students were able to interact with several exotic animals, and learn about them during the educational presentation.

Participants were able to pet the animals in person during the event. “There can only be one animal out per trainer so only one or two animals can be out of the time, they will kind of like be up and talking about it stuff and after that people come up and look at it and take pictures with the animals and everything,” Pedersen said.

Dayton updates MnSCU money

“The animals are not going to be unattended so again if people are worried about safety, there is always going to be someone who is in control, who knows what they are doing with the animal so basically it’s kind of educational so people come and learn about the animals, their lifestyles, their habitats and everything, and also they can come and take pictures with them and might get to hold of them and stuffs,” Pedersen said. The Exotic Animal Show was

different types of animal groups, we went with this,” Pedersen said. The event was free and open to the public. IMPACT is the student programming board of the Centennial Student Union run by students with advising from staff in the Student Activities office. The Special Events committee presents students with a wide array of fun and exciting events and programming. Animal Rentals has been in

provided by Animal Rentals, a company that rents out animals for special events. “They did bring this group, I think, two or three years ago. We weren’t initially going to go with this group but they worked out best for us and they had the most variety of different kinds of animals so after doing research on

the business for more than 100 years. It is a family owned and operated business since 1907. They believe in the togetherness of humans and animals and their mission is to educate people about our world’s animals and to protect and save domestic and exotic animals.

Increased education funds, grants part of updated budget. JAMES HOUTSMA Editor in Chief Governor Mark Dayton proposed an updated budget plan for the state of Minnesota this week that includes additional spending on education and health care. As part of the $444 million increase overall, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is slated to receive an extra $142 million in funding. The additional funds come as an effort to help freeze undergraduate tuition at Minnesota colleges for the next two years. $20 million of that money is also intended for increasing student grants.

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This news comes after Dayton refused any additional money towards MnSCU in his budget proposal two months ago in an attempt to encourage a resolution to ongoing conflict between MnSCU and university union leaders over the education plan “Charting the Future.” The two sparring sides officially ended their feud over the plan at the beginning of March. “The funding Governor Dayton has recommended will help our colleges and universities protect the programs that prepare our graduates to meet the needs of communities across the state and protect access to higher education by holding

down tuition,” said MnSCU Chancellor Steven Rosenstone in a press release. Increased funding to MnSCU was one of many alterations Dayton announced recently, including tax breaks for working families and those with children in K-12, a funding boost for the state’s fugitive apprehension unit and a bump in the Minnesota Family Investment Program. The supplementary budget comes as a result of Minnesota’s $1.9 billion budget surplus, which has divided state legislators in how to redistribute the money.

UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT - PG.11

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