Cloud Cult Minnesota band returns to Duluth B4
THE STATESMAN
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2012
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTH
WWW.UMDSTATESMAN.COM
UMD REBRANDED University establishes its own identity BY GRAHAM HAKALA hakal045@d.umn.edu
Transformation is underway at UMD as it looks to set itself apart from the University of Minnesota system with the new slogan “Those who can, Duluth.” “UMD is very unique within the university system,” said Molly Tomfohrde, a student representative on the rebranding task force. “The main objective behind this re-branding process was to capture that unique identity.” The project, partially paid for by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, initially cost $75,000. According to Ann Aronson, Communication Department director at the Twin Cities campus, that was only the start-up fee for research and positioning. More money will be needed for distribu-
tion, advertising, marketing, and campus banners and supplies. Starting early last year, Chancellor Lendley Black assembled the task force to immediately get working on the process of rebranding the school’s image. To fully understand the mindset of the UMD community, the task force held focus groups consisting of current and former students and faculty, as well as members of the greater Duluth community, including Mayor Don Ness. “We wanted to get everybody’s opinions, just to see what UMD really meant to them,” Tomfohrde said. The focus groups discussed ways in which they thought UMD could best be represented. Over the course of several meetings the task force amassed the information gathered and sent it off
to a Twin Cities advertising fi rm, Olson Advertising Agency. Members of the task force worked with the creative team at Olson until they were all satisfied with the fi nal product. Once the creative work was at an end, the task force got to work on how best to roll out the new brand. The roll-out process is a slow one, as they don’t want to overwhelm people with a sudden and shocking change, according to Kelsey Becker, Communication Sciences & Disorders major, and student representative on the task force. “The chancellor had said that we need to be as careful as possible about how we roll this out,” said Becker. “He has seen it go wrong before.” Aronson said, “The total cost of
Smoking ban at UMD to be more strongly enforced
DANEIL DADHWA/STATESMAN
A student smoking on campus, ĚĞƐƉŝƚĞ hD ͛Ɛ ƌĞĂƚŚĞ &ƌĞĞ ƉŽůŝĐLJ͘ BY SHANNON KINLEY kinle005@d.umn.edu
Th is week marks the fi ft h anniversary of the campus-wide initiative to make UMD a smoke-free environment. Many students have seen signs around campus that read “breathe free UMD,” which is a campuswide initiative that was developed in 2007. The ban prohibits students, faculty, staff and any visitors to
campus from smoking on university property. Th is includes in their own vehicles. According to the breathe free UMD website, the ban was developed to implement three goals: 1. Provide an environment where the university’s students, employees and visitors are not exposed to second-hand smoke. 2. Educate individuals who smoke and provide them the means to change their behavior by offering classes, a way to obtain nicotine replacement therapy and coaching. 3. Complement UMD’s commitment to an environmentally responsible campus. Sovann Khong, student employee of the Student Life Office, said that when someone is caught violating the policy, they receive both status-based and educational-based sanctions. Status-based sanctions look into the individual’s background to fi nd out if they have been caught smoking before. An educational-based sanction can mean many things. One possible outcome requires the student to enroll in an educational online class about smoking. “We want this process to be developmental and educational, not punitive,” Khong said. “That way students can grow from the experience and take something away from it.”
When an individual is caught violating the policy a couple of things can happen. The individual may receive a warning, have to write a reflective essay, or enroll in an online module that they will have one week to complete. “I personally feel this policy has been successful,” Khong said. “I have seen a lot less cigarette butts around campus lately.” Vice Chancellor of Student Life Lisa Erwin said there is defi nitely an overall feel on campus that the policy is not being enforced, and they want to change that. “We are invigorating our whole approach,” Erwin said. “We want to take a hard look at how it is being enforced and what we can do as a campus to create stronger enforcement.” The Office of Student Life has hired a new consultant to evaluate the policy and the way it is enforced and hopes to come up with new ideas on how to better enforce the policy. The new approach to the enforcement of this policy will be implemented during spring semester. After numerous attempts the Statesman was unable to fi nd any records of how many students have actually been cited as violating the campus-wide policy, and what their punishment was.
ALEX LEONE/STATESMAN
Graduate student Missy McCoy studies behind the new campus logo ŝŶƐŝĚĞ ŽĨ EŽƌƚŚĞƌŶ ^ŚŽƌĞƐ Žī ĞĞ ,ŽƵƐĞ ŽŶ ĞĐ͘ ϰ͘
this project won’t be known until it’s over, and right now we’re still in the beginning stages.” Sometime in the early months of next semester, UMD will see the brand change start to spread, as they continue to roll out the new look to the student body. Though no date has been set, they hope to host an event in Kirby where they
can share their thoughts about what “Those who can, Duluth” means. “We really feel we came up with something that captures UMD and that students and faculty can be proud of,” Aronson said. Anne Kunkel Christianson contributed to this reporting.
Duluth ranked one of the country’s top college towns BY KYLE FARRIS farri060@d.umn.edu
The next time you hear students complaining about Duluth winters or how there is litt le to do in the city, you can now reassure them that there are few college destinations better than the Twin Ports. According to the College Destinations Index compiled by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), Duluth is the 14th-best college town in the country within the Small Metro tier. “We all know that this is a great place to live; it’s a great destination,” said Andrea Schokker, executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at UMD. “But what I fi nd when interviewing faculty or when students come in is that they (always say), ‘Oh, wow, Duluth is a really nice place. I had no idea.’” The index annually rates the top 75 collegiate locations with student populations exceeding 15,000. Destinations are broken into four categories based on the area’s total population. The only other Minnesota locality to make the cut was Minneapolis-St. Paul, which received honors as a Major Metro. “It’s kind of got the city vibe and the outdoors (vibe),” undeclared freshman Andrew Jacinto said of the Duluth area. “It has the best of both worlds.” Since the study’s inception in
2003, this is the fi rst time Duluth has cracked the list. “I’ve been at two major universities that were supposed to be great college towns and things,” Schokker said. “But I love (Duluth) more than those, for sure.” With the aid of government data, the AIER employs a 12-point rubric that evaluates destinations on their academic and cultural environment, quality of life and employment opportunities. The index is intended to test destinations on a variety of factors, and Schokker believes it is Duluth’s eclectic nature that distinguishes the area. “For a town of this size we have tons of restaurants, tons of cultural stuff to do,” Schokker said, adding that the city’s art scene is much stronger than many realize. “Just a lot of different things to do all year round.” As stated by AIER Director of Research and Education Steven Cunningham on the organization’s website, the ingredients of a great college destination also make an area an att ractive location for business, retirement and tourism. The character of a city, however, is something no study or formula can capture. “Some of it is just the community we have here … Everybody is prett y close-knit,” Schokker said. “It’s not like you’re lost being a number, but you’re not so small that everybody knows your business all the time—which is nice.”
INSIDE:
“This is something good on campus, it all starts here. As a nonsmoker I really appreciate it.” - Ahmed Albraiki, sophomore
INDEX:
“I like it a lot, it was a good idea. I still see people smoking but I feel people follow it.” - Kelsi Vos, sophomore
“It’s a good thing, I’m personally against it. Smoking is something people should be away from.” - Pranav Bhandari, sophomore
News: A1 - A4 | Opinion: A5 - A6 | Sports: B1 - B2 | Outdoors: B3 | Student Life: B4 - B5
Pack your bags, we’re moving to mars... A3