Tips on staying fit through the holidays B4
THE STATESMAN UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTH
WWW.UMDSTATESMAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
Student fights for her life
UMD sophomore found in critical condition after a night in subzero temps BY MAEGGIE LICHT Student Life Editor
Alyssa Jo Lommel Facebook
UMD sophomore Alyssa Jo Lommel is in critical but stable condition after reportedly spending 10 hours outside in 17 degrees below zero temperatures. According to Jim Hansen, Duluth Police Department public information officer, Lommel was found by a
passerby on a porch at 808 Woodland Ave. Saturday morning. Duluth police responded to a medical emergency call at 9:36 a.m. that morning and found Lommel, 19 years old of St. Cloud, Minn., unconscious and suffering from severe hypothermia. Police reports found that she was dropped off near her residence, 810 Woodland Ave., by three
male friends around midnight. Later that morning a woman passing by found her, breathing but shaking, on the porch of her neighbor’s residence. The residents were out of town. The police discovered Lommel laying on the porch wearing jeans, Ugg boots, and a sweater with a medium-weight jacket. A cell phone was also found in a patch of
snow near the back door. The report suggests she may have tried to get into a locked parked car as well as the back door of the 808 residence. The report noted that Lommel may have fallen while walking around the residence. “Upon walking to the south side of the residence, which is in between the one car garage and the house, I
noticed what appeared to be fairly fresh tracks believed possibly to be created by Lommel that were up near the house, as if to use the house as a crutch to hold onto,” Duluth police officer Shawn McGovern wrote in his report. “They then had impressions as if the person was falling down, getting back up, and see LOMMEL, A3
School announces voluntary layoffs BY APRILL EMIG Staff Reporter
WOODCHUCKcase is currently located at 101 E. Superior St. and will remain at that location until Jan. 10, 2014. SHANNON KINLEY/STATESMAN
Grads love nature
Company makes real wood accessories BY SHANNON KINLEY News Editor
As you walk into WOODCH UCKc a se at 101 E. Superior St., you are greeted with the smell of fresh birch, mahogany and walnut. All sorts of custom-made accessories for phones, tablets, headphones and computers are displayed. WOODCHUCKcase is one of six companies offered a space in the downtown Duluth PopUp Store Event, which runs from Nov. 22–Jan. 10. Two college students started the company back in 2012. Kevin Groenjes, vice president and Ben VandenWymelenberg, owner and CEO, both graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2011. Kevin graduated with a degree
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in kinesiology, and Ben with a degree in architecture. “It was kind of one of those late-night, beerdrinking ideas,” Ben said. The idea for the company originally came about while Ben and Kevin were still in school. One night, Ben was hanging out with some friends and decided to slap some wood on the back of his iPhone. He started selling wood iPhone cases to his friends here and there, and three months later, he and Kevin decided to form a company. “It was a lot of trial and error and a lot of Googling things,” Kevin said. “We actually bought a book, ‘Small Business for Dummies,’ to figure out what the heck we were doing.” The duo originally
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started selling their products to small gift shops and boutiques; from there the company grew. Their products can now be found in 500 campus bookstores, as well as Best Buy and Target. All of the company’s accessories are made from real wood and wrapped with sustainable packaging. Many of their products are made from reconstituted wood — leftover scraps that were unused from other projects. “Our message is to get your butt back outside and let the phone or tablet case be the reminder of that, ” Kevin said. “We wanted Woodchuck to create a world more connected to nature.” Both Kevin and Ben said the one thing that sets their company apart from other companies in
Opinion: A5 - A6 | Sports: B1 - B2
their market is the fact that their products are made from sustainable materials here in the United States. “Everything we make, we are going to keep it sustainable,” Kevin said. “We are going to keep it really unique and we are going to partner with awesome made-American companies who are doing similar things.” Ben added, “The mission and vision that is behind the company is really what sets us apart as a brand, much differently than any of our competitors. We’re putting nature back into people’s lives. We are not about making wood skins for phones; we are about reconnecting people with nature.” WOODCH UCKcase partners with two nonprofit organizations: Outdoor Nation and see WOODCHUCK, A3
| Student Life: B3 - B5
Chancellor Lendley Black announced a voluntary layoff initiative on Nov. 8, which would allow eligible staff to leave the university with a severance payout. This project is another facet of Program Prioritization on campus and is intended for civil service, labor representatives, and professional and administrative workers. Black has been meeting with faculty, staff and labor representatives to find solutions for the financial challenges that face UMD. Black encouraged these groups to find cost-saving options to solve this significant problem.
A solution has been to offer eligible staff the option of a voluntary layoff, voluntary nonrenewal of contract, or a voluntary reduction. Individuals who choose this route will receive a severance payout and continued medical and dental coverage. As far as Tim Caskey — UMD’s director of human resources and equal opportunity — knows, this is the first time UMD has offered voluntary layoff to these employee groups. “But the faculty, like professors, have a separate program contained within their contract,” Caskey said. Student workers are also excluded from this option. see LAYOFF, A3
Student creates social network BY PAIGE WALTER Volunteer Writer
In an attempt to connect people who are located physically near to one another, UMD freshman Colton Sinning from Pine Island, Minn., designed a new social networking app called “Turf.” The app allows users in the United States and Canada to automatically see which “Turf” they are on, which is determined by their geographic coordinates. Users can post text, events and links to the newsfeed, and whoever else is on that Turf is able to see it.
One thing that separates Turf from other social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, is that users don’t have to “add” or “follow” other users. They will see what others on the same Turf post without having to manually add them as a friend. Sinning came up with the idea while in high school and the process has taken him about one year to complete. “There’s nothing out there that allows you to connect with people without having to make individual connections and then build a huge network,” Sinning said. He also explained that see TURF, A3