ROOMS WILL GIVE STUDENTS A SPACE TO PRACTICE MINDFULNESS. MEDITATION ROOMS OPEN IN RES. HALLS PAGE 8 THE
CLOUDY HIGH 33° LOW 12°
U OF M
REGENTS
Law school fiscal woes may lessen
MINNEAPOLIS
TUESDAY
ST PAUL
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
BUSINESS
U grad fashions Minnesota attire
Dean David Wippman said by 2020 the school won’t need the University to offset its losses. BY YOUSSEF RDDAD Yrddad@mndaily.com
While turbulent times continue to impact law schools across the country, the University of Minnesota Law School’s outlook may be improving. After years of University subsidies — which will add up to over $16 million by 2018 — helped ease the school’s financial losses, outgoing Law School Dean David Wippman told the University Board of Regents last week that the school will no longer need to rely on financial boosts from the University to balance its budget by 2020. The projection of a balanced budget by 2020 depends on several faculty retirements, 2.5 percent annual tuition increases, steady enrollment and a modest rise in faculty salaries and benefits. “It looks like there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and it isn’t that far out,” said Regent David McMillan at a Thursday board
NITI GUPTA, DAILY
Lauren Johnson, director of merchandising and wholesale at Sota Clothing, stands for a portrait inside the company’s Minneapolis office on Friday.
A graphic design course class project inspired an alumnus to create a clothing company geared towards Minnesotans.
T
PUBLIC HEALTH
Officials prep ‘playbook’ for Zika virus
ypical Minnesotan-geared clothing
with graphics Johnson screen prints onto
usually involves flannel, layering,
them.
loon insignias or cold weather protec-
The company’s newest project is
tion. But a local family business hopes to
called the Nor th Star Hoodie, Johnson
bring the state to mind through simpler
said. Since last summer, he worked on
designs.
the sweatshir t’s design and star ted a
design graduate, star ted Sota Clothing
Kickstar ter campaign to help fund the new line.
five years ago after he impressed class-
What makes the clothing item unique
mates with a brand he made for a graphic
is its large hood and neck, with thumb-
design class project. Now, a Kickstar ter
holes for warmth, Johnson said.
campaign will let the business expand with a new line of products.
BY HANNAH WEIKEL hweikel@mndaily.com
u See ZIKA Page 2
Its website sells hats, mugs and T-shirts
Spencer Johnson, a 2011 UMD graphic
School leaders have constructed strategies to address a range of global infectious diseases.
In a small, first-floor office on the University of Minnesota campus, Jill DeBoer plans for worst-case scenarios. DeBoer, the director of the Academic Health Center’s Office of Emergency Response, has bookshelves holding binders filled with detailed response plans — “playbooks” — for every disease that has been a threat to students since the team organized in 2004. DeBoer said similar groups formed nationwide after the anthrax attacks following 9/11, but those groups have shifted in recent years to prepare for more than bioterrorism — be it a case of meningitis on campus, a bridge collapse or something that hasn’t yet been seen. The AHC-OER is now forming a Zika virus playbook, DeBoer said. The team has sent information and travel warnings to all University students studying in affected countries. “The first partner we call is the GPS
people who like being active, he said.
BY OLIVIA JOHNSON ojohnson@mndaily.com
u See LAW Page 3
“It’s exactly what someone in Minnesota would need,” he said.
The company — operated by Johnson
The Kickstar ter ef for t star ted Jan.
and his two sisters — is geared toward
10 with a goal of raising $30,000. With
u See SOTA Page 3
NATIONAL
Rumors circulate of Klobuchar Supreme Court nomination Following Justice Scalia’s death, some news outlets named the senator as a potential candidate. BY BRIAN EDWARDS bedwards@mndaily.com
Amid speculation over the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy, some are envisioning a Minnesotan nominee. MSNBC, USA Today and CNN are among the prominent news organizations including U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, DMinn., as a possible appointee to fill the open seat left by Justice Antonin Scalia,
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
who died Feb. 13. Timothy R. Johnson, a University political science and law professor, said he sees Klobuchar as a viable choice. “I don’t know for sure, but she meets all the criteria,” he said. Though Klobuchar is well-known for her liberal democratic views, he said, her background as a state prosecutor could help sway more conser vative Senate votes. Such an ability would be necessar y to woo a Republican majority in the Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, RKy., has vowed to block any of President Barack Obama’s nominations, saying that
the next president should pick the replacement. MSNBC and the New Yorker named Klobuchar as a possible nominee in 2010 and 2014, respectively. Klobuchar told the Huffington Post in 2010 that if offered, she would turn down the position. Despite the buzz surrounding Klobuchar, other University professors aren’t sold on the idea that Obama would select the Minnesota senator. “I would be ver y surprised,” said professor Heidi Kitrosser, who teaches u See KLOBUCHAR Page 8
ENVIRONMENT
Regrown forests can thrive Research has found that newly grown forests consume carbon from the air faster than thought. BY KEATON SCHMITT AND KRISTINA BUSCH kschmitt@mndaily.com kbusch@mndaily.com
KATHRYN CHLYSTEK, DAILY
Minnesota guard Rachel Banham watches the replay of her last-second 3-point shot that pushed her team past Iowa 78-76 at the Gophers’ annual Pink Game on Monday night. The game, with the theme “Box Out Breast Cancer” honored survivors of breast cancer.
In the face of rising environmental concerns, scientists have found carbonreducing benefits from newly grown forests that were previously considered pointless. Researchers from around the world, with help from the University of Minnesota, published a study last week in the jour nal Nature about the potential for secondar y forests — forests that are regrowing — to take carbon out of the air. The team found that secondar y forests suck carbon from the air faster than
grown forests while regrowing nearly twice as fast as previously thought, said Jennifer Powers, a College of Biological Sciences professor and co-author on the study. The study measured chrono-sequences — groups of trees of var ying ages — to compare the qualities in tropical forests as they grow, Powers said. Previously, secondar y forests were thought of as sor t of “useless,” Powers said, adding that scientists believed they didn’t draw much carbon from the atmosphere and had less biodiversity than older forests. The results of the study were surprising, she said. They found the secondar y forests removed carbon nearly 11 times faster than existing forests. “The value of these young forests was low from a biodiversity perspective,” u See FOREST Page 8
VOLUME 116 ISSUE 74