September 10, 2014

Page 1

A TOUGH SON OF A GUN,’ COACH KILL SAYS OF THE QB. DESPITE INJURY, LEIDNER COULD PLAY PAGE 7 ‘HE’S

A.M. SHOWERS HIGH 57° LOW 43°

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

MSA goes ahead with budget

U OF M

MINNEAPOLIS

ST PAUL

WEDNESDAY

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM

ENVIRONMENT

Plant-based plastics?

The group is set to spend more than last year on stipends, but it will cut down in other areas. BY HALEY HANSEN hhansen@mndaily.com

After a push to involve more members and be more transparent with its budgetmaking process, the Minnesota Student Association passed its new budget Tuesday night with little debate among members. At its first forum of the year, the student government approved its $177,450 budget after months of review from its members, who say they plan to use the money to help students rather than spending it on MSA members. MSA failed to agree on a budget at its first meeting last fall, partially due to disagreements over group leaders’ stipends, which some argued were too high. u See BUDGET Page 4

RESEARCH

Professors take issue with review As an examination of the U’s clinical research begins, some say the process is flawed. BY TAYLOR NACHTIGAL tnachtigal@mndaily.com

While a team of outside reviewers is on campus this week to begin evaluating the University of Minnesota’s clinical research on human subjects, some faculty members are questioning the process. The panel of experts is coming to the University after a group of 12 professors sent a letter on Sunday to the school’s administrators criticizing the panelists, citing concerns about conflicts of interest and the scope of the review. The faculty members took issue particularly with the third-party firm managing the review — the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection u See REVIEW Page 12

CORA NELSON, DAILY

U professor Marc Hillmyer helps graduate student Morgan Schulze with plastic research Monday in Smith Hall. A $20 million federal grant was awarded to the University’s Center for Sustainable Polymers to explore more environmentally friendly alternatives for plastic.

The Center for Sustainable Polymers received a $20M grant to research environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic. CSP director Marc Hillmyer said the

BY PARKER LEMKE plemke@mndaily.com

F

center will provide initial research that will

rom electronics to tableware, plastic

make sustainable plastics more competitive

is ever ywhere and varies by shape

on the market alongside their petrochemi-

and size.

cal cousins.

Despite plastic-made products’ differ-

“We are working more on the front end

ences, most share a common origin as fos-

of this effort,” he said. “We are laying the

sil fuels drilled out of the ground.

basic research foundations to allow tech-

Now, equipped with a recently awarded federal grant, University of Minnesota re-

nologies to ultimately be translated in the marketplace.”

searchers are working to even the playing

Normally petroleum products, such as

field between traditional plastics and more

oil and natural gas, are refined into large

environmentally friendly alternatives.

molecular building blocks called polymers,

The University’s Center for Sustainable Polymers received the five-year, $20 mil-

from which plastics are then processed, Hillmyer said.

lion grant from the National Science Foun-

CSP researchers instead want to source

dation last month to research disposable,

the same chemicals from plant-based ma-

non-toxic plastics created from renewable

terials, like sugars, carbohydrates and veg-

resources.

etable oils, Hillmyer said. u See CSP Page 3

STUDENT LIFE

ATHLETICS

Even with all-day kindergarten in Minnesota, student-parents still encounter child expenses.

Penn State’s postseason ban

Despite new law, child care still costly NCAA lifts BY JOHN THOMAS jthomas@mndaily.com

Christa Johnson spends all of her wages on childcare for her 5-year-old daughter. “I go to school full time and only work on the weekends, so literally my entire paycheck goes for paying for day care,” the family social science senior said. A new state policy aims to alleviate that burden. Gov. Mark Dayton signed a measure last year that made all-day kindergarten available to around 60,000 students this fall. Although the policy reduces the cost of child care, some University of Minnesota student-parents say their needs aren’t completely met. Johnson said the measure cut child care costs for her daughter in half, but she said she’s still paying $120 a week for afterschool child care. Student-parents can find help and resources through the University’s Student Parent Help Center, but some said the University’s childcare is far beyond their price range. At the University’s Child Development Center, a family with an income lower than about $55,000 would pay $820 per month for an older preschool student to receive full-time care during the work week. Most parents carr y the burden of expensive child care because the country and state have too few policies, like paid family u See KINDERGARTEN Page 5

The ban was one of several sanctions handed down in light of the Sandusky scandal. BY SAM KRAEMER skraemer@mndaily.com

The NCAA restored Penn State University’s football postseason eligibility Monday, lifting one of several sanctions it handed down in 2012 after finding that the school had mishandled the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Beginning next season, Penn State will have all of its scholarships reinstated, and starting this year, the school is eligible to play in a bowl game if the team qualifies. The sanctions also included a $60 million fine, vacation of victories from 1998 to 2011 and five-year probation. Those sanctions, however, remain intact. Minnesota doesn’t play the Nittany Lions this season, but Gophers head coach Jerr y Kill said he was on board with the decision. “I always go by what’s best for the players u See FOOTBALL Page 7

ZACH BIELINSKI, DAILY

Five-year-old Harlee Sheid with her mother, University student Stevie Sheid, at the after-school program Minneapolis Kids on Monday afternoon in Minneapolis.

RELATED CONTENT Riding the Pine: Penn State football should serve a stronger sentence after the scandal. u See Page 7

VOLUME 116 ISSUE 6


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