U FUNGAL RESEARCH IS MUSHROOMING PAGE 3 SUNNY HIGH 64° LOW 40°
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
ST PAUL
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 15, 2014
WITH NEW FACULTY MEMBERS, MYCOLOGY IS MAKING A MARK.
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
In gay marriage sweep, Children’s Minnesota is already covered. hospital HEALTH
gets $25M
Widespread legalization could follow a recent ripple of courtroom victories for same-sex couples.
School leaders hope the Minn. Masonic Charities donation will spur new disease cures. BY KAYLEE KRUSCHKE kkruschke@mndaily.com
Doctors at the University of Minnesota’s children’s hospital traded in their white coats for ones embroidered with a new name. With its $25 million donation, the Minnesota Masonic Charities became the University’s largest donor, and in honor of the gift, the campus’s pediatric hospital was renamed Tuesday as the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. The donation will primarily go toward finding cures and treatments for childhood diseases, said Eric Neetenbeek, Minnesota Masonic Charities president and CEO. The gift will specifically enhance patient and family experiences, as well as advance pediatric research on neurobehavioral development, rare and infectious disease, and stem cell therapy. Dr. Joseph Neglia, the hospital’s physician-in-chief, said he hopes the gift will create stronger relationships with pediatrics researchers across the University. “Really, to build new bridges is one u See DONATION Page 3
CAMPUS
MSA wants policy for open syllabi
BY JESSICA LEE jlee@mndaily.com
T
h e w a i t w a s ov er. Hand in hand, the couple swapped a warm gaze and a smile before walking up the grassy backyard aisle in step. Family and friends lined their walkway, all beaming with pride and most choking back tears. The long-awaited ceremony signified an end to a fight. Glen Hasler ud and Will Black promised each other a wedding nearly two years ago amid Minnesota’s monthslong, contested same-sex marriage discussion. The young couple’s
The change would require faculty to post past syllabi before students register. BY HALEY HANSEN hhansen@mndaily.com
To assist students in making better course decisions, professors may be required to post their syllabi before the semester begins. University of Minnesota student leaders are pushing faculty to release their past syllabi so students know their impending coursework before enrolling. And so far, faculty members are on board with the idea. The Minnesota Student Association has been pushing for the open syllabi concept since last spring and plans to take the idea to the University Senate in hopes that the senate will move their efforts for ward by creating a new policy. Physiology senior Jake Gustafson said the syllabi would be a valuable resource for him and other students when designing their schedules. “It’s sometimes tough to know what you’re getting into,” he said. MSA hopes to tackle that uncertainty with the new policy, said Valkyrie Jensen, u See STUDENT GOV’T Page 4
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University urban studies senior Glen Haslarud and Will Black walk down the aisle as a newly wed couple on Sept. 19 in Eagan, Minn. The pair started planning their wedding and life together nearly two years ago amid Minnesota’s conversation on legalizing same-sex marriage. Bridget Bennett
engagement, though certain in their minds, remained in flux until the state’s debate resolved, making an official wedding in their home state possible. “I was happy to see ever ything come to an end,” said Sarah Doud, Haslerud’s maid of honor. “It was a long time coming.” Since Haslerud and Black’s proposal, Minnesota’s conversation on samesex marriage has been silenced. Gay and lesbian couples have been making their unions official since last August, and traces of the state’s steps toward legalization are history.
see marriage page 6
Sooner or later, it’s going to be universal across the country. Scott Dibble Minnesota state senator
LGBT
Grant will help gather transgender experiences The gift will help facilitate a new project that allows trans people to share their histories. BY MOLLY MICHALETZ mmichaletz@mndaily.com
Editor’s note: Some sources in this story are referenced using the gender-neutral pronouns “they” because they do not identify with masculine or feminine pronouns. Through sharing stories and personal accounts, hundreds of people will engage in a new project that aims to spread awareness
about the transgender community. The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota Library recently received a multi-year grant from the Tawani Foundation that will allow the collection to gather and share transgender experiences to preser ve the group’s history in the Midwest. “There isn’t a lot of documented history or personal experience available for people who want to understand how transgender people have lived their lives in the transgender community,” said the collection’s curator, Lisa Vecoli. During the next three years, the Tretter
Collection will gather the oral histories of 200 to 300 transgender individuals throughout the Midwest. Vecoli said the project aims to include the history of transgender individuals from the 1960s to today, with about 400 hours of oral stories. The Tretter Collection currently contains more than 100,000 items of LGBT history, from a 4,000-year-old statuette to current editions of GLBTA periodicals. But Vecoli said the collection doesn’t hold a lot of historical materials on the transgender community. And in the past u See HISTORY Page 3
PATCHING THE GAP Cementing funds for aging buildings
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA STATE CAPITAL REQUESTS REQUESTED
RECEIVED
A ‘jigsaw puzzle’ of funds Getting bonding funds can be tricky, and some are unsure of the U’s strategy for doing so. BY BLAIR EMERSON bemerson@mndaily.com
TBD
$77M
$119.4M
$232.7M
$0*
$172.7M
$64.1M
$169.5M
$88.8M
$107.2M
$90M
$193.3M
Editor’s note: This is the third installment in a three-par t series examining the University of Minnesota’s efforts to garner state funds for building maintenance. The previous pieces were published Oct. 1 and Oct. 8.
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 *The Minnesota House and Senate did not agree on a final HEAPR amount before the 2013 legislative session ended. SOURCES: MN DAILY REPORTING, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS
For years, the University of Minnesota has waged careful battles with the state Legislature to ensure it has funding for building maintenance and repair needs. And this year, administrators are testing a new strategy to make up for lost ground. The school is planning to capture state suppor t for building projects by shifting how it requests funding from the
Legislature, but some lawmakers are unsure of the strategy. Instead, the legislators are discussing a new method of dividing costs between the University and the state. Administrators ask for state funding each year to cover some of the institution’s largest facility projects, and they have often received far less than requested. Some policymakers argue it’s difficult to pass bonding bills, which allocate these state dollars, especially because requests from the University and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system are substantial. “[The bonding bill] is always controversial,” said Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, who chairs the House’s Capital Investment Committee. In the last legislative session, the University received just over half of its capital request. And in 2013, no funding was awarded, because lawmakers only agreed u See STRATEGY Page 4
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