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STUDENT GOVERNMENT
GAPSA at odds with possible revamp
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
ST PAUL
THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 20, 2014
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
SCIENCE
Learning to bring life to death Women at the U are increasingly enrolling to study the growing field of mortuary science.
Some members say a proposed new structure for the group would dimish its importance. BY HALEY HANSEN hhansen@mndaily.com
The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly could take on a new form next year, shifting some of its power to an entirely new group. Members are considering separating the governing body’s structure into two groups: one for graduate students and another for professional students. But some members are concerned with how the change would affect GAPSA’s organization and students. Group leaders are proposing the creation of a new student government equivalent to the Council of Graduate Students. The new group, informally named the Professional Student Association, would specifically focus on addressing the needs of professional students. GAPSA President Alfonso Sintjago said with the changes, GAPSA would only meet a couple of times each year to discuss issues that cross between the groups. Its executive committee would be composed of four COGS members and four members from PSA, he said. In order for PSA to receive funding for the 2015-16 school year, the group would need to send a student services fees application by Jan. 24 to meet the Student Services Fees Committees deadline. Leaders introduced the plan for restructuring to the assembly at its meeting Wednesday evening, stirring some concern among members that the group doesn’t have enough time to mull the idea before its implementation next year. GAPSA Vice President Ashley Hall said she’s worried the new structure would diminish GAPSA’s importance. “I don’t want GAPSA to end up just disappearing,” she said. “That would be really disheartening to put all this time and effort into something and then [have] it dwindle away.” Before the plan is made official, the group will likely allow all graduate and professional students to vote on it. The vote would likely take place during next semester. It’s important the new structure is something students want to be a part of, Hall said, and that the changes are well thoughtout and properly funded.
JULIET FARMER, DAILY
Mortuary Science junior Abby Lapinoja finds a quiet moment to study in the casket room in Jackson Hall on Tuesday.
science — the study of deceased bodies — sparked. She said the mortician, who compassionately led her family through the funeral process, inspired her to pursue a career in the field. “I want people to say they had a good funeral,” Christ said. She is one of 60 total students in the University’s mortuary science program, in which the enrollment of women is dramatically increasing over time. About 45 years ago, only 5 percent of
BY KELSEY CHRISTENSEN kchristensen@mndaily.com
A
nne Christ’s grandmother’s shaky hands that accompanied her until death were relieved as she rested in her casket, giving Christ peace and an experience that shaped her future. Christ, a University of Minnesota senior, said when her grandmother passed away, her interest in mortuary
students enrolled in mortuary science were female. Currently, women make up more than three-quar ters of the program. Director Michael LuBrant said he thinks the department’s current female dominance is linked to the economy improving and to the overall increase of college women entering the medical field. u See PROGRAM Page 3
GENDER ENROLLMENT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA’S MORTUARY SCIENCE PROGRAM FEMALE
57%
43%
2007
62%
38%
71%
2008
29%
2009
61%
39%
2010
MALE
64%
36%
67%
2011
u See GAPSA Page 6
33%
2012
70%
30%
2013
76%
24%
2014
SOURCE: UNIVERSITY MORTUARY SCIENCE PROGRAM
HIGHER ED
ELECTIONS
New group targets corruption in politics MN ranks 5th
in student debt
Represent.Us wants to reform laws regarding political donors and contributions in Minnesota.
One researcher said Minnesota culture encourages attending college, making for higher debt.
BY LOGAN WROGE lwroge@mndaily.com
A new grassroots student group hopes to fight cor r uption in gover nment by changing the laws around political donations at the local and national levels. The University of Minnesota chapter of the national campaign Represent.Us took root on campus this semester with the goal of ridding politics of corruption. The group wants to push for stricter laws pertaining to special interest donations to political campaigns, the transparency of donor identity and more regulations for lobbyists. Shoubhik Sinha, the chapter’s founder and adviser, said he watched a TED talk on the influence of money on democracy a few years ago. “That was my first realization of just how screwed up American politics was and how the system wasn’t working and how much it favored cash,” Sinha said. Represent.Us is a national campaign trying to gain support for the American AntiCorruption Act, which would require more disclosures of political donations and limit some forms of campaign spending. Tallahassee, Fla., was the first success for the campaign, as citizens passed an anti-corruption act with the help of a local Represent.Us chapter. That law
BY JESSIE BEKKER jbekker@mndaily.com
cycle to get a referendum on the ballot in that city. That would mean collecting about 7,000 signatures to get a measure on the 2015 ballot. In Minneapolis, signatures don’t cut it. The City Council or a chartering committee needs to bring a referendum to the
Chloe Laabs estimates it will take 20 years to pay off her student loans. The Minnesota Student Association member and University of Minnesota biology, society, and environment sophomore said she’ll graduate with about $41,000 in debt. She’s not alone. The average Minnesotan undergraduate earning a bachelor’s degree last year left college with just under $31,000 in loan debt, according to new data released by the Project on Student Debt. University of Minnesota students averaged just over $28,000. This high ranking comes despite a recent tuition freeze at the University, the state’s largest college. Minnesota is the only Midwestern state in the top five. New Hampshire, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island round out the highest-debt states on the list. Numerous factors play a role in the creation of a high-debt state and college, said Matthew Reed, program director for the Institute for College Access and Success and co-author of the repor t, pointing to
u See REPRESENT Page 6
u See LOANS Page 4
LIAM JAMES DOYLE, DAILY
Shoubhik Sinha, adviser of the student organization Represent.Us, leads a conversation during the group’s meeting on Sunday evening at Coffman Union.
incentivized individual donations to campaigns and created an independent ethics board. The University chapter wants to draft a similar referendum for Minneapolis and St. Paul. But writing a referendum and getting it on the ballot is not easy. Sinha said the group would need to collect signatures from 8 percent of St. Paul’s voting population in the previous election
VOLUME 116 ISSUE 47