January 25, 2021

MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021

REGENTS

Legislature considers 12 regent candidates

MNDAILY.COM

RESEARCH

UMN Music Library seeks to diversify collection A majority of materials in the collection are from European, white and male artists.

The candidates include four women, eight men and four people of color.

By Becca Most bmost@mndaily.com

W

By Samantha Hendrickson shendrickson@mndaily.com As the legislative session starts gaining steam, the Regent Candidate Advisory Council (RCAC) is narrowing the playing field for the upcoming University of Minnesota regent elections.

The RCAC recommended 12 candidates to the Minnesota Legislature as lawmakers consider who will become the next regents of the University. But some also criticize RCAC’s lack of candidate diversity and role in the election process.

Four regent seats are up for election this year from the 1st, 4th, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts.

Incumbent regents Michael Hsu and Randy Simonson are up for reelection, while regents Richard Beeson and Thomas Anderson have not reapplied to their seats.

Dan Wolter, chair of the RCAC, said the regent election process is one of the only times that both the state’s House of Representatives and Senate come together as a single body to vote. “[The University of Minnesota] has a pretty central role in the state,” Wolter said. “It shows you how important it is to the state of Minnesota.”

The RCAC received 20 applications, and interviewed 19 total after one applicant dropped out.

RCAC continues to focus on diversity as lawmakers and others have pushed for a more representative Board of Regents. This year, the council recommended four women and eight men. Four of the men are people of color, including Brandon Alkire, who could become the first Native American regent in the University’s 200 year history. “[Native Americans] are one of the biggest landholders in our state,” said Alkire, director of Justice for Families, a program within the Hennepin County court system. “To be a land holder … with 11 different jurisdictions and 11 different governments, to not have a voice on the Board of Regents is a real miscarriage of justice.”

Alkire graduated last year as a nontraditional student from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law after receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University. While his law school graduation was “anticlimactic,” he stressed the See REGENTS Page 2

Music Librarian Jessica Abbazio poses for a portrait inside Wilson Library with a few pieces from the University of Minnesota’s music library on Wednesday, Jan. 13. Abbazio is working to diversify the selection of compositions available within the collection. The collection ranges from classical sonata compositions to popular culture and local artists such as Prince.

(Audrey Rauth / Minnesota Daily)

hile putting together music for his second Master’s recital in 2019, University of Minnesota alum Jared Miller said finding music by Latinx or Spanish composers was difficult, even impossible at times. “Latinx” is a gender-neutral term for Latino.

Set on finding a particular piece written by his favorite Mexican composer, Miller said he could not find sheet music anywhere, despite scouring the University’s collection, the internet and a number of other libraries.

He later found the score was only published in Cuba, and after some detective work by University music librarian Jessica Abbazio, the two eventually secured a copy from an Oklahoma cellist who had performed the piece for an heir of the composer 30 years prior.

Since then, Abbazio has made it her mission to diversify the University’s Music Library, an immense task but one she has taken to heart. The physical collection houses over 100,000 items, including music scores, recordings, books and CDs. Abbazio estimates 85% of the collection is from a white or European repertoire.

“There really has been this myth that these Western canon composers are the ultimate musicians,” Abbazio said. “And not taking anything away from them — but by setting up this,

Say goodbye to the golden arches of Dinkytown’s skyline. The University of Minnesota landmark went dark last month.

After 57 years as a popular student destination in Dinkytown, McDonald’s closed down in preparation for a new development.

Though the fast-food giant will reopen a Dinkytown location after construction, students took to

See RESEARCH Page 2

MSA to propose smaller meal plans in dining halls Citing limited options, MSA aims for a plan with six meals per week.

By Ava Thompson athompson@mndaily.com The Minnesota Student Association is planning to propose the addition of a smaller meal plan to provide greater flexibility for University of Minnesota students who have expressed concerns about inadequate meal plan options.

All University students living in residence halls are required to have a meal plan.

For at least the first two weeks of the spring semester, students are prohibited from eating in the dining hall and can only take meals to-go due to COVID-19 precautions. In the fall, students

A variety of public health procedures, including designated clean and dirty tables, unidirectional routes, and socially-distanced seating protect students dining in Pioneer Hall on Monday, Nov. 2. (Shannon Doyle / Minnesota Daily) had to make a reservation if they opted to eat inside the dining hall.

But according to a November MSA survey, difficulties making

reservations and few options are driving University students with meal plans to dine elsewhere.

The survey found that 39% of students with meal plans are

not eating in the dining halls as frequently when compared to past semesters.

In response, MSA’s Campus Life Committee will advocate for a six meal per week option to create a more affordable plan for students while reflecting their dining hall needs. The existing meal plan options are 11, 14 or 19 meals per week.

“We decided that if we could get a decrease to six meals a week plan, that’s going to cut how much you’re paying,” said Emily Roberts, a member of the Campus Life Committee. “And you can use that money that you’re saving for now so that you’re offsetting the cost, instead of not using your meals and paying extra to DoorDash.”

Margaux Granath, director of the Campus Life Committee, said See STUDENT Page 2

ADMINSTRATION

Students and locals reflect on the legacy of Dinkytown McDonald’s

By Lydia Morrell lmorrell@mndaily.com

Curricula focused on the Western canon Miller said throughout his career, classic music education has centered Western artists like Beethoven or Mozart, who are seen as the “standard” music students should learn and play. This by association often equates African, Asian, Latinx or Spanish music as “lesser,” especially if the music was derived from folk traditions, he said.

Growing up, he remembers choir directors choosing to add a Spanish piece to their program as a way to “add a little spice” or “because it’s fun, or it’s different” rather than study or appreciate the musicality of the piece in the same way they did other songs they studied. While a student at St. Olaf College, two semesters of his vocal literature class were dedicated to learning English, German, Italian and French songs. Only one day was spent learning songs in Spanish.

“Since high school and onward it’s been frustrating for me, and I’m sure it has been for my other Latin American musician friends,” he said. “Because I did not grow up knowing that Latin

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

NEIGHBORHOOD

The University landmark will be cleared for a new development.

like, hall of master works, it’s kind of a closed loop … There’s a bubble of classical music that I really think needs to either expand or burst.”

U names new vice president for student affairs, Dr. Calvin Phillips He previously worked in the same role at Eastern Michigan University

By Abbey Machtig and Ethan Fine amachtig@mndaily.com, efine@mndaily.com Rachel Selly, Amanda Holscher, and Maddy Personius pose for portraits on Monday, Jan. 18 outside the former Dinkytown McDonalds that closed January 9th. (Parker Johnson / Minnesota Daily) social media to mourn the closing of a University icon and reflect on the memories.

Fourth-year University of Minnesota student Rachel Selly reminisced on her many times spent in the ordering line.

“My roommate and I would always ask people, ‘Oh, what’s your breakfast order?’ and ours is always the same — a sausage, egg and cheese McMuffin with a chocolate milkshake,” Selly said.

“My roommate and I know each

others’ like the back of our hands.”

McDonald’s plastered signs around the building Dec. 14 to abruptly announce the closure. CA Ventures, the developer that bought the land under McDonald’s and Dinkytown Wine & Spirits, caused multiple closures in preparation for construction. While McDonald’s will reopen, other businesses — such as Dinkytown Wine & Spirits — closed for good.

See NEIGHBORHOOD Page 2

The University of Minnesota recently announced that Dr. Calvin Phillips will join the University as the vice president for student affairs and dean of students.

Though Phillips’ employment does not begin until March and is dependent on approval by the Board of Regents, the University is currently working to transition Phillips into the position through conversations with administrators and, eventually, with students. This announcement concludes a year-long, national search for candidates to fill the position.

Phillips previously worked at Eastern Michigan University (EMU).

Upon arriving at the University, Phillips said he plans to perform a self-assessment to identify future projects and “to truly understand about the experience of the student on the campus.”

This self-assessment process will include talking with students, both undergraduate and graduate, staff, faculty and administrators.

“Some things that may work well at Eastern [Michigan University] may not necessarily work at your institution. Your needs may be different and I think that’s part of what I’m going to be really working hard at and assessing,” Phillips said in an interview with the Minnesota Daily.

The vice president for student See ADMIN Page 2 Volume 121 Issue 8

2 Monday, January 25, 2021

Research page 1 America had classical music.”

Because many music schools focus primarily on producing classically-trained musicians who perform in an orchestral setting, students are taught about predominantly European composers, said Anne Briggs, a second-year Ph.D student in the University’s ethnomusicology department.

Briggs said Abbazio’s work will give teaching assistants like her the resources to show students an “unimaginable breadth of music performance” they would typically not get from their standard textbooks.

Student page 1 she has also been working to improve meals for students who follow halal and kosher diets.

“Students who follow kosher only have the option to get a kosher frozen meal, which is not very inviting and doesn’t increase retention of Jewish students at the University,” Granath said.

“While there’s options around campus, like at Wally’s or at the House of Hummus in Memorial Union, given the pandemic, it’s been really hard for students to access that.”

First-year student Nate Pfeiffer, who has soy and dairy allergies, said campus dining gives him limited options.

Admin page 1 affairs oversees 20 units and over 500 employees.

Among these are Boynton Health, Student Legal Services, fraternity and sorority life and Student Unions and Activities. The position also oversees a budget of $94 million.

Phillips will report directly to President Joan Gabel and serve on her senior leadership team.

Last March, the search for the position was paused for four months due to the pandemic.

Administrators felt they were prepared for this possibility, said Michael Goh, vice president for equity and diversity at the University and co-chair of the search committee.

“That’s based on our search firm’s experience with other searches that had already launched during the pandemic.

We were also considerate of recent experiences of other searches from other universities. When all of those checkboxes were

“What’s particularly exciting about [these] efforts … is representation,” Briggs said.

“Without an attention towards what’s missing, who’s being left out of the conversation, what are we not including in our library catalog— sometimes you don’t even know it exists.”

Lasting impact Abbazio said this work is crucial for an institution like the University of Minnesota, whose collections are available to not only the whole student body, but also others in the community who can access the — often expensive — materials through interlibrary loans.

Moving forward, Miller said he would like to

see change come from teachers as well. Not only does he want to see more professors utilizing the Music Library’s resources, there needs to be a change in the curricula to reflect a greater appreciation for a range of music and styles, he said.

“There’s something so important about venturing outside of the Western canon because, for me, it helped me discover and explore my own personal and cultural identity,” he said. “I know that sometimes, to no fault of their own, teachers are hesitant to [teach outside of their comfort zones], because they themselves don’t know about it. But that’s an opportunity for growth for them as well as their students.”

According to Pfeiffer, the dining hall does not specifically label whether meals contain soy or dairy. If something says “vegetarian,” he said he has to assume it could contain butter.

To avoid this, Pfeiffer used True Balance, a University service that caters for students with allergens and intolerances.

The service provides ondemand allergy-friendly options that students can order ahead of time and pick up to avoid any cross-contamination. True Balance is available at Middlebrook and Pioneer Halls.

However, several times when Pfeiffer would go to pick up his meal, he said the dining hall staff had never received the order.

He would then have to wait 20 minutes to receive his meal.

“I just stopped [using True Balance], and I started just figuring out what I could eat [at the dining hall],” Pfeiffer said.

The Campus Life Committee will be presenting the six meal per week plan in a resolution at MSA’s forum meeting of student representatives on Jan. 28.

“I had a few friends who had dietary restrictions and they felt like their options were very, very limited and extremely repetitive. I think that’s another reason why we advocate for a change in the University’s overall dining structure,” said Marina Rajkovic, another member of the Campus Life Committee.

met, we agreed to launch,” Goh said.

Phillips has occupied several administrative roles at universities throughout the country, most recently at EMU as the vice president for student affairs. Prior to EMU, Phillips held the same position at both Northern State University and the University of Texas-Pan American.

At a public forum in December, Phillips said that both the diverse population of the Twin Cities and his desire to gain a better understanding of the recent calls for racial justice following the police killing of George Floyd attracted him to the University.

“I look at that as part of my responsibility, to be a part of that change to say that this is not who we are as a community and really send the message to people about the importance of an inclusive community,” Phillips said.

During his time at EMU, Phillips worked to

establish several diversityfocused initiatives and committees aimed at improving the student experience for students from underrepresented groups.

He also introduced a Title IX office, a collegiate level esports program and was involved in COVID-19 mitigation efforts at EMU. “The best way I can describe Calvin is he’s always calm,” Leigh Greden, chief of staff at EMU, said. “He has a very pleasant demeanor. He’s a team player.”

Making connections between stakeholder groups at the University will be a major focus in the beginning stages of his career at the University, Phillips said.

“If people can say they know who the vice president and dean of students is at the University of Minnesota, they know who I am, then I think for me, that’s going to be a win,” Phillips said.

Dr. Phillips will begin at the University on March 1.

The Board of Regents meet about the East Gateway Project Resolution, on Friday, Feb. 14, 2020.

The Board of Regents holds a meeting each month. (Emily Urfer / Minnesota Daily)

Regents page 1 importance of bringing the perspective of a student during the pandemic, much like his rival fourthdistrict candidate, James Farnsworth.

When Farnsworth is not fulfilling his role as director of the Highland Business Association, running for St. Paul School Board or involved in one of many campus groups, he studies human resource development on the University’s Twin Cities campus.

He said that it is vital to have a student perspective, especially on things like tuition and education quality during COVID-19.

“So much has changed about what it means to be a student right now,” Farnsworth said. “It’s a really key time to have the perspective of a student on the receiving end of that education.”

Kodi Verhalen, a lawyer and engineer from the sixth congressional district, said she is excited for the Board of Regents possibly having equal numbers of male and

Neighborhood page 1 Word of the closure quickly spread over social media as students shared the news. The Daily’s Facebook post saw more than 2,300 shares and about a thousand comments.

One social media commenter simply responded, “Oh nooooo” to the shuttering. Another responded, “noooo, why?!?

No more soggy fries!”Others gave deeper accounts of their experiences, with some recalling having childhood birthdays there or visiting with their parents.

One student suggested a candlelight vigil for the restaurant. Another commenter said, “I still laugh about asking security if they went to hamburgler university.”

Many were more cynical about another high-rise student-housing complex

female regents.

But, she said there could always be more women.

“I would love to see more women putting themselves forward for this [position]. I know a lot of really amazing women in Minnesota who bring unique perspectives to positions like this,” Verhalen said. “I hope that they see this as an opportunity to start.”

Besides the historic lack of diversity, lawmakers and current regents have made their critiques for the RCAC well-known.

Currently, the Legislature can pick candidates that are not recommended by RCAC. Sen. Greg Clausen, DFLApple Valley, is urging the RCAC to remove this option.

“The RCAC goes through great lengths in recruiting, interviewing and recommending candidates,” Clausen said. “In many ways, it may discourage people from applying. How would you like to apply, go through the process of interviewing, and all of a sudden someone that you’ve never heard of gets nominated from the floor and elected?”

Current Regent Darrin

Rosha has long been a staunch critic of the RCAC process. He called the council an “insider’s club,” and said that it has strayed from its original purpose.

“It was, in theory, established to provide good honest attempts at recruiting and recommending regents to the Legislature,” Rosha said. “Now, the authority or the power of RCAC is not recommending candidates, but in excluding candidates that the insiders don’t feel are their preferred candidates.”

Wolter, chair of RCAC, does not disagree with Rosha’s critiques, and said that the “insider’s club” attitude and issues of preference made it difficult in years past to present diverse candidates to the legislature.

However, he said he is confident that this year is not a reflection of that past.

“We’ve worked hard to correct that, by recommending a fuller, more diverse slate of candidates rather than just a short list of those popular with U of M insiders,” Wolter said. “The change is both notable and good for the entire process.”

encroaching on the neighborhood.

Selly said she found out about the closure via Instagram, and proceeded to post many of the pictures and videos that she had made at the restaurant.

“Well, I had to do my own little tribute,” Selly said.

“Gather all of my memories, all of my things and show people what’s going on.”

Selly said that she was upset and surprised when she saw news of the closure.

“This was somewhere that [many University students] went to or really cared about and it wasn’t even that it was McDonald’s,” Selly said. “It was more like the memories that we made there together.”

The restaurant, affectionately dubbed “Drunk Don’s” by many students, held a status as a hangout spot before and after parties, said third-year student Mattea Schubert.

“It was definitely the agreed-upon place to go when you went to a party or something,” Schubert said.

Fourth-year student Amanda Holscher said she went to McDonald’s with her roommates on the last night it was open to reminisce and say goodbyes.

Holscher said she will probably move away from the Dinkytown area after graduation, so she will not come to the new location.

She added that even her mom — who grew up in the area — was sad about the news, which made the impact of Dinkytown McDonald’s long legacy clear to her.

“I feel like a lot of things around Dinkytown are changing and turning into like apartment buildings and not quite as historic as they used to be,” Holscher said.

“So it’s kind of like seeing it change right before your eyes because I remember my mom heard about it.”

Despite pandemic, volunteer UMN advocacy soars The number of volunteer lobbyists nearly doubled in 2020.

By Samantha Hendrickson shendrickson@mndaily.com Despite the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down university campuses nationwide, limiting services and programs across the system, advocacy for the University of Minnesota skyrocketed in 2020.

Compared to 2019, correspondence with lawmakers from UMN Advocates — a group composed of students, faculty, alums and others — nearly doubled. The number of new members increased by 137% and more than a third of advocates returned to lobby on behalf of the University for state funding.

These advocates support the University by asking, and sometimes testifying at the State Capitol, for financial investment from the state Legislature, said Mike Miller, University Legislative Advocacy Coordinator.

The process is not new, but Miller said this year’s approach was.

“You can present all the facts and figures. But if it doesn’t tug at their heart, they’re not gonna do anything,” Miller said.

So instead of data, Miller and his team made sure to tell stories of “actual students experiencing actual consequences” of lack of University funding.

This included sharing the impacts of issues like weak infrastructure, food insecurity and COVID-19.

Last October, the Legislature passed a $1.87 billion bonding bill, and $75 million of that bill

Illustration by Mary Ellen Ritter went to the University of Minnesota — undercutting the school’s request by approximately $240 million. With pandemicrelated shortfalls, the University’s state budget request this year is the lowest it has been in at least two decades.

While strategy and other advocates had their part to play, it is the current students that really helped drive up the

numbers. “They answered the call completely,” Miller said.

Bri Sislo-Schutta, government and legislative affairs director for the Minnesota Student Association, said that MSA knew once the pandemic hit, any best-laid plans for student advocacy would no longer work.

Students, Sislo-Schutta said, needed more from the University, and therefore

needed more from the Legislature.

“COVID-19 exacerbated a lot of already-existing needs on campus,” SisloSchutta said. “It’s created this increased engagement because we are having to really utilize a lot of services that our institutions provide for us. I think students have an even deeper reason now to kind of be engaged in that work.”

Even though they did not experience the pandemic as students, alums still remained passionate about advocacy in 2020, said Alumni Advocacy Director Adam Yust.

“Alumni are building long-term relationships with their legislators on behalf of the University to be great advocates,” he said. “They deeply care about the University, and they want their degree to mean something.”

Though he graduated

from the University last spring, alum Jude Goossens, who is now working as a medical technologist, still keeps close ties to his student advocacy roots in MSA and more, and plans to do so no matter where life takes him.

“I have fond memories of the University, and will always speak highly of it and the need for its role in the state,” Goosens said.

“Whether in a coffee shop in California, or the state Capitol in Minnesota … I will definitely be supportive of the University.”

At the end of the day, Sislo-Schutta said the advocacy work is not so much about a campus or a system, but about the students themselves.

“I’m an advocate for the University, but from a student’s perspective,” Sislo-Schutta said. “I will always put student interests above everything else.”

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The last day: Dinkytown Wine & Spirits shutters after 30 years Customers crowded in the store to say a final goodbye.

By Lydia Morrell lmorrell@mndaily.com Adrianne Carter, a customer of 15 years, spent nearly an hour in Dinkytown Wine & Spirits on its last day open to say heartfelt goodbyes to the staff.

Carter said she first accidentally wandered into the store years ago to get to the Subway that used to be located in the building. Since then, she has been a regular customer, even when she was taking care of her father in his final months.

“He loved Samuel Adams Cherry [Wheat], and so [Dinkytown Wine & Spirits] ordered two cases. And I picked it up, they called me and made sure it was all right,” Carter said. “They just feel like family and I’m going to miss them. I really am.

And my dad was so happy, they really made his last month.”

After a week of regulars flocking to the store to stock up on alcohol and say their

Irv Hershkovitz stands inside Dinkytown Wine & Spirits on Saturday, Jan. 9. (Parker Johnson / Minnesota Daily) final goodbyes, Dinkytown Wine & Spirits shut its doors for the last time on Jan. 9.

A developer bought the land under the liquor store, McDonald’s and multiple other businesses, setting off multiple closures in preparation for construction.

McDonald’s is expected to reopen within a year or two in the same location as part of the new development, but Dinkytown Wine & Spirits is closing down for good.

“Here is a community store,” owner Irv Hershkovitz said. “We have a small footprint compared to these big 20,000 square feet superstores, but [if] we know we have a regular customer who wants a pint of watermelon New Amsterdam, then we put that in for him.”

Hershkovitz said besides getting to know regular student customers, he often sponsored fraternity

fundraisers and other University-affiliated events throughout his decades in Dinkytown. Hershkovitz also previously owned Fowl Play, a bar that closed in 1999 and was located near one of the fraternity houses. “[The fraternity members] would always come in and grab me at bar close and go, ‘Come on over and have a beer.’ And when one year someone walked in and said, ‘Whose dad are you?’ I said, ‘I’m done, I’m not coming here anymore,’” Hershkovitz said with a laugh.

For many University of Minnesota students, the liquor store is a staple. Thirdyear student Mattea Schubert came by for her first time on the last day.

“It seems like a very important and nostalgic part of the U,” Schubert said. “[I] wanted to come be a part of it.”

Dinkytown Wine & Spirits opened in 1990. On the last day of business, Hershkovitz and his wife Kate Endt greeted customers — some who he has sold to for the past 30 years — with easy conversation and, occasionally, tears in

their eyes.

“I’m going to miss the regular customers, the people, right? And Irv,” said Tammy Henry, an employee of over 20 years.

Hershkovitz said the store has received an enormous influx of customers during its last week, some buying as much alcohol as they could carry in a show of appreciation for the store and its staff.

“I have to leave because I start to cry,” Hershkovitz said.

“It’s not just the community, it’s people who graduated 30 years ago. I had a kid come in yesterday who bartended for me in 1981, and we had to come down to say goodbye.”

Hershkovitz and his wife are planning to buy some commercial buildings in Minneapolis and Naples, Florida, but will no longer be a part of Dinkytown.

Hershkovitz said selling the liquor store to developers has been on the table for years, but this time, at 68 years old, he decided to retire and move on.

“I thought it would be good for the area and good for us,” Hershkovitz said.

“And I’m tired of working seven days a week.”

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Boyton sees a 25% dip in new mental health patients Connecting online may be contributing to the decrease.

By Izzy Teitelbaum iteitelbaum@mndaily.com Boynton Health is reporting a 25% decrease in the number of new students registering for Boynton’s mental health services in fall 2020 compared to fall 2019.

Some, including Boynton’s Interim Director Dr. Matt Hanson, have said the difficulty of connecting with a mental health professional online for the first time or not having access to a private space for telehealth appointments may deter students. This is despite the fact, however, that overall enrollment this fall remained similar to the previous year’s.

Despite a decrease in new intakes, Boynton saw a 15% increase of return visits since fall 2019, Hanson said.

Sarah Thorstenson, a fourth-year student at the University, has been seeing a nurse practitioner at Boynton for over two

years who she continues to meet with virtually.

After working with a crisis counselor in December whom she had never met before, Thorstenson said she understood that it might be hard for someone new to connect with a professional online.

“I feel like it just kind of takes time to build a rapport with whoever you’re seeing,” she said.

In response to the pandemic, Boynton introduced new ways to continue offering mental health care to students from a distance such as lifting session limits, utilizing telehealth appointments and offering online workshops, according to Hanson. After the original hurdle of getting out-ofstate students access to mental health services, Boynton was able to reconnect with those students virtually.

Thorstenson said she prefers her appointments online. Having to find and pay for parking was an inconvenience for her, she said. Telehealth grants her more flexibility and allows her to remain in the comfort of her home.

In contrast, Student Counseling Services (SCS), which provides shorter-term counseling in comparison to Boynton’s therapy services, saw a small increase in new student treatment in the fall.

“It’s not like [students] finish their finals, and they don’t set foot on campus anymore,” said SCS Director Vesna Hampel-Kozar.

“There’s these different connections to the University and to life around campus — services on campus — that are impacting us.”

Addie Marzinske, a fourth-year student, said she was not inclined to seek further help from the University after scheduling conflicts with SCS. When Marzinske eventually met with a SCS counselor, she felt the appointment was rushed and that they were pushing for an easy fix instead of discussing the root of her problems.

“Scheduling, as well as they didn’t make me feel very welcome,” she said.

“It was kind of more like it seemed like an obligation to them.”

Marzinske added that the negative experience deterred her from seeking any mental health services

Illustration by Hailee Schievelbein offered by the University.

A COVID-19 stress management survey conducted by the University last spring showed that depression among students increased during the pandemic, according to psychology professor Dr. Patricia Frazier, who worked on the survey. Forty-two percent of students surveyed had moderate to severe depression. This is a 14% increase compared to the study’s 2017 data.

Survey participants reported that their top five concerns included maintaining grades, seeing friends in person, online classes, police brutality and general uncertainty surrounding COVID-19.

Frazier said she believes that while these stressors are difficult to deal with, they are not the kind of things that would push someone to seek a counselor. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends utilizing services like counseling and therapy for pandemic-related stress.

Some of the CDC’s suggestions that students can practice outside of professional assistance are taking media breaks, taking care of their bodies and connecting with others.

“There are things that you can do on your own [to manage stress],” Frazier said. “Which are basically these kinds of self-care activities that are recommended by the CDC.”

Prospect Park workshops explore public safety alternatives The series takes input from local activists and city officials.

By Jasmine Snow jsnow@mndaily.com Prospect Park neighbors have been gathering police abolitionists, city officials and activists to deepen their understanding of public safety in their community.

Following the police killing of George Floyd, the Prospect Park Association (PPA) board made a commitment to carry out in-depth discussions about public safety. Now, the board is hosting an ongoing virtual workshop series to educate neighbors on local public safety resources, particularly as it relates to policing alternatives.

Board members hope these discussions will help inform Prospect Park voters if the City Council presses for further action on police reform in the future.

Screenshot of Erin Sikkink’s Zoom workshop presentation on Wednesday, Jan. 13th.

Jenna Hoge, PPA board member and chair of the renters’ committee, was not on the board when the commitment passed unanimously. She said she is excited, however, to use her position to see it through.

“Everything that happened over the summer sucks,” Hoge said. “Emotions were so high. There was such a sense of mourning in our community and wanting to do something. It feels like I’m doing something and that feels really good.”

The series has used small group discussions and presentations from

various advocacy and resource groups, including MPD150, the city’s Office of Violence Prevention and Our Streets MPLS. Most of the workshop functions around a framework of understanding crime as a needs-based issue and primarily deals with preventative solutions, like redirecting resources into youth outreach and helping people who struggle with drug addiction or homelessness.

The workshops consistently look at public safety through a lens outside of policing.

A sizable amount of residents have shown up to each event and neighbors

have been deeply engaged in the conversations, said Ben Tuthill, PPA board member.

“So far, it’s been really positive,” Tuthill said.

“We’ve gotten a lot of people who I think were already pretty on board with the idea of policing alternatives. … I thought it was exciting to see the initial discomfort with the idea, and then as more tangible alternatives became apparent, more opening up.”

Sheila Nezhad is an activist with MPD150 — an organization that has examined the history, narrative and motivations

of Minneapolis police — who gave a presentation earlier this month on police abolition and reform and how to safely achieve those.

As a queer person and the daughter of an immigrant, she said the police have not made her feel safe in her everyday life.

“I want to live in a world where everyone feels cared for and safe,” Nezhad said in an email to the Minnesota Daily. “We’ve had police for over 150 years, and it can be hard to imagine a world without them. That’s why conversations like the Prospect Park series are so great, it gives people a chance to explore new ideas on how to keep one another safe, and meet people where they’re at right now.”

There are two more presentations left in the series — a presentation on neighborhood solutions from the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association Jan. 27 and one regarding community-led activism from the group Reclaim the Block Feb. 3.

4 Monday, January 25, 2021

FOOD

Sharing Food: Hommous bi Tahini “Sharing Food,” a series by A&E, lets no meal go unshared.

By Nina Raemont nraemont@mndaily.com Usually, the dishes shared through “Sharing Food” are relatively unknown to the majority of readers, sparking a new interest in a dish or ingredient that has not yet been explored in the average student’s kitchen.

But others, like this week’s recipe of Hommous bi Tahini from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), have already made their way into American food culture.

Who doesn’t love hummus?

It’s an easy snack, a savory dip and can be found in almost any grocery store under the sun, but according to Nadia Aruri, outreach coordinator of SJP, the hummus sold in American grocery stores is nothing

like the hummus made in Palestine and the Middle East.

To get close to the authentic taste, you’ve got to make it yourself.

Hummus’ history is a blurry one; a heavy debate surrounds where the dish was invented, according to Aruri.

Whether or not the dish originated in Palestine, it’s a staple in Palestinian cuisine and the greater Middle East –– “It’s a dish that, you know, you will have at almost every meal if you were to go to Palestine, and it’s been around for thousands of years in the Middle East,” Aruri said. “A meal is not complete without it.”

She has fond memories of eating hummus: She remembers waking up to the grinding sound of her mom working the food processor, making an early morning batch of hummus for the day, eating it at every meal when she visited Palestine and sharing the dish with relatives

Nadia Aruri dips pita into a plate of hummus after drizzling olive oil and sprinkling paprika for finishing touches on Friday, Jan. 15 in Minneapolis. (Audrey Rauth / Minnesota Daily) on special occasions.

Aruri pairs her hummus with herbs, and it can be eaten with pita bread and kofta, a Middle Eastern meatball, or slathered on a sandwich. Olive trees are a major agricultural crop in Palestine, making olive oil a staple ingredient in Palestinian cooking. Aruri

will drizzle some Palestinian olive oil on top of the dish to finish her plate.

Since hummus gained popularity in America, grocery stores have sold many different iterations of the dip, some traditional, others not so much. At Trader Joe’s, you can find chocolate, buffalo style or dill pickle

varieties of the dip.

To stay close to the authentic version, Aruri said chickpeas and tahini, a sesame paste, need to be the two primary ingredients.

Anything that strays from that, like chocolate or dill pickle, is not authentic.

“I think people are awesome when they want to get creative. But at a certain point, you know, you can’t alter a dish too much without almost being disrespectful to where it comes from,” Aruri said.

Sharing food, whether that be recipes or ingredients, is easy in a globalized world. But when you are making a food that’s significant to a specific culture, you must treat the process with respect, Aruri said.

“I think sharing food is a great way to kind of experience other cultures and diversify your palate,” she said. “But I think that

it’s important to try to stay authentic to the original, or at least to recognize that this dish has a significance that comes from a certain place.”

From Mary Salloum’s “A Taste of Lebanon”: Hommous bi Tahini recipe.

Ingredients 1 19 ounce can chickpeas or garbanzo beans (drain liquid and save) ¼ cup sesame seed paste (tahini) 1 clove garlic ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup lemon juice Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender, adding more liquid as needed for your desired consistency.

The more liquid you add, the thinner the hummus will be. Blend until a smooth consistency is achieved.

Serve in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs of your choice. Eat with pita bread or vegetables.

HOBBIES

Students use ‘pandemic hobbies’ to look forward to post-pandemic life Students and recent grads keep busy as the pandemic rages.

By Nina Raemont nraemont@mndaily.com Ever since March, we’ve been stuck at home, alone and uninspired. But this solitude has invited us to turn inward and examine what we enjoy and how we want to spend our time.

Students and recent grads have taken the free time the pandemic has provided them to dive deeper into what they’re interested in, exploring new hobbies and developing new skills that will keep them busy during the pandemic and once it ends.

Computer science graduate student Tyler Wendland was hanging out with his pod in May when they suggested picking up a game of chess.

Wendland knew the rules, but had little experience.

Yet, at the end of the game, it was his rook holding his opponent’s king hostage.

Instantly Wendland was filled with a rush of satisfaction.

“It felt like I had picked up a guitar for the first time and played “Smoke on the Water” without knowing any chords — an achievement from something I knew almost nothing about.”

After that, Wendland’s affinity for chess only increased. He dedicates most of his free time to the game, playing games online and perusing Twin Cities’ indie bookstores to find old chess books, reading them to learn about different openings and ways to win the game.

When asked how many hours he dedicates a day to the game, Wendland responded, “Too many.” Some days it’s only an hour, but other days he will play up to eight hours — dedicating more time to the game than to sleep. “[Chess] is sort of an art. That might sound kind of hoity-toity, but I do think it gives me a form of expression,” Wendland said.

Wendland confessed to frequently doomscrolling since the pandemic began, but through chess, he has

been able to distract himself from the anxiety of the news.

Wendland isn’t the only one to feel overwhelmed by the stress of the year, turning to their interests for distractions.

Sarah Copeland, a third-year student studying biochemistry, purchased a pyrography tool in February, before the pandemic began.

Pyrography, meaning “writing with fire,” is the art of burning wood to create artwork. The pyrographer uses the heated tool to create pictures.

Copeland, an avid drawer from a young age, taught herself how to woodburn at the beginning of lockdown.

“When I was in some of my more stressful classes, I would fire up my little wood burning iron and get to work while I was listening to the lecture material,” Copeland explained. “I was able to listen and then also work on something that I was actively enjoying and kind of pair that with each other to remember the material a little better.”

For Christmas, she gifted her sister woodburned

earrings and made her mom a woodburned plaque. Back at her apartment, her art hangs from her wall.

Jake Moe, a third-year aerospace engineering major, developed a collection of his own. A self-described music junkie, he’s grown his record collection from nothing to over 30 records during the span of the pandemic.

His new music collection includes artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to Clairo.

“In the start of the pandemic I kind of set a goal for myself that I wanted to become more of an openminded music listener.

And I really wanted to like, understand the music more,” Moe said. “So, [records] just give me another thing to learn about and appreciate in my day to day life.”

Hobbies can provide a momentary distraction, but also give people something to look forward to once we no longer have to social distance. Recent graduate Sungho Sohn has been studying Japanese in hopes of traveling there once the pandemic ends.

Sarah Copeland drew a bird by burning into wood. “A year ago my sister gave me this wood-burning kit, and I have loved drawing all sorts of animals, showing the beauty with these creatures,” Sarah Copeland said on Tuesday, Jan. 19 in Minneapolis. (Parker Johnson / Minnesota Daily) Sohn was planning on visiting family in Korea and then exploring Japan on the way back, but that got canceled. During quarantine, he thought that if he was going to visit Japan in the future, he might as well learn the language.

“I think there’s something really satisfying about being able to communicate with someone else, and not making them feel uncomfortable,” Sohn said.

“It’s almost borderline

arrogant, going around and only speaking English.”

Concerning all of the “negative current events” that occurred within the past year, Sohn said, “From time to time, we all need a break.”

Teaching himself Japanese every day provided that.

“It’s a way for me to think back and remember what things were like before the pandemic and work toward a goal for when the chance [to travel to Japan] arises again,” Sohn said.

MUSEUMS

Open or closed? Local museums welcome back visitors After statewide closures, some local museums are reopening.

By Frankie Carlson fcarlson@mndaily.com While some museums are making plans to accept visitors as COVID-19 closures and restrictions begin to lift, others have yet to make plans for reopening. Here is a list of local museums and their current status as we move further into 2021.

The Bakken Museum: Open The Bakken Museum reopened its doors to the public on January 12. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with admission requiring a reserved arrival time and a set capacity of 30 guests per hour.

During the period of closure in the spring of 2020, the museum began development on a new

program called the “Bakken Museum clubhouse,” a program focused on tutoring and assisting students experiencing the difficulties of social distance learning.

“We’re excited to welcome visitors back to The Bakken Museum with careful health and safety measures in place,” said Joe Imholte, the Bakken Museum’s Vice President of Programs and Operations.

“STEM literacy has, perhaps, never mattered as much as it does now. As a museum focused on innovation and inspiration we invite guests to explore STEM concepts and ask questions in a fun and welcoming environment.”

The Bell Museum: Closed The Bell Museum, located on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus has set no specific dates, but hopes to reopen to the public sometime in early March, according to their website.

Minneapolis Institute of Art: Opens January 28

MIA will be welcoming back visitors on Thursday of next week. The staff is taking time to ensure a safe opening.

The institute is enforcing masks and social distancing, and asking visitors to book tickets ahead of time on its website. The museum is admitting 150 visitors at a time, and will be unable to accept walk-ups.

The institute’s Chief Engagement Officer Kristin Prestegaard discussed some of the virtual gallery events being offered currently.

“We really are excited that we’ve built up a lot of virtual and digital programming, like all museums have,” she said. “The beauty is that we’re open for those who feel comfortable, but we still have robust offerings for the majority of people who will experience MIA virtually.”

Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery: Open The doors are open, and the new exhibit “Art is My

The Minneapolis Institute of Art remained closed on Monday, Dec. 7. The MIA will reopen to the public on Jan. 28. (Emily Urfer / Minnesota Daily) Weapon” by Nikki McComb is on display now at the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum. The museum asks visitors to sign in and have their temperature taken before entry, and only a certain number of guests are permitted to enter at one given time. Social distancing practices are mandatory as visitors move throughout the exhibits. Visitors can register online at the museum website.

Co-founder and Operations Coordinator Coventry Cowens says she hopes the museum can continue to safely bring intriguing and provocative historical exhibits to the public.

“We are open now and will continue to use the COVID-19 procedures implemented.

Many of our visitors are senior citizens and we want them to feel comfortable in the Museum,” Cowens said.

The Museum of Russian Art: Open The Museum of Russian art is open to the public with no reservation required. The museum is open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m.

- 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. on Sundays.

The museum offers a special time slot Tuesdays and Thursdays, opening one hour early specifically for essential workers and the immunocompromised.

Currently, museum capacity is set at 60 people.

Weisman Art Museum: Closed Located on the University of Minnesota campus, the Weisman Art Museum has yet to make plans for reopening.

The Walker Arts Center: Closed The Walker Arts galleries and shop will continue to remain closed to the public with no date set for reopening.

Editorials & Opinions

5 Monday, January 25, 2021

COLUMN

‘Shocked but not surprised’ The attack on the nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6 has impacted all Americans.

I

n the eighth grade, Henry Kueppers columnist my class took a field trip to Washington to learn about history ... and I suppose, just because we could. When we visited the Capitol building, we had to pass metal detectors and security guards before entry. We were informed that any and all belt buckles would set off the metal detectors and therefore were instructed to take them off. Of course, my belt came with my cargo shorts purchased at American Eagle, leaving me to believe they were impervious to any and all security protocols. So, you can imagine my surprise when four security officers came down on me with the fury of God when I set off the metal detectors. Reprimanded in front of my entire class, they made me take off my belt and desperately cling onto my American Eagle cargo shorts, lest I wish them to fall off my skinny, eighth grade waist.

After “Belt-Gate,” I walked into the Capitol rotunda thinking, “Man, they really take security seriously in this place.” However, between the time when my middle school self was almost tried for treason to today, it would appear that things have changed.

Because on Jan. 6, hundreds of people bullied their way into the Capitol, with both weapons and belt buckles, and wreaked unimaginable havoc and destruction on our nation’s Capitol and reputation. To me, the events of Jan. 6 were despicable and representative of everything that is wrong with our country.

Yet, with news outlets and social media users all giving various perspectives and rhetoric, I wanted to talk to a couple Americans and see if their views on what happened at the Capitol

on Jan. 6 would differ based on their ages and backgrounds.

Gary Berg, born in 1947: All right Gary, what happened at the Capitol? Some news sources are referring to it as an “insurrection.” Some people are calling it a “coup.” Others are just calling it a “protest.” What would you describe it as?

I guess I would say it was an insurrection.

That’s what the House is using in their resolution during the impeachment trial.

What was your first reaction or emotions seeing the insurrection?

Well, given my background, I was pretty amazed and disgusted with the whole thing. I was a member of Minnesota National Guard, Air National Guard, for 17 years and active duty for four years. And I’m pretty much a staunch citizen of law and order and what our country has stood for all these years. So, I was just dazed. When I saw what was going on, it was just amazing to me.

Do you expect more things like this to come?

More insurrections in different cities, or do you think this is a one-and-done deal?

I think there’s going to be some minor disturbances around the country. This group is pretty determined that they can take over the government, which is pretty amazing for just a group of citizens. … I use the word “citizens” loosely here.

Tom Wareham, born in 1965 : What would you call the events of Jan. 6 at the Capitol? A “protest”? “Insurrection”?

“Coup”?

I think it’s more than a protest. I’m not sure I would put it in the category of a “coup.”

So, I think “insurrection” would fit the best.

I’m kind of curious what your first gut feelings were when you saw this. Was it a shock for you? Anger? Horror? What do you remember feeling?

I think there was sort of a shock. Not a surprise so much.

Do you think there is anyone responsible for what happened at the Capitol?

I think there are multiple people responsible. I think certainly the rhetoric that comes from President Trump and his, you know, his minions and all the people that spoke that day are responsible. Don Jr., Giuliani, their rhetoric has been going for four years and kind of building and building to this. It was a build up of all the violent

rhetoric they’ve used in the past.

When we switch from Trump to Biden, it’s not just automatically going to be perfect and things will just be better because those people will still be around. So, my final question for you, Tom, is how can America move forward from this insurrection?

In the impeachment hearing, there were a lot of calls from the right [Republicans] for unity. They keep saying, “Oh this impeachment is gonna piss people off.” Too bad, so sad! I think unity has to start coming from the right at this point. They need to acknowledge kind of that, “Hey, Trump lost.”

And some have; they’ve acknowledged that he lost ... but they have to acknowledge they were part of what got us to this point.

Ash Diggs, born in 1994: What would you call what happened on Jan. 6 at the Capitol?

I would definitely say the word that I’ve been using, and what immediately jumps to mind, was “coup.”

Do you mind explaining why it’s a coup to you?

Well, it feels like the culmination of a number of things that we’ve seen being played out over the weeks since the election.

In my opinion, we’ve heard the President say that, you know, he didn’t want to leave office, and he was publicly leading people to think that there was election fraud. Plus, we’ve seen him say other comments to white supremacists like, “stand back and stand by.”

And then suddenly, we have a group of people, a lot of whom proudly identify as Proud Boys, storming the Capitol with the intention of taking folks hostage, and — according to some people’s social media posts — possibly looking for blood. All those things together sound more like a coup to me because it just seems like a calculated attempt to keep this president in power and stop the democratically elected president-elect from being inaugurated.

perspective is that there’s been a ton of rhetoric and actions and inaction leading to these results. I didn’t want it to happen, obviously, but when it did happen, it was less that I couldn’t believe it and more, well, you can’t just keep laying out dominoes like that and not expect them to tip over at some point.

Cat Grimm, born in 2001: Cat, if I gave you the words “protest,” “insurrection” or “coup,” what do you think would best describe what happened at the Capitol?

I think the best option would be to call it an insurrection. It wasn’t a protest because that’s generally when a group of people have a set of demands or a cause that they want to raise awareness of. And I don’t think it was a coup because they didn’t really seem to have a really concrete plan.

Who do you think is responsible for the events at the Capitol? Trump?

I don’t think he’s the sole person to blame.

Because everything that’s been happening is bigger than him. I think he’s a really good person to point out if you’re looking at who embodies a lot of these notions. There’s definitely blame on his plate and on his shoulders for how much he has said and encouraged white supremacists. I think it’s hard to say who is to blame, specifically because it really comes down to institutions that our country is unfortunately founded on.

Do you think Trump is solely responsible for the coup?

I do believe that the events of the sixth are not solely Trump’s fault. I believe it was a combination of Trump as well as online conspiracy rhetoric, specifically QAnon.

How can America move forward? Do you think there are things Joe Biden, the government or just regular people like you and me could do?

I think the problem that we’re facing right now is that society acts like, “Oh, let me pass like a few laws and call it a day” will fix everything. When in reality, it’s more like the fact that as citizens of the United States, everybody’s kind of lost touch with each other. So, even if you were to pass the laws, that’s not going to fix things because you’re not fixing the actual social issues, and you’re not addressing the actual ideology that creates such a big divide in the first place. So, I’m not 100% sure what’s going to be unifying.

I think it’s really going to come down to individual effort and what individual effort ends up looking like when it snowballs into something larger.

Were you surprised by what happened on the sixth?

Definitely shocked but not surprised.

Because, again, as I kind of said, my

Henry Kueppers welcomes comments at hkueppers@mndaily.com

COLUMN

Dorothy and the Wizard of (Mac)OS Technological barriers are just another drop in the bucket of academic elitism.

A

Emily Eaton t times, college columnist makes me feel strangely like Dorothy arriving at the Emerald City after a long, arduous journey. From far away, the ivory towers of academia seemed like an amazing adventure, the key to a successful future. Then, Dorothy’s laptop breaks in the middle of finals week, and she discovers that you can’t even unlock the city gates without authentication from a secondary device. Suddenly, Dorothy realizes that, though the wizard might say he wants to help everyone, what he really means is that he wants to help everyone who can pay for his services.

Higher education faces an interesting

dilemma in the 21st century: how to appear inclusive and welcoming, while still maintaining a reputation of elitism and prestige. These ideals are constantly at odds with each other, and no school can truly achieve one without sacrificing the other. In order to actually be inclusive, barriers to education must be broken down. This means reducing — if not eliminating — tuition costs and providing alternatives to pay-for-play admissions exams, among other changes. But, in removing these barriers, the traditional markers of prestige, like low acceptance rates, requiring perfect stats and small student bodies, are also done away with.

The question is, then, do we expect every university to strive for the Ivy League example of single digit acceptance rates, billion dollar endowments and worldwide name recognition? Or, should tuition prices be dropped and acceptance rates raised in favor of easy access to education, even if it means shedding prominence?

As of 2019, the average cost of four years at a public university in the United States was estimated to be $108,422, according to Investopedia. Meanwhile, the average cost of four years at a private university doubled that number, to $215,532. Four years at an Ivy League school, however, could see students saddled with bills of over $280,000. And despite attempts from some elite schools to cater to low-income students, students in the top 0.01% stay ahead of the pack, with four in every 10

attending an Ivy League. That’s the same ratio of students from the bottom 20% who attend a two- or four-year university.

This isn’t new. People have been talking about the astronomical cost of a college education for years now. But, as technology increasingly pervades every facet of our everyday life, the cost is only rising. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that institutions of higher education are more than willing to make the case that a degree earned virtually should cost the same as the real deal. In reality, online school has seemingly only made a college degree more unattainable. With libraries closed or open only for limited use, students who used to rely on easily accessible public resources are left in the dust. Now, a strong WiFi connection and a computer able to handle full days of online classes and coursework are prerequisites for success. With the urban-rural divide leaving swathes of the Midwest without reliable phone or internet service, I’d argue that the effects of this pandemic and lack of support from colleges and universities will only strengthen partisanship in the United States in years to come.

Increasing accessibility by dropping tuition costs is a step that is long overdue, but doing that alone could only exacerbate education inflation, or the diminishing value of a college degree.

Making college more accessible won’t immediately improve the lives of people everywhere. Unless we establish much

needed policy changes at the same time — increasing worker protections, funding K-12 education and trade schools and ensuring that unemployment in our country is no longer a death sentence — higher education will continue to serve as a reservoir for people deemed under qualified by potential employers.

Capitalism is founded on competition.

This nation is founded upon capitalism.

And while competition is vital in small doses, we have created a cycle of elitism, inaccessibility and necessity within higher education that will be our demise.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, attending college was a surefire way to lift yourself up by the bootstraps and achieve the long sought-after American dream. But of course, this was before lecture halls filled with a sea of silver shells emblazoned with thousand dollar glowing apples. It was even before students regularly cracked jokes about the mountains of debt that would saddle them for the rest of their lives, back when a bachelor’s degree was good enough, and you could work your way through college in four years. Today, accessible, affordable higher education in the United States is little more than a fairytale.

Emily Eaton welcomes comments at eeaton@mndaily.com

Sports

6 Monday, January 25, 2021

VOLLEYBALL

Gopher volleyball sweeps Spartans in season opener Minnesota took down Michigan State to start the season.

By Brendan O’Brien bobrien@mndaily.com In what is normally home to loud, passionate Minnesota volleyball fans, it was Michigan State’s bench that could be heard and felt early in an abnormally empty Maturi Pavilion.

The Spartans’ energy persisted throughout the match, but it was the Gophers’ talent that came out on top in the season opener, winning its first match in 401 days in straight sets: 25-18, 26-24

and 25-16.

“It’s a little surreal, honestly. The idea of competition has been very theoretical for a long time,” head coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “And it was just great to get back in the saddle.”

Minnesota traded points with Michigan State throughout the early portion of the first set before breaking through thanks to six kills from junior outside hitter Adanna Rollins and 10 assists from freshman setter Melani Shaffmaster.

Michigan State led handily throughout the second set, bringing more energy and less errors than Minnesota early on.

But the Gophers battled

back from an eight-point deficit in the set and took their first lead in the set at 23-22. Minnesota eventually closed out the set with back-to-back kills by senior outside hitter Stephanie Samedy.

“One of the strengths of this group is the depth,” McCutcheon said on what he thought was key to the second set comeback.

“What that means is that one, if we need to make changes we can make changes [and] two, our team is used to having to grind in practice because it’s hard everyday.”

The comeback in the second set propelled Minnesota to a dominant performance in the final set. The Gophers came out sharp to take a 17-7

lead and eventually took care of business with a block party from middle blockers Regan Pittman and Katie Myers.

Rollins finished the day with a team-leading 15 kills and added nine digs. Shaffmaster led the Gophers with 29 assists and added six digs in her first career start for Minnesota. Samedy, an AVCA second team AllAmerican last season, added nine kills and five digs.

Minnesota has not lost to the Spartans since September of 2017.

The Gophers will look to extend that winning streak and close out the season series against Michigan State Sunday in Minneapolis at 3:00 p.m.

Outside hitter Stephanie Samedy spikes the ball at Maturi Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018. The Gophers swept South Carolina in all three sets. (Ellen Schmidt / Minnesota Daily)

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Gophers drop first home game without a fight The Gophers failed to shoot their way back into the game.

By AJ Condon acondon@mndaily.com A week off and an early Saturday start was the formula for a slow start in Williams Arena for Minnesota. Coming off an upset win over Michigan a week ago, and missing their next game against Nebraska due to COVID-19, the Gophers looked out of sorts as they dropped their first home game 63-49 to Maryland.

“We definitely started the game slow, super slow, and that’s probably the slowest we ever came out to a game. We just made the mistake of thinking everything was going to come easy, and in this conference every game is going to be a challenge.

Regardless of who we’re playing on any given night, every team has talent,” redshirt senior Brandon Johnson said.

The Terrapins went with four guards in their starting lineup, with all four of them 6-foot-5 and above, as well as a 6-foot7 forward. That worked

to their advantage as they were switching just about everything on defense and doubling junior Liam Robbins down low.

On offense, redshirt junior Marcus Carr and junior Gabe Kalscheur were just too small and Maryland’s guards were hitting threes over them. Defensively, Maryland’s guards were aggressive and made it nearly impossible to get to the rim. They forced Minnesota to beat them on outside shooting, which they could not do.

“We couldn’t get by them. If you’re not gonna get post touches for your fours and fives, which we certainly want to do, you better be able to penetrate.

They’re not big in the front court, but they’re big in the back court, and that can be equally disruptive and that really was,” head coach Richard Pitino said on Maryland’s height.

All of that led to a slow start for a team who was undefeated at home. The Gophers saw their deficit reach 14 just under eight minutes into the game from a mixture of missed shots and shuffling feet leading to turnovers, which they had seven of in the first half. That first half start gave way for the

rest of the game.

“They jumped out to a good lead, we just couldn’t make a shot. And then I thought we settled in defensively, but give Maryland credit. They were ready to go,” Pitino said. “We just could not get over the hump.”

The Gophers have relied on Carr a lot this season, and it was him who woke up first. With the whole team struggling to make a shot, Carr drilled a pair of three pointers to go along with nifty drives to the rim. He finished the first half with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Another first half standout came from freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr., who was just about the only other Gopher to contribute offensively. He came off the bench and helped spark the Gophers offense in the middle of the half. He hit a three pointer, maneuvered his way to the basket and drew fouls.

“Coming off the bench, you got to be able to provide positive [energy] and not be an energy vampire, but be an energy giver when you come off the bench. That’s what I try to do every game,” Mashburn Jr. said.

Mashburn finished the

first half with nine points on 2-of-3 shooting and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. He also found himself in a similar boat on the defensive end that Carr and Kalscheur did, however, he was able to finish as the only Gopher with a positive plus-minus in the first half.

Robbins was coming off one of his best games in the maroon and gold against Michigan and scored the first points of the game for Minnesota. The quick and elusive defense of Maryland made it tough for the 7-foot junior to get the ball much down low. Even though he had about five inches on the whole defense, Maryland was shadowing him when he didn’t have the ball and doubling him once he got it.

The Gophers found themselves down nine going into halftime with a lot of work to do. However, not much seemed to change after the break.

They were able to cut the deficit to six a couple times, but they couldn’t generate enough stops on defense. When they did get stops, they tried to shoot themselves out of the hole, which has never

Gophers forward Eric Curry challenges a defender at Williams Arena on Thursday, Dec. 10. The Gophers went on to defeat the Kansas City Roos 90-61. (Emily Pofahl / Minnesota Daily) boded well for them. They shot 5-of-23 from deep, which turned into 2-of-17 if you took out Carr. That was pretty much the story for the Gophers’ offense as a whole, without Carr, they didn’t have much.

Carr put together a nice afternoon, scoring 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting. But the other four starters combined for just 15 points on 4-of22 shooting. That doesn’t tell the full story as Gach and Kalscheur both failed to hit a field goal on their 10 combined shots.

“We settled for too many jump shots and I think that we just have to do a better job attacking, getting downhill, that’s where we’re at our best,”

Mashburn Jr. said.

The second half wasn’t all too friendly for Robbins, specifically.

After picking up one foul in the first, it took just two minutes to pick up three more and send him to the bench with three points and four fouls. The Big Ten leader in blocks was still able to block three shots prior to his fourth foul. After being back subbed in, Robbins picked up his last foul which ended his day with just under five minutes remaining.

The Gophers return to the road, where they are winless, Jan. 30 to face Purdue and will look to bounce back and return to .500 in the Big Ten.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Gophers women’s basketball by the numbers Whalen presents the Gophers with significant results.

By Tony Liebert tliebert@mndaily.com Minnesota has begun the 2020-21 season with a 3-7 record. The start of the season has provided both some positive and some negative results, but some numbers in particular might begin to tell the story of Gophers’ slow start.

Defensive struggles It is apparent that the Gophers’ first 10 games of the season have not gone as planned. There is no way to point to one thing as the problem, but whoever has been on the court this season for Minnesota has struggled holding their

opponents away from the hoop.

Out of 336 Division I women’s basketball teams that have competed in a game this season, the Gophers rank No. 334 in scoring defense. In its 10 games this season, Minnesota has allowed 80.8 points per contest.

Minnesota’s defensive woes stem from its opponents success at shooting the ball. The Gophers consistently allow high percentage shots, with their opponents shooting 46.4% percontest. Minnesota’s field goal percentage defense ranks 10th-worst in the nation at the Division I level. Its opponents have shot at a 39.4% clip on average from beyond the arc. This ranks the team No. 330 at the Division I level.

To go along with their

poor field goal percentage defense, Lindsay Whalen’s Gophers also struggle at forcing their opponents into mistakes. The 13.4 turnovers per game Minnesota’s defense forces ranks tied for No. 301 in the country.

There have been basketball teams that have found success at all levels with sub-par to belowaverage defenses, with hopes of out-scoring their opponent on their own end of the floor. Although this may be true, there becomes a point where it is too much, and the Gophers’ opponents have had no trouble getting wherever they want on the floor.

This young and inexperienced Minnesota team struggles on the defensive end and the Gophers put themselves in holes that even the best offenses could not pull

themselves out of.

Offensive success Whalen’s fast-pace offensive coaching style presents the Gophers with plenty of opportunities for points on that end of the floor. They currently rank No. 134 in the nation, scoring 68.7 points on average each game.

And Minnesota has recently found great success shooting the ball from beyond the arc. In its last two contests, it shot 38.1% against Maryland and 46.9% against Nebraska. The Gophers’ hot streak ranks them No. 138 in the country at 31.8% for the season. The team spends a lot of time shooting from downtown, tied for No. 75 in the country in three point field goal attempts per game, shooting eight per contest.

Through 10 games, the

Gophers have proven to be one of the better passing teams in the country. They may only be tied for No. 116 in the nation with 14 assists per contest, but over the last two games, they’ve recorded 15 against Maryland and 18 against Nebraska. This has resulted in Minnesota ranking No. 113 in the country in assist to turnover ratio at 0.9.

The Gophers’ success scoring the ball presents optimism for the rest of the season and beyond. If Whalen’s team is able to become more disciplined on the defensive end, it could quickly reel off a winning-streak, as the last month of the season has shown they can keep up with most teams on the offensive end of the floor.

Individual standouts Sophomore guard Jasmine Powell has taken

a leadership role with the Gophers, as she has been the team’s most effective offensive player this season.

She ranks No. 14 in the country, averaging 5.9 assists per contest, and she is also tied for No. 141 in three point percentage, shooting 35.5% in 10 games this season. Lastly, she ranks No. 100 in points per game, averaging 17.1.

Powell’s ability to lead a team through Big Ten conference play as a young player proves to be promising for the inexperienced Gophers’ future. In the short term, Gadiva Hubbard (10.9 PPG) and Sara Scalia (11.6 PPG) have proven to both be great second options offensively for Minnesota, but all three players’ defensive woes have outshined their successful offensive seasons.

7 Monday, January 25, 2021

UMN researchers farmers to explore chile pepper viability in Minnesota Latinx farmers often face many barriers to market access.

By Becca Most bmost@mndaily.com In an effort to address barriers Latinx farmers face in the agricultural industry, University of Minnesota researchers are studying the viability of chile pepper production in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Researchers used the term “Latinx” in their study, which is a genderneutral term for Latino.

Since spring 2020, University researchers have collaborated with several local farmers and the Shared Ground Farmers’ Cooperative to grow 24 varieties of hot peppers in four locations around the two states. They published their preliminary results earlier this month.

The Shared Ground Farmers’ Cooperative helps rural Latinx farmers find a market to sell their produce in the Twin Cities by delivering produce directly to consumers, restaurants or wholesalers and participating in various Farm to School programs, which provides local produce for school meals.

Rodrigo Cala, a certified organic farmer who runs the Cala Farm with his brother in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, has been involved with the coop and works as a consultant with the Latino Economic

Development Center helping Latinx and immigrant farmers navigate challenges they face.

This study, and its funding from a grant with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, is important because it takes the risk off of farmers who cannot afford to conduct experiments on pepper viability in this region, Cala said.

Originally from Mexico City, Cala grew up on a small farm in Mexico and before moving to the U.S. struggled to find quality produce for Mexican dishes, like chile peppers. As the owner of one of the participating farms in the University study, he said there is an opportunity to capitalize on an increase in a nationwide demand for spicier foods like hot sauce.

UMN Extension educator Natalie Hoidal poses with serrano and jalepeno peppers on the East Bank campus. Hoidal’s research team tested the viability of growing chile peppers in Minnesota and Wisconsin in collaboration with local Latinx farmers through the Shared Ground Farmers’ Cooperative. (Shannon Doyle / Minnesota Daily)

Challenges in market opportunity Cala said finding market opportunities as a Latinx or immigrant farmer is challenging, especially for those who do not speak English or have an accent.

Finding a market to sell the produce is an additional obstacle.

When meeting with new buyers, Cala said he often has to bring extra paperwork and certifications with him to convince buyers he is a good farmer. But sometimes it is not enough to be a good farmer, he said. Farmers have to know how to convince buyers to purchase their produce.

Acquiring land is one

of the biggest barriers, particularly for those who have not established credit, he said. Land is also expensive.

According to Cala, immigrant farmers typically do not have enough land to grow corn. “[If] farmers want to make money with corn, they need 1,000 acres … Most of the farmers in the Latino community, they have between 10 to 20 acres at the most,” he said. “So, we need to be thinking [about] what we can grow on this land.”

Agriculture is going to need to expand and make way for a new demographic of farmers who are younger and have an interest in

selling produce different from soybeans or corn, he said. In 2017, the average age of a U.S. farmer was almost 58.

‘Emerging farmers’ in Minnesota According to the Emerging Farmers in Minnesota legislative report released in February, in 2017 99% of all farmers in Minnesota were white. Those constituting “emerging farmers” were described as younger, having no inherited land, limited capital, interested in urban agriculture and passionate about ethical farming.

“As new groups of people start farming, we need to be

making sure that research and outreach is meeting the specific needs of farming communities that may be interested in growing different things,” said Natalie Hoidal, one of the University researchers on the project.

Historically, land ownership in the state has favored white, male farmers, said Patrice Bailey, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and co-author of the Emerging Farmers report. According to the report, “well documented racial bias in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant and loan programs” has supported a system that keeps land away from people

of color, women or other minorities, preventing them from accumulating wealth.

“There is still a level of racism in Minnesota, even in 2021,” Bailey said.

Because access to land and agricultural opportunity is still uneven in the state, for the few people of color in the field it can be incredibly isolating, especially if they are the only one growing a certain kind of produce, he said.

Some farmers or families feel so alone or alienated they cannot stay in the industry, or have to move out of rural areas, he said.

“You don’t have to say anything to isolate someone, to break someone’s spirit into leaving. This is a problem that is pretty pervasive around the state,” Bailey said.

As a Black man, Bailey said it was hard while growing up to picture a farmer looking like him, and that this perception is pushing away young people of color interested in agriculture.

“Kids of color especially, cannot be what they don’t see,” he said. “And so, if they don’t see it, they won’t be able to achieve it. And so, agriculture will just continue to be a word.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Rodrigo Cala’s last name. Additionally, the caption of the photo in this story misstated University of Minnesota Extension educator Natalie Hoidal’s job title.

An early look at the legislative session and UMN issues MSA hopes to reintroduce tabled bills due to the pandemic.

By Samantha Woodward swoodward@mndaily.com On the heels of a chaotic legislative session, University of Minnesotaarea lawmakers have some clear ideas about their hopes for the 2021 session.

The Minnesota State Legislature returned to their session this month after pausing the last session for nearly a month due to the pandemic. Rep. Mohamud Noor, DFLMinneapolis, and Sen. Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, are looking at the regent elections, COVID-19 relief and the challenging task of creating a state budget this year.

The 2021 Legislature convened its regular session earlier this month following a host of special sessions extended from last year.

Bills from last session that could be reintroduced The Minnesota Student Association (MSA) has worked alongside the University-area lawmakers for three bills that fell apart in last year’s session that they hope to see reintroduced.

The bills relate to sexual assault survivors, tenants’ rights and student data privacy.

Dziedzic said things were progressing well until the pandemic shifted their priorities.“We had to literally stop everything and just focus on, ‘What do we need to do to get people through COVID,’” Dziedzic said.

The medical amnesty bill for survivors of sexual assault was originally authored by Dziedzic, and has been unsuccessfully pushed to the Legislature multiple times. The bill seeks to expand protections from drug or underage alcohol charges to include victims and reporters of sexual assault.

MSA is hoping to have a

Republican author the bill this session to appeal to the GOP-controlled Senate.

The leasing reform bill would require a short-term lease’s last month of rent to be prorated based on the amount of time the tenant was allowed to occupy the space — meaning renters would not be charged for time that they did not live in a unit. The proposal has been a major push

by Dziedzic, the ranking minority member on the Senate housing committee, and expands on a bill passed in 2019.

The second part of the bill says that for a 10-month lease, the landlord may not require the tenant to renew their lease until at least four months have passed since the beginning of the original lease.

Noor, a technology business consultant outside the Legislature, co-authored the student data privacy bill in the previous session and MSA is hoping it will be reintroduced this session.

The bill would limit how much student information is automatically published into a public online database.

Sam Parmekar, a fourthyear student and MSA State Government Coordinator, said MSA works closely with other student governments like Purdue University and Illinois State University, where they have had issues with marketing companies targeting students using this information — plus there are concerns of stalking.

Neither has been a reported problem at the University’s Twin Cities campus, Parmekar said.Specifically, the University would not be able to publicly make available a student’s email address, phone number, physical address or photo ID. COVID-19 In a Southeast Como Improvement Association (SECIA) meeting last week, Noor said that getting vaccines to the most vulnerable individuals in

the community should be the House’s top priority. He said that he is advocating for more funding for the COVID-19 relief package, and hopes officials are more prepared for the pandemic during the winter months than they were during the first wave of COVID-19 under the Trump administration.

Noor urged the community to be patient with their local government as vaccine distribution and access is largely at the hands of the federal government.

Regent selection process With four regent seats up for grabs, the Regent Candidate Advisory Council has recommended twelve finalists forward to the Legislature.

As a member of the House higher education committee, Noor is part of the group of lawmakers set to review the finalists and make final recommendations voted by the entire Legislature.

Noor said at the SECIA

town hall that he is “honored” to be a part of the regent selection process and that he is “hopeful” after seeing the names of the candidates.

“I have received some recommendations from various institutions in terms of how or who they believe will be a good candidate,” Noor said at the town hall.

Parmekar said MSA has been working closely with Noor to “make sure that the student voices are represented” when considering which candidates to vote for. MSA has advocated for regents to prioritize affordable housing, mental health resources, preventing food insecurity and rental assistance.

“Historically, [MSA] always had a really close working relationship with Sen. Dziedzic and Rep. Noor,” Parmekar said. Both represent the area surrounding the University, and “that’s a responsibility that they take very seriously.”

Council member Cam Gordon tackles MPLS homelessness Gordon is trying to create more accessible longterm housing.

By Emalyn Muzzy emuzzy@mndaily.com Since the pandemic, the city of Minneapolis has seen an increasing number of homeless encampments, an issue Ward 2 Council member Cam Gordon has vowed to tackle head on.

Working with Hennepin County and community members, Gordon has repeatedly carved out policies aimed to support people experiencing homelessness.

Last month, he spearheaded an ordinance that offers flexibility in constructing new homeless shelters and lets residents stay longer.

“[Gordon] always looks at what regulatory barriers are in the way that prevent people from doing innovative projects,” said Sheila Delaney, an advocate for people experiencing homelessness.

Previously, an emergency shelter had to be at least 1,000 feet from another shelter and people could live there for less than 30 days. With the new definition, shelters can be built within 350 feet of each other and people can stay for up to six months.

This ordinance has made it easier for the city to explore various housing options and remove uncertainty around housing, said Gordon’s policy aide Robin Garwood.

“Cam listens to shelter providers and the community about

what’s blocking shelters,” Garwood said.

Gordon helped approve funding for Avivo Indoor Villages, which opened as the ordinance was in its final stages of adoption.

Instead of an overnight shelter in a large communal space, Avivo built single units within a warehouse in Minneapolis’ North Loop to give people more privacy.

With Gordon’s order, Avivo is able to house people for longer.

The Indoor Villages act as a transition toward single-room occupancies (SROs) and rooming houses, two forms of stable shelter that Gordon is pushing for. The shelter is currently able to house 16 people and Avivo is constructing more rooms to open in 2021.

Gordon’s efforts come

on the heels of a broader visibility of homelessness throughout the past year.

During the George Floyd protests, a hotel housed hundreds of people experiencing homelessness before Minneapolis police shut the sanctuary down.

After that, a summer of park encampments and evictions gained public attention and put pressure on government officials to find immediate and supportive solutions.

People that normally spent their nights under highways and bridges pitched tents in neighborhood parks, said Katie Topinka, Minneapolis’s housing policy coordinator.

Throughout the year, Gordon advocated for more housing options and reducing barriers toward

permanent housing, including limiting security deposit costs, incentivizing public affordable housing buildings and supporting anti-displacement policies.

Moving forward into 2021, more work is planned to create affordable permanent housing, including Gordon’s efforts to find funding and meet with stakeholders to begin building SROs within the first half of the year.

SROs would work as alternatives to traditional housing for people who need more support for issues like substance abuse and mental illness.

Many people experiencing homelessness deal with these at much higher rates than the general population, according to a large body of research.

SROs are stable housing

that allow people to have their own space while also having a support network behind them, Garwood said. “It would be one of the ways to get towards ‘housing first,’” he said, referring to a model that prioritizes finding permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness.

In 2020, Gordon worked alongside the community to create solutions that proactively help the people experiencing homelessness, Delaney said, adding that instead of coming up with solutions for them, he figured out solutions with them.

“It’s undeniable to say that our city has the most investment in affordable housing and doing a better job with emergency shelters,” Delaney said.

8 Monday, January 25, 2021

Dinkytown remembers legendary filmmaker Al Milgrom

Citizens reflect on Milgrom’s impact to local culture.

By Jasmine Snow jsnow@mndaily.com

Al Milgrom was a Dinkytown giant.

He was the “godfather ofthe Minnesota film scene,” according to a Star Tribune article published after his death. Milgrom founded the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul, taught cinema at the University of Minnesota and released his beloved 40year project, a hyperlocal documentary titled “The Dinkytown Uprising.”

He suffered a stroke and died at home just weeks after his 98th birthday, the Star Tribune reported.

Milgrom was still working and hoped to finish another

documentary this year.

“The spirit of Dinkytown is something that Al, I think … sort of both embodied and brought to light in many ways,” said Kristen EideTollefson, founder of the Book House in Dinkytown and coordinator at Preserve Historic Dinkytown.

A sensitive filmmaker in a changing Dinkytown At the age of 92, Milgrom released his first featurelength documentary, “The Dinkytown Uprising,” which was a culmination of 40 years of filming the neighborhood.

The film focuses on the Red Barn protests, a studentled occupation of Dinkytown opposing the Red Barn restaurant development from taking over a local business and the Vietnam War. The protest reached its peak around the time four university students were killed by police at a demonstration at Kent

State University.

Today’s Dinkytown is no stranger to such development, something which Milgrom never reserved judgment for, according to Dinkytown historian Bill Huntzicker.

Huntzicker said he remembered Milgrom as a sensitive filmmaker. He said Milgrom helped capture Dinkytown’s history and was persistent in preserving the small-town appeal and “architectural integrity” of the neighborhood.

“Dinkytown was a place to feel at home for smalltown folks and Al really got that,” Huntzicker said. “We agreed … with a lot of these changes, eventually it won’t be a town and it won’t be dinky.”

The shifting landscape of Dinkytown is ongoing.

The COVID-19 pandemic and new commercial developments have led to a

string of closures from the Purple Onion to Dinkytown Wine and Spirits and McDonald’s.

Community members say the changes create a strain that feels overwhelming at times.

Last year, Milgrom wrote an editorial to the Star Tribune reflecting on Dinkytown’s history and criticizing the gentrification and modernization of the area.

“Today?

A different Dinkytown. No longer the students, hippies, neighbors congregating in a mélange of coffeehouse, ma-andpa grocers, scattered bookstores. Now, gentrified high-rises, smorgasbords and diners, and a Target replacing former Marshall High,” Milgrom wrote. “You will find a far different clientele, along with many foreign student newcomers, all with seemingly little awareness of the 1970

sidewalks underfoot.”

After the George Floyd protests and a contentious election, Milgrom’s film will continue to stand as a time capsule for the echoes of Dinkytown’s rich protest history, said community historian Mike Linnemann.

“Some of the [historical] sources are going to disappear or degrade over time,” Linnemann said.

“We’re going to have books on the George Floyd protests and what happened and why we burned down a police station. … That’s no different from this, it’s just that Al did it himself.”

Eide-Tollefson said she will miss Al’s constant presence in Dinkytown and the richness he brought to the neighborhood. She said his critical eye and love for the four square-block town will carry on through his work and the people he met.

“Dinkytown has sort of

been a center point for Al’s whole life,” she said. “He traveled and he was in the war. And yet he always came back … His connection with the people of Dinkytown and the pulse of Dinkytown and the creative dimension of Dinkytown was just a constant through all these years.”

Al Milgrom, 2019.

Courtesy of Mordecai Specktor / American Jewish World

University members weigh in on regent selection Legislature to fill four open positions on the board.

By Hana Ikramuddin and Sonja Kleven hikaramuddin@mndaily. com, skleven@mndaily. com In anticipation of the upcoming Board of Regents election, students and faculty weighed in on current regent operations and shared their hopes for the future.

Four regent positions are up for election this year, including Regent Micheal Hsu, Randy Simonson, Richard Beeson and Thomas Anderson’s positions.

Many have brought up the lack of diversity on the board as an ongoing issue in regent elections.

Additionally, University stakeholders have said they would like to see more consultation between the board and student and faculty bodies.

The Minnesota Legislature, with advising from the Regent Candidate Advisory Council, will fill

the four positions. Each member of the board serves six-year staggered terms.

Dr. Jennifer Pierce, a professor of American Studies at the University, said in an email to the Minnesota Daily that she is hoping the board can better reflect the values of the University by adding more diverse perspectives to the decision-making body.

“The Board of Regents as it stands now is overwhelmingly white and male,” Pierce wrote in her email. “If diversity is indeed one of the core values of the University, there should be more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), women and queer people on the Board of Regents.”

Some Faculty Senate leaders say they hope to see more consultation between the board and the Senate. Carol Chomsky, the vice chair of the University Senate said while the board and the Senate typically do not interact directly, faculty appreciate such collaboration.

“You want to see someone who appreciates what the University does,”

Chomsky said. “That is, appreciate that it is a multitude of voices, all of which need to be attended to, not necessarily followed, but listened to seriously and taken into account in decision making.”

Minnesota Student Association President Amy Ma said she is also hoping to see increased collaboration and conversation between the regents and the student body going forward.

“I think the Board of Regents, at its highest level of governance, can still be very inaccessible. There, I think, are a lot of really long-term initiatives that our University can take such as divestment from fossil fuels,[and] working for longer-term solutions for college affordability,” Ma said.

Ma also said MSA is working on a questionnaire that will ask students what they want to see from potential regents.

Students are keeping a close eye on the upcoming elections, said Briggs Tople, chair of the Student Senate. He said students understand that the incoming regents will have an impact on the

Illustration by Sarah Mai rest of their experience at the University and the experiences of others in the years to come.

“It’s unusual in comparison to previous years, because [students] understand that these regents will have an impact on student’s lives for the remainder of their terms here at the college, but also

for students in the future,” Tople said. “They’re trying to engage with that process far more.”

Tople also said he hopes the regents will take more action to tackle pressing issues — such as the University’s contribution to the climate crisis and the police presence on campus — in their upcoming term.

Tople said he wants to see more communication between the board members and students in the future.

“I’d really like for them to engage with us on a oneon-one basis instead of just having to hear our thoughts relayed to them through another administrator,” Tople said.

Inauguration Day protesters push for radical change under Biden admin After Trump, protestors look to hold Biden accountable.

By Samantha Woodward and Lydia Morrell swoodward@mndaily.com, lmorrell@mndaily.com Protesters gathered near South High School in Minneapolis on Inauguration Day to “demand a people’s agenda” as President Joe Biden’s administration enters the White House with promises of change.

Local Twin Cities activist groups, led by the Anti-War Committee and including multiple University of Minnesota groups, hosted the Inauguration protest.

The groups marched down Lake Street to the ruins of the Minneapolis Police Department Third Precinct building with cars trailing behind, honking along to chants and waving Black Lives Matter flags.

Activists spoke about the right to protest, drawing a comparison between the charges against the 646 protesters who were arrested in November to the lenient handling of rioters during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Many said

they remain disappointed in American leaders despite an administration led by Democrats.

Khalyma Robinson, a second-year University of Minnesota student, spoke at the event on behalf of UMN Climate Strike about the importance of dropping the charges against the 646 Twin Cities protesters. “[The protests over the last nine months showed] that when the people are not predominantly white or when they’re fighting for justice and equality, they are usually brutalized or harassed and intimidated,” Robinson said.

Robinson added that UMN Climate Strike is invested in working with Indigenous leaders to stop work on the Line 3 oil pipeline, but they attended the event in support of a variety of social justice issues related to racial equity.

“It’s important that we are all standing together fighting in solidarity with each other still,” Robinson said.

Fernando Sanchez, an organizer with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), said he joined the protest to “remind Biden that he promised something to the Latino voters,” referring to Biden’s calls for immigration reform. As a Mexican

immigrant, he hopes to see a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people and DACA recipients.

Sanchez said that if the divide between Americans becomes deeper, everyone will lose. He was happy to hear Biden emphasizing unity in his inauguration speech.

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota (CAIR-MN), roused the crowd of nearly 200 before the march to demand accountability for police violence and unjust government treatment of immigrants.

“Today is a historic day in [the] American story, because Trump left office, but history of what he did can never be unwritten. That history is real, it’s part of America and it’s part of the failure,” Hussein said.

Three educators from Minneapolis Public Schools attended to support defunding government agencies such as the military, ICE and the police, and want to see officials reallocate funds toward schools to support marginalized students.

Jae Yates, a recent University graduate and member of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCCJ4J), led the chants as

the crowd trudged along East Lake Street. As the song “Fuck Donald Trump” played over the mobile speakers, protesters called back “Fuck Biden, too.”

Yates said that TCCJ4J has campaigned for community control of the police for years and would like to see tangible results from the new administration.

“A Biden presidency does not mean an end to systemic racism or police brutality,” Yates said. “And we have to make sure that people know that we have to keep fighting.”

Demonstrators march down East Lake Street in response to the Presidential Inauguration on Wednesday, Jan. 20. The protest lasted around two hours. (J.D. Duggan / Minnesota Daily)

Today is a historic day in [the] American story, because Trump left office, but history of what he did can never be unwritten. That history is real, it’s part of America and it’s part of the failure.”

JAYLANI HUSSEIN executive director of CAIR-MN

(Emily Urfer / Minnesota Daily)