MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
ADMINSTRATION
CARES funds round two: preparing for distribution
MNDAILY.COM
POLICY
U students acclimate to Biden’s immigration policies
The U must begin distributing CARES funds to students by the middle of April. By Abbey Machtig amachtig@mndaily.com Working toward a mid-April deadline, the University of Minnesota is in the process of ironing out details around the distribution of the second wave of CARES funds. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, the national relief package first passed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and renewed in December 2020, designates an additional $21.2 billion for higher education relief. Of that amount, the University has received approximately $40 million, around $12.8 million of which must be distributed directly to students. The U.S. Department of Education has reported that with the second wave of CARES funds, there will be fewer restrictions on how the funds can be used, which may make relief funds more accessible to students. As a result, students should expect a different process for applying for and receiving CARES funds, University officials said. At this time, the federal guidance has not clarified whether undocumented students will be eligible for funds. The University must begin distributing funds in mid-April, though aid can continue to be pushed out through January 2022. A new distribution process The first rounds of CARES funds were distributed to students last spring using a survey process. Eligible students had to submit their general financial aid information and provide an explanation of how they would use the funds. This process required a considerable amount of documentation on the University’s part and was “overly complicated,” said Bob McMaster, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education. For this round of distribution, the University will split the available funds into three categories to be allocated to students. The specific criteria and details for these categories are still being developed, McMaster said. The first category will distribute a set amount of funds to Pell grants, which are intended for low income students. Another category will provide aid to students who have had their ability to complete or progress toward completing their degree impacted by the panSee ADMINISTRATION Page 2
Left, Antony Maikuri, a Ph. D. student in the College of Education and Human Development pursuing Evaluation Studies, poses for a portrait in the St. Paul Student Center on Thursday, Feb. 18. Center, Viola Winter, a Ph. D, student at the University of Minnesota studying Kinesiology, poses for a portrait in Northop Plaza. Right, Hemant Persaud poses for a portrait in downtown Minneapolis. Persaud is a first year Ph. D. student studying Strategic Marketing at the University of Minnesota. (Audrey Rauth / Minnesota Daily)
Students impacted by Trump’s antiimmigration agenda expressed hope and skepticism about Biden’s policies. By Samantha Woodward swoodward@mndaily.com
When Antony Maikuri arrived to study in the United States during the Barack Obama administration, he said it felt like home. Maikuri said Obama’s relationship with Kenya, Maikuri’s home country, helped build a culture of welcomeness and openness. After Donald Trump’s election in 2016, that all changed, he said. “[Trump’s attitudes toward people of color] felt like a direct attack to Africans,” Maikuri said. “It really created that fear and mistrust, like, ‘Wow, why do you want to go there?’” As President Joe Biden steps through his first 100 days in office,
international programs at the University, said some international students did not want to study in the U.S. because of negative attitudes toward them and Trump’s stricter immigration policies. “It looks like the welcome mat has been pulled up,” McQuaid said. German international Ph.D. student Viola Winter said the student visa process was nervewracking enough, and under Trump, maintaining legal immigrant status became that much more difficult. See POLICY Page 2
METRO
City Council considers cap on rent increases Many students renting in the University area are cost burdened. By Lydia Morrell lmorrell@mndaily.com Minneapolis City Council members and community leaders are looking to advance a rent stabilization proposal that would cap the annual rent increase so landlords cannot dramatically increase costs. Council members have not determined the percentage increase limit, but the typical amount for other cities with the ordinance ranges from 3% to 10%. The proposal could end up on the ballot this November. The ordinance will go through a public hearing around the end of the month, and the University’s
Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) will present research on rent stabilization ordinances in other cities to help inform council members. Minnesota has a law that states cities require voter approval to enforce rent control. So, officials are looking to pass the ordinance either through a charter amendment or a city council process that is then voted on by the public, said Ward 2 City Council member Cam Gordon, who is leading the proposal. More than half of all renters in University-area neighborhoods are considered “cost-burdened,” according to 2015-2019 data from Minnesota Compass. A cost-burdened household pays more than a third of their income toward rent and may have difficulty affording necessities like food or medical care. Ryan Allen, director of the Ur-
FOOD INSECURITY
ban and Regional Planning program at the University’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, said he has seen rents in large metropolitan areas increasing much more quickly than household incomes in recent decades. He said that rent stabilization could be a tool to help bridge this gap. “The research on the effects of rent stabilization or rent control policies indicates very, very clearly that for housing units that are affected by the stabilization. … the rents go up at a slower rate than they ordinarily would have,” Allen said. In some cities with rent control ordinances, Allen said newly constructed residences are exempt from this rule so developers are not discouraged from building. For renters, this ordinance is an See METRO Page 2
Students are signing up for food benefits in high numbers.
Podcast carries stories of incarcerated Japanese Americans in World War II A Ph.D. candidate and her brother created the oral history project. By Nathanael Ashton-Piper and Katelyn Vue npiper@mndaily.com, kvue@mndaily.com
Health Promotion Specialist Rebecca Leighton poses for a portrait in front of the Nutritious U food pantry bags in Coffman Memorial Union on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Leighton leads the campus-wide strategic SNAP outreach project. (Shanon Doyle / Minnesota Daily) students enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a government assistance initiative once called “food stamps.” In December, student SNAP requirements changed, allowing more students to join the program. With the new qualifications, a student needs to qualify for work-
Uncommon Apartments in Dinkytown on Thursday, Feb.18. Minneapolis City Council members are considering a cap on dramatic rent increases. (Jasmine Webber / Minnesota Daily)
PODCAST
Student surge in SNAP eligibility
By Emalyn Muzzy emuzzy@mndaily.com Every Sunday, Edward Cruz II, a fourth-year environmental science policy and management student at the University of Minnesota, hops into the back seat of his roommate’s yellow Nissan Juke and heads to the Roseville Walmart. Once there, they start in the produce section, weaving through aisles as they make their way toward the back of the store. In his weekly haul, Cruz said he always has green onions, vegetarian fake meat and tortillas. Once finished, the group walks to the front of the store to pay, and Cruz swipes his EBT, electronic benefits transfer, card at the register. Cruz is one of many college
some in the University of Minnesota community are hopeful that he will reform Trump’s immigration policies. ‘The welcome mat has been pulled up’: High pressure and confusion under Trump Maikuri, a third-year Ph.D. student in the College of Education and Human Development, said he is hopeful for the Biden administration’s immigration plans. He said he thinks it will approach international students with humanity rather than like someone “who doesn’t care who is being affected [by their actions].” Meredith McQuaid, dean of
study or have a $0 estimated parent contribution on their FAFSA and make under $1,755 a month if they are a single person. “As of right now, it’s just a temporary exemption until 30 days after the emergency order, the pandemic end or until the person’s recertificaSee FOOD INSECURITY Page 2
When Hana Maruyama was in high school, her mother encouraged her to do school projects surrounding the family’s history. Now as a University of Minnesota Ph.D. candidate, Maruyama and her brother, Noah Maruyama, are collecting and preserving the stories of Japanese Americans forcibly incarcerated during World War II. The podcast “Campu” spotlights objects such as rocks, fences, food and paper — objects commonly found in jails and prisons — to add intimate details of life inside the concentration camps. The name refers to the term “campu no kuse,”
which describes the custom of “incarcerees” collecting objects in the camps. “Campu” incorporates firsthand oral histories from the camps with the help of Densho, a Seattle-based nonprofit that aims to preserve and share the history of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. “So many have reached out to say, ‘This [podcast] was incredibly healing for me, and it felt like it was my family history, even if you weren’t actually talking to my family members,’” Hana said. “I think that feedback has been just incredible and exactly what we set out to do in the very beginning.” Since its launch in September, the Los Angeles Review of Books podcast review channel named “Campu” a top-five podcast to listen to in January, and the New York Times listed it as a top-eight new podcast. See PODCAST Page 2 Volume 121 Issue 9
2 Monday, February 22, 2021
Policy page 1 The Trump administration made efforts to limit student entry from certain countries, created stricter rules to make it more difficult to maintain visa status and made it harder to obtain work visas. Winter said that when applying for a visa extension, any missed signature or misspelled words can result in a rejection of the request. “You cannot risk being wrong because the implications are big,” Winter said. “Small mistakes can add up to you having to leave the country before you graduate.” Marissa Hill-Dongre, the director of the University’s Immigration Response Team and assistant director for employment-based visas, said students are confused after Trump’s many attempts to revise the student visa process. Some students are still unsure which
Adminstration page 1 demic, McMaster said. “We want to use some of these funds to provide support for students who might have, because of COVID this year, been unable to take a class or had to drop a class. We want to try to provide degree completion funds to help those students get the degree done,” he said. The remaining portion of the approximately $12.8 million designated for students through the CARES Act will be put into two emergency funds that students can apply to receive from through One Stop Student Services, McMaster said. “That’s kind of the direction we’re going now. We’re trying to figure out exactly what the precise formula is for pushing out the CARES money into those different categories,” he said. Cynthia Moua, a fourthyear student at the University, said the distribution process used last year was relatively simple to navigate, but it was unclear how much aid students should request from the University. “Some questions that were running through my mind were things like ‘Is asking for too much mean I would get less? What is considered a good reason?’ As a student who is able to go to college through loans, I’m usually
Metro page 1 tion, whichever is later,” said Becca Leighton, the health promotion specialist at Boynton Health. Leighton wanted to make sure students knew about these changes, so she gave a push to One Stop Student Services, which sent out an email to 10,000 students to let them know they may be eligible for SNAP. This is not the first time Leighton has helped inform students about their options for food assistance. In fall 2019, she created a survey that helped determine student’s eligibility for SNAP. If they qualified, they would be referred to Second Harvest Heartland, a national food bank, to get help to sign up for SNAP. “Over the first three se-
rules went into effect. She added that even though “Trump was hyper-focused on immigration, and that caused a lot of harm,” immigration in America was “far from perfect before Trump came into office.” DACA and ‘American survival’ Hemant Persaud said he knew his chance to study abroad as a University student and DACA recipient was very slim. He worked diligently with the University’s Student Legal Service for a year to get his application materials arranged and was ready to apply on the first day of the fall semester of 2017. But Persaud got a text message from a friend while on his way to submit his application. “I knew there was going to be a decision made that day about the DACA program,” Persaud said. “It pretty much confirmed what I was fearing, that they were going to rescind the
program. … That was a really emotional day for me.” Since its start in 2012, DACA has received hard, consistent pushback from Republicans and was rescinded in 2017 by the Trump administration. While DACA recipients at the time were able to reapply for extensions, no new applications were accepted. Prior to gaining his DACA status in 2013, Persaud said he did not think college was an option for him as a citizen of Guyana living in the U.S. He graduated from the University in 2019 with a French studies major. He was never able to study abroad. The Trump administration enacted policies that slowed down the processing of DACA applications, so recipients started applying far in advance, before their status was going to expire. “Because people didn’t know: ‘Maybe tomorrow there will be an announcement by the court that DACA is going away; if [the
U.S. immigration office] at least has my extension application, maybe they’ll process it,’” Hill-Dongre said. Persaud said the talk of immigration policy changes and rumors surrounding DACA has made him numb to those promises. “For my whole life, it’s always kind of been ambiguous,” he said. But Persaud said he still hopes the Biden administration will follow through with Biden’s promises to create a pathway for DACA recipients to receive permanent citizenship. He came to the U.S. when he was 1 year old, and his parents urged him to apply for DACA status in high school. “I know that they brought us all here to the U.S. for that whole ‘American dream,’ which to me I think it’s kind of like, faded,” Persaud said. “It’s kind of more like an American survival.” Persaud said he is hopeful that the new adminis-
tration will make opportunities, like traveling, more accessible to DACA recipients in hopes of being able to obtain a true American dream. Anti-immigration sentiment outlives Trump Ibrahim Hirsi, a Ph.D. student and research assistant at the University’s Immigration History Research Center, was working as a fellow at Sahan Journal when he realized he wanted to go back to school to better understand the immigrant stories he was telling. On Biden’s first day in office, he reversed Trump’s notorious Muslim travel ban. Hirsi said that eight years of Obama’s administration made Americans think that America’s race issue was long gone — many were doubtful that Trump would follow through with his promise to institute a Muslim travel ban. But when Trump passed the ban, Hirsi said he was not surprised. He said it is
just another example of the country’s long history of discrimination and exclusion that many other presidents helped create. “But somehow after eight years of Barack Obama, people forgot about it,” Hirsi said. Although Biden plans to increase the cap for the number of asylum seekers allowed in the U.S, Hirsi said that anti-immigration sentiment still remains. He said that regardless of which political party holds office, the U.S. government has continued to treat immigrants and asylum seekers poorly. “[Biden’s administration] is an administration that continues to deport people, that continues to detain people,” Hirsi said. “Just because there is a new administration, that doesn’t mean all those people will be let go and everything is going to just go back to normal.” Editor’s note: Ibrahim Hirsi is a former Minnesota Daily employee.
very cautious about anything regarding finances,” Moua said in an email to the Minnesota Daily. “I think that it’s important this time around for the University to clarify their guidelines with the new application and distribution. I think for the first round, everything was moving so fast that it almost seems like a blur,” she said in the email.
Podcast page 1
Changing eligibility The first round of the CARES Act also restricted some students from receiving funds, including some international students, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals students and those enrolled in completely online programs. The Department of Education is expected to lift some of these restrictions, said University President Joan Gabel in a Feb. 1 interview with the Minnesota Daily. Though higher education institutions received more funding under the second round of the CARES Act — $21 billion compared to the $14 billion designated in March 2020 — that does not mean that students can expect to receive more aid, she said. “It’s a little early to tell. It looks like [the University] will get a little more money than we got last time, but we also have more eligible students, so I’m not sure what that math looks like yet,” Gabel said.
Institutional awards A portion of the aid the University received through the CARES Act is also designated for institutional relief. With the University facing a $166 million budget deficit, these funds will go toward areas of the University most impacted by the pandemic and help replace lost revenue, said Myron Frans, senior vice president for finance and operations. These areas include tuition, which was held flat for the 2020-21 academic year, and the University’s auxiliary services, like housing and dining, which also lost revenue due to refunds issued to students last year. The main priority is to use the CARES Act funds to reduce the budget shortfall as much as possible, Frans said. “We’re looking at budget cuts for a lot of different administrative services and some academic services, and maybe we can lessen the amount that we need to cut in those areas,” he said. The University’s administration is also hopeful that additional relief will be provided to help offset the budget deficit through President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which includes funding for higher education, Frans said. Frans said the budget office hopes to present recommendations on the best way to distribute the institutional aid at the Board of Regents meeting in March.
mesters we’ve been doing this survey, we had about 500 total students referred,” Leighton said. “In the past two weeks, we’ve had almost 700.” More than half of the 10,000 students opened One Stop’s emails, which is a “very solid open rate,” said Julie Selander, director of One Stop Student Services. Signing up for SNAP can take up to a month, Cruz said, but Second Harvest Heartland and staff from Nutritious U — the campus food pantry — can act as advocates and help students with the sign-up process. Eliza Scholl, a second-year sociology major, signed up for assistance after receiving a One Stop email last fall. She now receives more than $200 a month, which is more than she can spend. Scholl said
SNAP has made her life much easier. “Before I started using SNAP, I was trying to spend as little as possible on food. Even just per item, that means that there’s a whole calculus story in your head,” she said. “There’s a certain amount of space that can now be devoted to other things because I’m not concerned when I go grocery shopping.” Cruz seconds that thought, saying that SNAP makes his life simpler. He said he makes enough money to pay for his groceries, but SNAP makes him feel relieved. “SNAP has allowed me to partake in foods that I otherwise probably wouldn’t get as frequently, which is, in general, stress relieving,” Cruz said. “Obviously, who doesn’t enjoy eating?”
Tom Ikeda, Densho’s founder and director, had two generations of family members incarcerated during the war. In the 1990s, Ikeda realized that many Issei and Nisei — first-generation and second-generation Japanese immigrants, respectively — incarcerees had died, motivating him to record their stories before they were lost forever. “[Ikeda] knew that making these oral histories, recording them like videos and then making them available online for free, was going to be more powerful and long-lasting than trying to establish a traditional museum or just [creating] audio files,” said Natasha Varner, the communications and public engagement director at Densho. Hana and Noah made these oral histories the cornerstone of the listening experience in “Campu,” alongside Hana’s narration and Noah’s audio engineering and musical scores. Each podcast episode ends with Hana or Noah reading each narrator’s name who shared their oral history archive in the episode. Many of the narrators are no longer alive. For the former incarcerees who are still living, the podcast is a platform to discover the stories they suppressed for decades. “People have said that they hear familiar voices in the credits where we list 60 or so names in a row, and they will recognize someone that they knew 40 or 50 years ago,” Noah said. “The variety of voices of the incarcerees is really what is special about this podcast, and that would not have been possible without Densho.” Silence on the subject has meant that a younger generation of Japanese Americans has grown up with a clouded knowledge of their family’s history and pain, Hana said. Growing up in Washington D.C., the siblings said they had family members who were forcibly incarcerated in the camps but rarely spoke about their experiences. Before the podcast, Noah said he only knew the surface of the history of Japanese American incarceration. He grew up not having Japanese American friends and feeling disconnected from a part of his identity, he said.
“For Japanese Americans, speaking together is healing. That silence often hurts us, and wounds fester when you don’t treat them,” Noah said. “This really was a period of personal growth for me in working on this. I think reckoning with that is what made it so.” A story of injustice The first episode provides context for where many of the camps were — land that belonged to Native Americans and, during westward expansion, was often cultivated by enslaved Africans. “I want us to understand how this relates to greater systems of oppression in this country,” Hana said. “That first episode, we try and talk about how this country was built on the dispossession of American Indians and the enslavement of Black people. And I think understanding that as the foundation that enabled what happened to Japanese Americans is important.” The incarceration of Japanese Americans in the U.S. began in February 1942 after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, clearing the way for the incarceration of Japanese Americans. Some historians regard Roosevelt as one of the top presidents in U.S. history, often credited with bringing the country out of the Great Depression. However, many Japanese Americans have different memories of the nation’s longest-serving president. “It’s very apparent that anytime you bring [Roosevelt] up with a Japanese American, it’s very negative. That goes for my dad, my grandmother and pretty much anyone I can think of,” Noah said. “Japanese Americans often understate quite a bit, laugh off or stay silent about the things they are angry about. That is not there for FDR.” In response to intelligence about a possible attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt commissioned a report investigating Japanese Americans’ loyalty in the Western United States. The report largely concluded that Japanese Americans were loyal and would pose little threat to the U.S. Despite results from the report, Roosevelt signed the order in a decision that J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI at the time, said was
based on “public and political pressure rather than on factual data.” Throughout the podcast, Hana and Noah refrain from using the term “internment camps.” According to Hana, the term refers to the detention of “enemy aliens,” which does not apply to the American citizens that made up two-thirds of the incarcerees. Instead, Hana and Noah use the term “concentration camps.” “The term concentration camp is really the most fitting, historically accurate term that exists for what happened to Japanese Americans, and that is why we do use that term in the podcast,” Hana said. During history classes, Hana said she rarely heard this side of Roosevelt’s legacy. She often grappled with the question of whether a “good” president could put people in concentration camps and still be revered. Looking to the future Hana and Noah are in talks with Densho to create additional material for “Campu.” They both want to continue the project after Hana completes her dissertation at the University. The siblings’ focus is currently on a special episode that will honor their grandmother, whom they lost to COVID-19 in late December. Hana was in the process of writing the current season’s final episode when their grandmother died. The only way to finish the material was to write about her, she said. But Hana said she also has to consider her grandmother’s honest feelings on sharing stories about the incarceration. “I had this moment when she passed away where I asked myself, ‘Should I really be doing this work? [My grandmother] hated talking about it, so is this work actually honoring her legacy, or is it just bringing back something she would have wanted to forget?’ That is not a question that most researchers have to ask themselves,” Hana said. The resilience of the incarcerees and understanding how their story fits into broader narratives of American oppression is what drives them to keep sharing this history, Hana and Noah said. “Injustices get worse when we don’t pay attention to them,” Noah said.
She said each time her landlord raised her rent, tenants were given about 15 days notice before they had to pay. Her husband is the only one in the household who works, making it difficult to accommodate the unexpected extra rent within their monthly budget. “How are we supposed to be able to pay these high rents, plus the rent increases, when we’re not making any more money?” she told the Minnesota Daily in
Spanish, relayed through a translator with Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia. “It’s not paying us enough to be able to pay these rent increases in the first place.” Rodriguez said her rent started at $775 a month, and the landlord increased it to $850, then $950, all within about a year — about a 23% increase in a short period of time. She said this was especially difficult to pay in the middle of the pandemic. “It’s really heartbreaking
that we’re in this position of having to choose between paying rent and being able to feed our families,” Rodriguez said. “And oftentimes both parents are forced into working sometimes even multiple jobs, and then childcare is not very accessible either.” Conversely, some believe the ordinance would have negative consequences in the long run for landlords and tenants, said Mike Jacka, president of Minnesota
Real Estate Investors Association. He said property conditions would deteriorate because there would be less incentive for the landlord to fix the property. “If there’s no financial incentive for the landlord to increase the value of the property, aka by getting a higher rent from a tenant who’s willing to pay more to get a nicer property, then what’s the incentive?” Jacka said.
Food insecurity page 1
Photo courtesy of Hana Maruyama (right) and Noah Maruyama (left), the hosts and producers of the Campu Podcast.
opportunity to plan ahead and avoid any expensive surprises waiting for them at the end of the month. Rodriguez, a renter with Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia — one of the organizations promoting the ordinance — said recent rent increases have put a strain on her family. Rodriguez declined to give her first name for fear of retribution from her landlord.
Daily Review Monday, February 22, 2021 Vol. 121 No.9 An Independent Student Newspaper, Founded in 1900. 2221 University Ave. SE, Suite 450, Minneapolis, MN 55414 Phone: (612) 627-4080 Fax: (612) 435-5865 Copyright © 2020 The Minnesota Daily. This newspaper, its design and its contents are copyrighted. OFFICE OF THE PUBLISHER DYLAN MIETTINEN Editor-in-Chief eic@mndaily.com 612-435-1575 Tiffany Welty Business Operations Officer twelty@mndaily.com (612)-435-2748 Charlie Weaver General Manager gm@mndaily.com (612)-435-5657 EDITORIAL STAFF Tiffany Bui Managing Editor tbui@mndaily.com Creston Halstead Managing Production Editor chalstead@mndaily.com Farrah Mina Campus Activities Editor fmina@mndaily.com Niamh Coomey Campus Administration Editor ncoomey@mndaily.com J.D. Duggan City Editor jduggan@mndaily.com Nolan O’Hara Sports Editor nohara@mndaily.com Sammy Caldwell Opinions Editor scaldwell@mndaily.com Alex Strangman A&E Editor astrngman@mndaily.com Emily Urfer Multimedia Editor eurfer@mndaily.com Jonas Dominguez Copy Desk Chief jdominguez@mndaily.com Elana Warren Assistant Copy Desk Chief ewarren@mndaily.com Mary Ellen Ritter Visuals Editor mritter@mndaily.com =
=
BUSINESS Nathan Bidinger Sales Manager nbidinger@mndaily.com Jennifer Harley Director of Marketing Strategy jharley@mndaily.com Miranda Hynnek Digital Media Strategist mhynnek@mndaily.com Elissa Keane Controller ekeane@mndaily.com =
=
The Minnesota Daily strives for complete accuracy and corrects its errors immediately. Corrections and clarifications will always be printed in this space. If you believe the Daily has printed a factual error, please call the readers’ representative at (612) 627–4070, extension 3057, or email errors@mndaily.com immediately. The Minnesota Daily is a legally independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and is a student-written and studentmanaged newspaper for the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. The Daily’s mission is: 1) to provide coverage of news and events affecting the University community; 2) to provide a forum for the communication and exchange of ideas for the University community; 3) to provide educational training and experience to University students in all areas of newspaper operations; and 4) to operate a fiscally responsible organization to ensure its ability to serve the University in the future. The Daily is a member of the Minnesota News Council, the Minnesota Associated Press, the Associated Collegiate Press, The Minnesota Newspaper Association and other organizations. The Daily is published every other Monday during the regular school year. All Minnesota Daily inserts are recyclable within the University of Minnesota program and are at least 6 percent consumer waste. U.S. Postal Service: 351–480.
3 Monday, February 22, 2021
UMN COVID-19 vaccine team administers 2,000 first doses Healthcare workers are receiving the vaccine.
By Srilekha Garishakurti sgarishakurti@mndaily.com In compliance with regulations from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the University of Minnesota has been administering the Moderna and PfizerBioNTech vaccines to healthcare workers, COVID-19 researchers and testing personnel since January. Through the University’s vaccine program, about 2,000 first doses have been administered on the Twin Cities, Duluth and Rochester campuses since the University held its first clinic on Jan. 11, Caitlin Hurley, a University spokesperson, said in an email. The University’s COVID-19 vaccination team consists of the Health Emergency Response Office (HERO), Boynton Health and the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) that aid in distributing and administering the vaccine as well as disseminating public health information to the public. “We’re currently in a mode where demand is exceeding supply, but as soon as we get more, the state
Photo courtesy of Boynton Health. expects us to use the vaccine within 72 hours, so that helps us expand who we can vaccinate,” said Dave Golden, director of public health and communications at Boynton. The University is not lacking the number of staff to administer the vaccine, but is lacking the number of vaccines available, Golden said. At the University, licensed professionals, like physicians and nurses, have been administering the vaccine. Nursing, pharmacy and medical students are also learning how to administer COVID-19 vaccines and tests, said Dr. Rebecca Wurtz, member of the MRC and associate professor in the School of Public Health. The COVID-19 vaccination team sends out virtual invites to priority groups, who then sign up for slots, Golden said. The team continues to invite people in groups till the
slots are filled. “We request doses and we are given doses and we’re told who we can use them for. We have no ability to be flexible in how much we receive and who we can give it to. I think there is confusion about that,” said Jill DeBoer, director of HERO. Vaccines are expected to be available to the general public in April, May or June, as they become more widely available. According to DeBoer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention develops guidelines that are given to each state. The corresponding health departments then decide their vaccination distribution system and the priority groups for receiving the vaccine. Minnesota is currently in Phase 1a of its vaccine distribution approach, meaning the first group of priority doses are given
to those that work in healthcare settings. These groups include anyone working in healthcare, direct patient care, people working in COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites, researchers who work directly with the virus, as well as residents and personnel of long-term care facilities. Next, the state plans to administer vaccines to prekindergarten through grade 12 educators, staff, and child care workers. Then, the vaccine will be administered by age, starting with people 65 and older. The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting Black, Indigenous and people of color at disproportionately high rates. “I think right now we’ve made a process of signing up for a vaccine that definitely disadvantages people of color and people who work out of the house for a living,” Wurtz said. According to Wurtz, the vaccine is being distributed by a variety of subcontractors depending on the state. “People who work (or who are being helped by people who work--such as younger people helping elderly parents) don’t have time to address all of these complicated directions. As far as I can tell, the instructions on the MDH website are only in English,”
Wurtz said in an email. She said she hopes the University is able to overcome these barriers. Scott Smith, communications specialist at MDH, said the ability to have in-person graduation will depend on what spring COVID-19 transmissions will look like. Smith said it is too soon to determine this, especially with more contagious variant strains being identified in Minnesota. The campus community needs to be even more careful than before, Wurtz said. “With the new variant, the vaccine is such a great light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a long tunnel and students did so well in the fall with the masking and the physical distancing, they just have to continue,” DeBoer said. According to Smith, students on college campuses are further down the line to get vaccines but colleges are in the process of sharing ideas on how to make vaccinations efficient, so that when a vaccine is available, they are able to support the campus community. “It’s a hard time for everybody, they’re anxious, they’re a little scared, but we are doing the best we can as are all the public health officials in our state,” DeBoer said.
‘Disorders of disconnect’: How the pandemic affects students with eating disorders The pandemic has intensified challenges for students. By Izzy Teitelbaum iteitelbaum@mndaily.com Jossy Miller said she was managing her eating disorder well until the pandemic started. “Losing weight and food was my coping skill for handling everything going on in the world and everything going on in my life,” the third-year University of Minnesota student said. Miller has been on leave from the University since October. She said the pandemic made it easier to get away with not eating, as she was not seeing her friends and family as frequently. By the time she moved to residential treatment and left her roommates — who she was initially close with — she was not speaking with them, largely because of her eating disorder. A majority of the people she has talked to at Melrose Center, an eating disorder treatment clinic in the Twin Cities area, attribute the worsening of their eating disorders to the pandemic, she said. There has been an increase in disordered eating among those with a history and those with active eating disorders during the pandemic, according to Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences professor Dr. Emily Pisetsky. There are many intersections between food and social interactions; so if someone is avoiding food, they can end up isolating themselves, she said. Eating disorders are described as “disorders of disconnect,” said Tamara Pryor, EDCare executive director of clinical and research, in an email to the Minnesota Daily. Virtual classes alongside the added stress of the pandemic have created a greater sense of disconnect for students with eating disorders, she
said. EDCare, a program with multiple eating disorder treatment centers, has observed that the overwhelming navigation of new experiences in college can cause people to turn to food, or away from it, to temporarily distract from uncomfortable emotions. While eating disorders can develop at any age, they develop with a greater frequency between the ages of 18 and 21, Pryor said in the email. Zoom classes, Zoom meals Quarantine diets became a widespread trend during the pandemic. This caused some people with eating disorders to personalize comments about weight gain as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and start to worry that it is a problem for them, according to Melrose Clinical Director Dr. Heather Gallivan. When University students are struggling with an eating disorder, Boynton typically refers them to Melrose. Anna Enfield, a fourthyear student, said she felt especially targeted when TikTok’s algorithm tailored her suggested videos to consist primarily of titles like “how to lose that quarantine weight” and “how to stay healthy after the holidays.” She said she gets those types of suggested videos less now and attempts to block them out when they appear on her feed. Enfield said her eating disorder got serious last spring. Attempting to balance eight hours of daily treatment with school work affected her grades; thinking about food takes up a lot of brain space, and it is easy to rationalize that a grade is not as important as looking a certain way, so she focused on not eating, she said. Those with eating disorders often report spending 80%-90% of their day thinking about food or their body, Gallivan said. For inpatient programs
such as those at Melrose, patients who are in college are advised to put all of their focus into their treatment. When Miller started inpatient treatment, she dropped her classes. She plans to start taking classes again this summer. Melrose counselors suggested Enfield eat meals over Zoom with family and friends to help her engage in social eating. “It doesn’t help — it didn’t help me at least. I know a lot of people it did help,” she said. “But for me, it just turned into me watching myself eat and being very critical of that.” With almost all mental health services and universities doing some — if not all — counseling or therapy sessions virtually, students can spend a lot of time staring at themselves in a little box on their screens. It is never a flattering light, Enfield said. However, because Zoom only shows faces, many people with eating disorders spend less time worrying about the public seeing their bodies every day, Pisetsky said. As a provider, Gallivan said one drawback of virtual sessions is that she loses out on observations and nonverbal cues. Lucy Murphy, a fourth-year student at the University, said she realized she was using the pandemic as an excuse to avoid getting groceries. She was referred to Melrose this past May after a doctor’s visit to Boynton. The entirety of her eating disorder treatment has been taking place during the pandemic. Murphy mentioned her eating disorder as a concern to a counselor at Boynton two years ago, but it was not seen as a prevalent enough concern at the time to refer her to outside help. Her eating disorder intensified during the pandemic, she said. For out-of-state students like Murphy, roommates or partners can provide a social environment and support system. Those who are not close with their
Illustration by Mary Ellen Ritter roommates, or do not have any, might not participate in social eating or other social activities. This can allow eating disorders to fly under the radar, Pisetsky said. As a nursing student, Murphy has a busy schedule, which made managing an eating schedule more difficult. “This past semester came in like a freight train. Going through an eating disorder during that time was really, really difficult because my schoolwork definitely suffered,” she said. “I wasn’t eating enough, and there wasn’t a ton of support in the program for it, except like, ‘You just need to get over it and get back into the game.’” Coping using sociallydistanced strategies For some, staying at home during the pandemic has helped them manage their eating disorders. When fourth-year student Dara McCluskey went home after her first year at the University, her parents discovered how much weight she had lost. After that, she started receiving treatment until last summer when she had to leave Melrose. McCluskey has not received any treatment during the pandemic but said she has plans to make an appointment soon. Before the pandemic, spending all day on campus allowed McCluskey to rationalize not eating during the day for lack of access to food. She said staying home has helped
her manage her eating disorder by eliminating excuses to avoid eating. It has also improved her mental health and allowed her to concentrate better on schoolwork, she said. For patients at Melrose, families and visitors are currently not allowed into the clinic. Melrose operates as a congregate living space where people are encouraged to get out of their rooms and participate in social activities such as yoga, skills sessions and counseling appointments. Creative outlets can be a way to help improve mental health during the pandemic, Pisetsky said. Third-year student Kai Kelley said cooking has become very important to his mental health during the pandemic. Being able to cook for himself and knowing what he is putting in his body has helped him maintain healthy eating habits. Another creative outlet has been Kelley’s participation in his roommate’s photography. It allows him to utilize his own love of fashion and for positive images of himself to be featured in the photos, he said. “It’s basically exposure therapy, which is good in itself but also very challenging,” he said. During the pandemic, many people have taken on creative methods for coping with their eating disorders. There are Instagram and Facebook groups for people See DISCONNECT Page 4
Daily Review
4 Monday, February 22, 2021
Disconnect page 3 to interact with or do supported eating times over Zoom, Pisetsky said. Not just a “white women disorder” “[Eating disorders] really don’t discriminate; they can affect everybody,” Pisetsky said. “But it’s so ingrained in our culture that it’s an affluent, white woman disorder.” Misconceptions about eating disorders can lead to fewer diagnoses, treatment options and pathways to getting help, Chelsea Kronengold, National Eating Disorders Association’s communications manager, said in an email to the Daily.
It is important to challenge systemic biases and share stories from all backgrounds in a field where marginalized communities continue to be underrepresented, Kronengold said. The demographics of those seeking treatment are slowly shifting, Gallivan said. Melrose has seen an increase in patients from a Somali background. Melrose dieticians go to a nearby Somali market to ensure there is access to food that is palatable to their patients. EDCare has a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee in place to ensure clinicians are continuously being educated to provide
support for people from all identities that seek treatment, committee member Grace Filiss said in an email to the Daily. While telehealth sessions are easier for some people, many lack adequate technology, WiFi access or a private space to do virtual sessions. “We have seen patients resort to signing into treatment from their cars, parks and other unique locations to gain privacy for their treatment process,” Filiss said in the email. There can be many barriers for individuals seeking treatment. Not everyone who has an eating disorder ends up at a clinic for a number of reasons:
the stigmas around eating disorders, not having resources, a distrust of the medical field’s treatment of ethnic minorities or not having time. Black people, Indigenous people and people of color are half as likely as white people are to be diagnosed with an eating disorder or receive treatment, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. In addition, Asian American college students report higher levels of body dissatisfaction than their peers report. “When we look at the intersections of identity, acknowledging the whole person, they are more
likely to achieve recovery,” Filiss said in the email. The epidemiological studies used to identify eating disorders ask questions focused on “ideal” body types women primarily identify with, Pisetsky said. There can be cultural shame surrounding eating disorders for men and people of color. Melrose does outreach with various groups, such as its yearly presence at Twin Cities Pride, to raise awareness and educate groups on identifying and treating eating disorders. The Emily Program, a national eating disorder treatment program with locations in Minnesota, works to inform healthcare
providers and schools about how to identify and treat eating disorders. Outreach usually takes place in communities, but the program is unable to do a lot within outside communities right now due to COVID-19 safety concerns, Dr. Scott Crow, The Emily Program’s chief research officer and psychiatry professor at the University, said. Recently, The Emily Program has mostly observed people who previously had symptoms of an eating disorder that were worsened by the pandemic. However, Crow is convinced that they have not yet seen the full impact of the pandemic on eating disorders.
Professor paid over $190,000 after resignation
The amount paid covered severance pay and more.
By Tiffany Bui tbui@mndaily.com After James Ron resigned from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, where he was disciplined for sexual harassment, the University of Minnesota paid the former professor over $190,000. The details of the payment were released in a settlement agreement between the University and Ron, as first reported on by the Pioneer Press. The amount covers Ron’s
severance pay, insurance premiums and attorney fees. The agreement also outlined how the Humphrey School could communicate news of Ron’s resignation to students and faculty.
Illustration by Sarah Mai Humphrey School Dean Laura Bloomberg placed Ron and another professor, Jason Cao, on unpaid leave in 2019 after a University investigation found they had violated policies against sexual misconduct.
A former graduate student of Ron’s described how he made inappropriate comments to her, such as talking about how difficult it was for him to have sex with a woman who was not his wife. Then, Ron told the student that if she was single, he would have asked her out, spurring her to file a formal complaint with the University’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA). Citing the stress of the experience, the student left the Humphrey School without completing her master’s degree in human rights. After news of the sexual harassment allegations, three more complaints were filed against Ron.
All cases have since been closed, finding that Ron was not “responsible” for any University policy violations, per the settlement agreement. “Nonetheless, the controversy and concerns arising from the matter have made it difficult for [Ron] to continue to effectively perform [his] University duties, and for the Humphrey School to move forward in pursuing its mission,” the settlement reads. “The parties agree that it is in their best interests for [Ron] to leave the University.” Ron resigned from the Humphrey School in July 2020, and Bloomberg notified students through
a schoolwide email — a specific condition in the agreement, which also stated that the school could not post any statements about Ron’s departure on the University website. In the email, Bloomberg called Ron an “accomplished scholar“ who contributed “substantially” to the school’s global policy classes and research agenda, a comment which drew criticism from some student activists who demanded the Humprhey administration be more proactive in addressing students’ sexual misconduct allegations. Ron’s salary was $166,884 in 2019, according to University payroll data.
Collaboration with Afghan colleges to focus on health sciences education The University will work with others for a fiveyear period. By Abbey Machtig amachtig@mndaily.com The University of Minnesota recently entered a partnership designed to further advance health sciences higher education and strengthen the healthcare workforce in Afghanistan over a five-year period. The program, Advancing Higher Education for Afghanistan’s Development (AHEAD), will work to combat the limited access to higher education caused by ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. Supported by a $4 million contract from the United States Agency for International Development, the University will work to develop curricula, improve research capacities and train faculty and students in the health sciences at seven colleges in the country. This new contract builds
on past collaborations between the University and colleges in Afghanistan. The work on this project is ongoing and will likely extend beyond the five year period outlined in the partnership, said Dr. Carolyn Porta, a University professor of nursing and principal investigator on AHEAD. “Money and human resources have been invested for many years in Afghanistan [since the Taliban fell in 2001.] Despite ongoing violence and insecurity, there is global commitment to supporting economic development and the higher education system because it is the higher education system in Afghanistan that is contributing to future generations of the Afghan workforce,” Porta said. The University, selected by the Afghanistan government for its experience and success in the health sciences field, will specifically work to further higher education in disciplines like nursing, pharmacology and medicine. Due to ongoing conflict in
the country, access to higher education in these areas has decreased, especially for women and populations that have historically not had access, said Dr. Stephen Wiesner, a University professor of medical laboratory sciences and collaborator on the project. This limited access to higher education then decreases the number of workers in healthcare industries, Wiesner said. “During some periods of time, the government was openly hostile to education. That has really had a tremendous impact on the ability for t hem to provide qualified, educated people that will contribute to the health of the nation’s population,” Wiesner said. The collaboration will help to enhance skills and techniques needed for hospital-based medical education, said Dr. Karimullah Shahpar, dean of Allied Health Sciences Faculty at the Kabul University of Medical Sciences in an email to the Minnesota Daily. Currently, some
Photo courtesy of Carolyn Porta, a University professor. individuals living in Afghanistan with complicated medical cases travel to neighboring countries like Iran, Pakistan and India to receive treatment. This costs millions of dollars and negatively impacts Afghanistan’s medical industry, Shahpar said. “Through this partnership, if doctors, laboratory technicians, anesthetists, nurses and midwives are able to apply new and modern procedures, the number of patients who have to go to nearby countries for
curative purposes would be decreased and their income would not be spent in medical tourism,” he said in the email. Faculty like Porta and Wiesner will collaborate with the universities in Afghanistan to develop curricula and create research opportunities through specialized training sessions and meetings. “We dig into the content of each of the courses to make sure what is being taught is relevant, and that there are no gaps or missing subjects,” Wiesner said. “It’s really a challenge
in health sciences because new things are happening every day and new things are happening far more rapidly than current practice is evolving.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing violence in Afghanistan, faculty from the University are not planning on traveling to Afghanistan in the near future, Wiesner said. In the past, project leaders have met in India to work on the project in real-time. The partnership will also work to address the barriers some students face in entering into higher education through looking at institutional policies and how access can be improved, Porta said. “I don’t pretend to think that we are coming in to help solve a barrier problem that’s been around for maybe 20, 30, 50 or 1,000 years,” Porta said. “As a partner, I’m super interested in asking the question of, ‘What are you trying to accomplish and how can we come alongside to help you in that journey?’”
Regents discuss how to assess their internal culture and efficiency The Board of Regents considered a self-evaluation. By Abbey Machtig amachtig@mndaily.com The University of Minnesota Board of Regents discussed ways to assess their internal culture and practices during their Feb. 12 meeting. The process could involve hiring an external consultant or surveying regents to evaluate the board’s effectiveness. The board could also appoint someone to interview faculty and administrators to determine their relationship with the board. Regents voiced mixed feelings about the evaluation, including support as well as concerns about privacy. “Well- designed assessments really help provide a snapshot of how
The Board of Regents convene on Friday, Sep. 14, 2018. (Jack Rodgers / Minnesota Daily) well the governing board between the regents. The because no one wants to be is functioning. It provides board discussed but decided honest about our mistakes. a common understanding against conducting an You know, one of the big and language that will assessment in 2017. mistakes this past year was allow the group to have Regent Michael Hsu said when the pandemic started conversations that maybe that he would support an and we had the refund sometimes are difficult assessment of the regents, issue,” Hsu said. “We did or awkward,” board particularly to address what correct it finally, but it was executive director Brian he sees as recent shortfalls a completely self-inflicted Steeves said during the of the board, such as initially wound, and we did damage February meeting. choosing not to fully refund to ourselves.” There have been past room and board costs to During the February evaluations of the board, students when many had meeting, Steeves including a survey in to leave residence halls emphasized that the 2014. In 2015, the board following the beginning of assessment would not be held individual meetings the pandemic. aimed at placing blame on between regents and an “We don’t try to learn any of the regents. outside consultant to discuss from our mistakes, and “If you’re trying to the strength of relationships that’s, I think, a problem use an assessment to
address problems between individual board members or it’s being used to try and place blame for an outcome that maybe certain members didn’t like or as some kind of a quick fix,” Steeves said. “Assessments don’t tend to be helpful in that space and, like I say, can actually be more harmful than good, because in some cases they can be viewed as a kind of a weapon.” Steeves said that a minority of public universities and colleges regularly assess their governing boards. Public-facing boards can face multiple difficulties when creating evaluations for themselves, including timing the assessment with when members are elected. Due to the schedule of regent elections, one-third of the board could be replaced every two years. It can be difficult to create an assessment with a new
board, or regents who might leave the University in the coming months, Steeves said. Another difficulty that public institutions face when they attempt assessments is “sunshine” laws that require meetings to be held publicly, Steeves said. These laws can make it difficult for board members to be open with feedback they have for other regents in fear they might not be able to remain anonymous. Multiple regents voiced support for the potential evaluation but expressed concern about the privacy of their feedback. “Even in private boards and corporate boards, you know, assessment can give rise to, you know, quite frankly very mixed feelings among board members,” Regent Kendall Powell said during the February meeting. “I think, you know, board members worry about confidentiality.”
5 Monday, February 22, 2021
BOOKS
Memoir recounts brain cancer battle
A UMN grad, physician and author released “Difficult Gifts.” By Frankie Carlson fcarlson@mndaily.com
“My simple advice is this. Plan a little, but don’t plan too much. This exact moment is the only moment you’re absolutely guaranteed to have. Look around — see how beautiful it is?” That is one of the profound quotes from University of Minnesota graduate and Internal Medicine Chief Resident Courtney Burnett in her upcoming memoir “Difficult Gifts: A Physician’s Journey to Heal Body and Mind.” A first-time author, Burnett delves into the perils and silver linings of her recent battle with brain cancer. The book, set to release Feb. 8, is an intimate and vulnerable telling of Burnett’s path from physician to patient, from fear to courage and pain to positivity. A friend and colleague of Burnett’s, Dr. Reut Danieli admires Burnett’s resilience and courage in the face of her life-threatening illness. “Her tenacity comes from this natural fight
inside of her that will always fight for others before she fights for herself,” Danieli said. “She took such a horrible situation in her life, and not only improved her own life by finding this purpose but also strives to make other people’s lives better.” Burnett first learned of her malignant brain tumor through a self-diagnosis nearly one year ago. While in the third year of her internal medicine residency, Burnett spent the start of 2020 studying Eastern and complementary medicine in Thailand. It was there where she first began to experience abnormal neurological symptoms. Burnett, in her words, “put on her doctor hat” and evaluated her symptoms as if consulting a patient. Upon realizing that what she was experiencing were potentially focal seizures, she rushed immediately to a Thai neurology clinic for an MRI scan. “As weird as it sounds, when I saw that scan, I was in full-doctor mode,” Burnett said. “All I could think was, ‘Oh, you know, shoot, I’m gonna have to tell this patient some really bad news because this person has a giant brain tumor.’ And it took me a
Physician and author Courtney Burnett poses with her memoir “Difficult Gifts” in her home in St. Paul on Friday, Feb. 5. In the memoir, to be released on Feb. 8, Burnett describes searching for happiness when she unexpectedly finds herself diagnosed with a malignant brain cancer. (Shannon Doyle / Minnesota Daily) few minutes to actually realize it was me.” Burnett immediately returned to Minnesota to undergo her first brain surgery and biopsy. Six weeks of radiation therapy, six months of chemotherapy and a second intensive brain surgery later, Burnett’s cancer is currently stable. She has been able to finish her residency, as well as her memoir. Burnett cites the beginning of her work on “Difficult Gifts” during her time in Thailand, where she began a blog and documenting her
experiences. With no cell phone service, she started the blog to keep family and friends updated. Her blog soon began to grow in popularity and gain an unexpected following. Readers wrote back, showing their appreciation for Burnett’s vulnerability and relatability, even to those having no experience with cancer. Victoria Petelin, publishing project manager for “Difficult Gifts,” remarked on Burnett’s writing talents and work ethic during her time writing and editing her
memoir. “I would say that Courtney is a very straightforward person; she’s very pragmatic,” Petelin said. “She’s a very quick learner. We often say that publishing a book is like launching a small business, and throughout the entire way, she was scrappy and motivated and engaged.” Burnett’s close friend Marisa Feld echoed this respect for Burnett’s drive and commitment in her work and treatment. “I don’t know when she sleeps,” Feld said. “She was doing her residency,
she was dealing with her diagnosis, she was writing the blog and then writing a book. She is definitely very ambitious and driven.” Along with her memoir, Burnett shared her story through various speaking engagements with brain cancer support groups, hospitals, and various other support networks. She has decided to donate 10% of the book’s profits to brain tumor research and patient care networks. Looking forward, Burnett plans to finish her chief residency at the University of Minnesota this June and begin work as a primary care physician. She continues to write her blog and hopes to publish more pieces in the future. “I just want to share my story in the hopes that it will help people who are either coping with cancer or just honestly coping with any sort of unexpected challenge that life has thrown at them,” Burnett said. “The biggest takeaway that I hope people get is that suffering is really a universal concept. We all experience it differently, but I think that suffering is a part of life, and despite that, we can find happiness. Happiness is the key.”
CULTURE
Annual Tết Show hits virtual stage VSAM honored the Lunar New Year with a variety show. By Nina Raemont nraemont@mndaily.com The annual event that packs the Northrop Auditorium and celebrates the Vietnamese New Year through songs, skits and dance looked a little different this year. Tết Show, a celebration of the Lunar New Year, or Tết Nguyên Đán, was held on Feb. 20, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Instead of an in-person experience, it was a virtual event where attendees could watch at home. The show, orchestrated by the Vietnamese
Student Association of Minnesota (VSAM), showcased modern and traditional dances, songs, skits, a fashion show and a raffle. Though the three-hour event was live on Zoom, it is available on Youtube afterward to watch at your leisure. This year, the show included subtitles in both English and Vietnamese. Amid such a crazy year, when time feels stagnant, VSAM decided to make the theme of the show “Moments in Time.” “We wanted to kind of look at all of the times that we have with our friends, family and with each other in the past and kind of bring that to the forefront,” Sara Ho, head coordinator of Tết Show,
Illustration by Mary Ellen Ritter said. The skits play into this theme, accompanied by songs and traditional and modern dances. Mandy Lu, a dancer for this year’s show, saw the performance last year and knew this was something she wanted to be a part of when she came to the University. Tune in and you’ll see the
rice hat dances, the paper umbrella dance and fan dances that are an integral part of Vietnamese culture. Even on Zoom, the event’s hallmarks – the celebratory lion dance and the student-run fashion show – remain. Tết is not just for University students to attend,
Ho said. She remembers all her loved ones and community members in attendance at past shows, packed into the seats of Northrop. To be up on stage, sharing culture with the diverse crowd of students and families — “It’s a great feeling,” Ho said. To VSAM members, Tết is a time of family, celebration and food. During the celebration of the Lunar New Year, people eat bánh tét — sticky rice, pork belly and mung bean wrapped in a banana peel. Children go around wishing their elders fortune, happiness, luck and health as they give out red envelopes, or lì xì, with money in them. With the money they receive, they’ll play bầu cua tôm cá, a Vietnamese
dice game. “Growing up, I remember Tết being so meaningful to me because it was the one holiday of the year that I personally identified with my culture and ethnicity,” Emily Nguyen, skit and performance coordinator said. Of course, Nguyen elaborated, she looked forward to Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving as well, but nothing compared to Tết. “I especially look forward to Tết because it is the time where I can celebrate Vietnamese history and tradition. I feel so much pride in my Vietnamese identity when I get to share a part of it, especially with something as big and fun as Tết.”
ARTS
UMN Medical School promotes storytelling through medicine with new arts initiative The Medical School launched Center for the Art of Medicine. By Frankie Carlson fcarlson@mndaily.com “Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.” This quote, credited to ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, embodies the University of Minnesota Medical School’s latest programs. The recently launched Center for the Art of Medicine (CFAM) is an initiative within the University’s Medical School to promote storytelling within medicine and a more holistic curriculum and experience for medical students, residents and faculty alike. Dr. Maren Olson, associate director for CFAM and pediatric hospitalist for Children’s Minnesota,
described the importance of medical education, focusing not only on the science of medicine but the art of medicine as well. “I think there is more and more evidence that intentionally incorporating arts and humanities into medical education makes people better doctors,” Olson said. “We know that storytelling builds empathy and hearing stories builds empathy.” Fellow associate director and pediatric hospitalist Dr. Ben Trappey echoed these sentiments. “Humans aren’t purely scientific creatures, you know; the arts are built into humanity,” Trappey said. “It’s a detriment to science and to medicine to neglect that part of who we are as people, I think.” While the pandemic has delayed the initial March 2020 launch date, the directors at CFAM opened their metaphorical doors this
past fall. The idea for the center came from Dr. Jakub Tolar, dean of the University’s Medical School. In 2019, Tolar and CFAM director and medical director of Mill City Clinic, Dr. Jon Hallberg, began making plans to take the existing humanities-based projects within the Medical School and the new innovative programs under one roof. Along with arts and humanities in the curriculum, the Center for the Art of Medicine has seven primary projects. While work on some of these projects has been allowed to continue, others remain on hold due to COVID-19 restrictions. Projects like “Music in the Clinics” are currently unable to take place, while other work and events such as the “Hippocrates Cafe” have been able to pivot and continue. “Hippocrates Cafe” is a decade-long tra-
dition that operates as a live variety show where performers explore healthcare topics through art. Recently, a live recording of “Hippocrates Cafe” took place in partnership with Twin Cities PBS. The center has hosted two virtual “story slams” since the beginning of the pandemic, where healthcare workers and medical students shared their experiences on a variety of issues. “We ended up getting this really powerful mix of stories of people’s experience with the COVID pandemic and then people’s experience with the pandemic of racism and racial injustice, and so we had this great virtual space for people to gather and process some really challenging experiences,” Olson said. There are currently no plans to establish a physical space for the Center for the Art of Medicine; however,
Illustration by Mary Ellen Ritter
the directors hope to continue expanding. Hannah Michelson, marketing manager for CFAM, hopes to see a continued dialogue and partnership with local artists and creators in the Twin Cities. “I really like the connections we’re able to build with artists in our community throughout the whole pandemic and being able to work with them more fully to find ways to get our physicians and our healthcare providers outlets that they need to be their best selves [in order] to combat that physician burnout that we know is so real,” Michelson said.
Hallberg hopes to continue the work of providing platforms for healthcare voices in the community. “In 2-3 years I’d like to see CFAM be at the forefront of medical humanities programs in the country in terms of creative output from medical students, residents, fellows, core faculty and community physicians,” Hallberg said in an email to the Minnesota Daily. “This will occur largely in the form of Story Slam participation, publications in medical and literary journals, Hippocrates Cafe productions, and other forms of creative expression.”
6 Monday, February 22, 2021
TELEVISION
Let’s talk about the Golden Globes UMN actors and professors talk snubs as well as representation.
By Nina Raemont nraemont@mndaily.com Everyone has their own opinion on what constitutes “good art,” but most people know bad art when they see it. So it came as no surprise that critics and artists were especially angered when “Emily in Paris” was nominated for two Golden Globe awards when other, more representative works were snubbed. The nominations stirred the age-old conversation about recognition and representation in the entertainment industry. Wariboko Semenitari, a third-year BFA acting major at the University of Minnesota, is not watching the Golden Globes this year. Semenitari was upset to find out that “I May Destroy You,” a show written, directed, produced
and acted by Black artist Michaela Coel, was snubbed for nominations, while “Emily in Paris,” the light-hearted Netflix series, received two. To Semenitari, Coel’s series captured a perspective of Blackness unseen by audiences before. “Frankly, when people think of Blackness on television and films, they only think of Blackness on an African American scale. For the first time, we’re looking at a show that celebrates Black British culture, and shows the parallels across different identities,” Semenitari said. Coel’s snub is one of the many choices the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) made that displays the entertainment industry’s recognition inequities. For example, the Best Motion Picture in Drama and Musical or Comedy category features no work from Black creatives even though many notable works centering Black actors and writers premiered
Illustration by Mary Ellen Ritter
this year. Semenitari mentioned that Zendaya wasn’t recognized for her performance in “Euphoria,” nor was Noma Dumezweni in “The Undoing” while her white counterpart, Nicole Kidman, was. “You’re having all this work cut out for award shows, and they’re not giving people their flowers and their dues,” Semenitari said. “Hollywood pays lip service to its diversity work when it suits them, but seems to have a problem putting its money where its mouth is. ‘Da 5 Bloods,’ ‘Judas and the Black Messiah,’ ‘Ma Rainey’s Black
Bottom,’ ‘Sylvie’s Love,’ ‘Miss Juneteenth,’ ‘One Night in Miami,’ ‘The Forty-Year-Old Version’ — I’m not saying all of these films should have been nominated, but not one? That’s ridiculous,” said Maggie Hennefeld, associate professor of cultural studies and comparative literature. “Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung’s drama about a Korean family’s migration and cultural adaptation was nominated in the Foreign Language category due to a divisive HFPA rule. Because the majority of “Minari’s” dialogue is in Korean, it was ineligible
to be nominated for Best Drama. Keya Ganguly, professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature believes the choice to nominate “Emily in Paris” over other works was due to the show’s escapist and palatable qualities that entice the masses. “‘Emily in Paris’ was a pretty ridiculous show; but any show set in Paris is likely to be received well, not only by audiences but also by selection committees,” Ganguly said. Ganguly noted that the HFPA is made up of foreign media persons who are based in the United States. “The focus on Blackness, while certainly important in the context of U.S. history and culture, was evidently not as critical to the HFPA.” The show was set in the world’s biggest tourism destination and pairs fashionable clothes with shots of Parisian food. Of course it would get nominated. “This is not a surprise because we know that mass entertainment is
primarily geared towards profit and escapism,” Ganguly said. Isabel Lee Roden, a second-year BFA acting major is never shocked by the under-representation in award shows, but they’re always disappointed. “We want to be able to tell stories that aren’t just pleasing to white audiences. A lot of times when creators of color want to produce their work like there’s this idea that it has to appeal to everybody: It has to appeal to white people, but also white people have to like it if you want to be successful. At the end of the day, that shouldn’t have to be the case,” they said. Roden also alluded to the progressive cloak the entertainment industry wears that absolves it from real representation in art. “We’re only as progressive as the actual action we’re taking rather than just letting ourselves off the hook and being like, ‘We’re artists — we’re progressive by nature,’” Roden said.
LITERATURE
University professors prepare for spring book releases Books include poetry, historical nonfiction and personal essays. By Megan Phillips[ mphillips@mndaily.com As the pandemic drags on, do you find yourself craving new ways to pass the time? Are you sick of watching the same shows, reading the same books and refreshing the same social media apps over and over? Well, you’re in luck. Several University of Minnesota professors are releasing new books sure to satiate your hunger for new content. The first book release is “The Witch of Eye” by Kathryn Nuernberger, an assistant professor of creative writing who primarily writes poetry and creative nonfiction. “The Witch of Eye” examines instances of defiance and resistance from people who have been accused of witchcraft throughout history, with each chapter
focusing on a different accused person, Nuernberger said. These people include healers, midwives, widows, women who owned property and anyone else who broke cultural norms. The book also features personal essays where Nuernberger reflects on how the witch trials affect her own life and power dynamics present today. “We’re living in a world that was in part created by the witch trials and their legacies,” Nuernberger said. “The Witch of Eye” was released on Feb. 16. The second release is “One Summer Evening at the Falls” by Peter Campion, an associate professor of creative writing who focuses on poetry and the visual arts. “One Summer Evening at the Falls” is a poetry collection based somewhat on Minnehaha Falls and the summers Campion spent taking walks around the Falls. According to Campion,
“The Falls” refers to two different things: First, “a kind of ordinary romantic place that people would want to go on a Friday night,” and second, “figuratively, like a fall — the fall of man, the fall from the garden,” Campion said. The poems include a primary speaker, but some feature other voices layered on top and overheard conversations alongside translations of ancient poetry. “One Summer Evening at the Falls” is set to release in March. The third release is “Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s ‘Girl Stunt Reporters’” by Kim Todd, an associate professor of creative writing who writes literary nonfiction and science and environment writing. “Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s ‘Girl Stunt Reporters’” explores the work of female investigative journalists such as Nellie Bly and their role in opening the door to more innovative journalism
by women. According to Todd, these “girl stunt reporters” went undercover to report how women were being treated at the end of the 19th century and were well paid, sometimes even better paid than their male peers. They rarely received credit for their work, however, including paving the way for other journalists such as Upton Sinclair and Tom Wolfe, who are more broadly recognized, Todd said. The book seeks to give these female journalists the credit they deserve. “The smallest open door can really have huge effects,” said Todd. “Both on individual people’s lives and on a culture.” “Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s ‘Girl Stunt Reporters’” will be released in April. The last book release is “Sho” by Douglas Kearney, an assistant professor of creative writing who produces writing of performance, poetry and nonfiction. “Sho” is a poetry
Books fill the shelves in the Coffman bookstore on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Some professors at the University, such as Douglas Kearney, an English professor and poet, are releasing books this spring. (Parker Johnson / Minnesota Daily) collection about “understanding something that I’ve been grappling with and poking most of my life as a writer,” Kearney said. The poems reflect on the intersection between violence and entertainment, specifically how violence is centered on Black people and used as a source of entertainment. “It’s about what it feels like to be in modes of performance or asked to be things
for other people without necessarily wanting to be those things,” Kearney said. The poetry does not include Kearney’s usual performative typography or visual poems, instead, they feature only one narrator rather than several speakers. “It’s my attempt to make a nice book of poetry,” Kearney said. “Sho” will be released in April.
FASHION
Students debut progessive fashion collections in new exhibit
Apparel design students focus on comfort and sustainability. By Megan Phillips mphillips@mndaily.com
Sustainability, technological advancements and, most importantly, comfort — University of Minnesota students are showcasing their best fashion prototypes as part of a new exhibit. The exhibit, called Breaking Silence: Design in a Changing World, features the work of 12 designers from the University’s Apparel Design Program and will be on display until March 26 at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery located in the Regis Center for Art. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Jahanvi Kamra’s original designs for her collection were made of non-stretchy fabrics, but she switched to knit to make the pieces more comfortable. “More and more people started valuing
comfort,” Kamra said. “Almost just as much or more than they value fashion.” Kamra took comfort one step further by including a variety of adjustable features for height or modesty preferences. The collection, inspired by streetwear clothing, is designed for those who want a “capsule wardrobe” or those that don’t want to buy a different outfit for every occasion. The pieces are easy to mix and match and dress up or down, she said. Wendy Sandoval’s collection was also based around comfort. Her loungewear pieces are made of 100% cotton and hand-dyed knit in hues of orange, tan, green and pink. Her collection is inspired by minimalism and the increasing pressure on the fashion industry to become more sustainable. “We need to move away from a linear economy,” Sandoval said, suggesting we move to a circular economy, where
products are repaired or recycled, rather than thrown away. Lauren Nicol’s minimal yet luxurious collection features a neutral color palette of beige, tan and blush to create a “classic, timeless vibe.” The pieces are menswear-inspired tailored blazers and trousers with feminine lingerie silhouettes, Nicol said. Noah Garon’s collection features evening gowns and a jacket equipped with electronic parts for aesthetic purposes along with medical and safety functions. One gown uses neurolinguistic programming and hypnotherapy to help those with social anxiety disorders or stage fright. Another gown has a remote hidden under the skirt that controls the lights on the accompanying clutch. Not only is this a cool party trick, but it can also serve as communication between the wearer and their friends or partner, indicating medical needs. The jacket has a
Design student Chong Xiong’s collection is on display in the exhibit “Breaking Silence: Design in a Changing World” at the Nash Gallery on Tuesday, Feb. 9. She described her collection as inspired by the colors and textiles of the Flower Hmong Tribe located in Northern Vietnam and by her mother. (Emily Pofahl / Minnesota Daily) distance detector that makes the light and motor on the sleeve cuff vibrate and shine to alert the wearer that someone is getting close to them. Another gown features a flower that rotates at four different speeds — low, medium, high or at the wearer’s heart rate.
The collection emphasizes the need for more “adaptive clothing” or clothing for people with disabilities. Garon said the pieces are meant to be functional but not to highlight the wearer’s disability. “That way, those with a disability don’t feel
ostracized by the community,” Garon said. The gallery is closed to the public but University faculty, staff and students can view the exhibit by making an appointment online. The exhibit is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Editorials & Opinions
7 Monday, February 22, 2021
COLUMN
Cancel student debt, Mr. President Just take the shot already, Joe, and ease the burden on millions of students.
P
resident and the Henry Kueppers columnist original inspiration for Carl Fredricksen from the movie “Up,” Joe Biden, is facing mounting pressure from some elected Democrats to cancel student debt. Biden said time and time again on the campaign trail that he supports canceling up to $10,000 worth of student debt, but now leading Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren argue he should cancel up to $50,000 worth of debt. But Biden is starting to sound a lot like the kid that you’re partnered with on a class project who just agrees with all your ideas and then does no work. Biden continually says he is in support of canceling student debt, … yet here we are. Still in a world with student debt. So, the question on all our minds
is, “What gives, Joe?” Biden has an ample amount of reasons for canceling student debt. For starters, the American people have invested a lot of hope in him following through on his promises. We’re counting on Joe Biden. After the last terrible four years with Trump, we need someone actually capable and able to make smart and beneficial decisions for our country’s citizens. If America was the 1996 family comedy “Matilda,” Trump was the abusive and cruel Miss Trunchbull who force-fed the American people chocolate cake, which makes Joe Biden the wonderful and kind Miss Honey. We’re not asking you to be perfect, Joe. We just want the next four years to be like that one music montage scene in the movie where Matilda and Miss Honey dance around and rollerblade inside the house. So c’mon, Mr. President! Cancel student debt and let us rollerblade inside the house! … I am being notified that my “Matilda” reference may not be as ubiquitous as I thought. Therefore, here are some more “relatable” arguments for canceling student debt, although I struggle to think of what is more relatable than the story of a girl who was able to develop telekinetic powers after obsessively reading. First, Biden holds the power to cancel student debt quickly and easily, something that is virtually unheard of in the government. You see, the president doesn’t actually need to garner judicial approval for canceling student debt. The president could sign an
executive order today and cancel as much student debt as he pleases. It could literally be as simple as the signing of his name on paper and boom! Thousands of students are receiving a huge relief from their financial burdens. However, Biden’s staff has told the press that while he still wants to cancel student debt, he’d rather do it with Congress’ support. So, we know it’s not a matter of actually convincing the president to do this; it’s other politicians. This is where we ask our second question of the day: “What gives, politicians?” Apparently, Republicans and fiscally conservative Democrats (who are Republicans with better skincare routines) argue that canceling student debt wouldn’t stimulate the economy because people would just continue to save the money they’d been putting aside for debt. There is also a raging debate on “what is fair” regarding student debt, which basically questions who should be allowed to receive this cancellation. Like, should a medical student from an Ivy League get the same amount of debt paid off as an English major at a small public college? Although college can be deemed a “universal experience,” in reality, every student that has acquired debt has a different story and background, making the decision process “tricky.” Oh, and then, of course, there are taxes! Because if there’s one thing American politicians love more than making children cry and not doing their jobs, it’s taxes. People say that student loan forgiveness would increase your
taxable income, and that just means that if the government gave us $10,000 for student loan forgiveness, they can actually still tax that. So, you’d end up paying $2,000 of that original $10,000 when tax season comes around. Don’t you just love that? If you ask me, and I’ll speak in a language the president can understand, all of that is just a bunch of malarkey. So what if people have different amounts of debt and different backgrounds? So what if we end up losing a little bit of that money to taxes? I mean, in reality, they should be making these loan forgiveness payments tax-deductible, but I know that might not happen. We live in a capitalist society after all. But, the bottom line is, even a little bit of money could greatly help students in debt right now. And if that’s the case, then why the hesitation? The president has the power to help millions of students and give them a chance not to be indebted for the rest of their lives. This seems like a no-brainer to me, Mr. President. Please forgive student debt and cancel at least some of it. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to ask myself, “What gives, democracy?”
Henry Kueppers welcomes comments at hkueppers@mndaily.com
COLUMN
A rude awakening for the U community The consequences of violating sexual misconduct policy? Returning to work.
Tara Brankin *This column contains columnist information sensitive to some readers. If you or anyone you know is a survivor sexual assault or harassment, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE.
T
his past week, several of the people I follow on Instagram began sharing a link to a post by the account @gspecumn. GSP stands for Gender, Sex and Policy, and the account is run by a student group affiliated with
the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy. The post contained a link to an article by the Star Tribune, and after reading that article, I felt sick to my stomach. On Feb. 5, the Pioneer Press was the first outlet to reveal that James Ron, a professor at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School, received over $200,000 following his resignation. He was paid $86,198.40 in severance, $28,107.36 in insurance premiums and $80,685 to cover attorney fees. Ron resigned from the Humphrey School in July 2020 after being disciplined for violating sexual harassment policy. Since initially being reported on, additional complaints were filed, though he was found “not responsible” for any University policy violations, and the additional cases have since been closed. Ironically enough, Ron was a human rights professor at the Humphrey School. Ron was allowed to return to work for the fall 2019 semester following a suspension but some students were not notified that he was returning until after classes had started as well. The people who accused him of harassment may have seen him walking down the hallways, as though nothing had happened to them.
Humphrey School Dean Laura Bloomberg notified students and staff of Ron’s resignation in mid-July of 2020 via email. The email read: “Jim is an accomplished scholar. During his nine years of service to the School he has contributed substantially to the growth and development of our global policy teaching and research agenda. I wish Jim well in his future endeavors.” Knowing that a University investigation found that Ron had violated sexual misconduct policies I find this email haunting. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would wish an alleged sexual predator well in their future endeavors, regardless of their scholarly prowess. The Humphrey School is not alone in allowing accused predators to escape the ramifications of their actions. At the University of Illinois Law School, professor Jay Kesan was accused by 15 women of violating the university’s sexual misconduct policy, according to the Illinois Times. During the investigation into these allegations, Kesan was put on paid administrative leave. As of February 2020, his last reported salary was over $200,000. While these men were removed from their positions, the fact that they didn’t face harsher ramifications further perpetuates the notion that men can
sexually harass people and get away with it simply because they hold a position of power. James Ron, I am now speaking to you directly. You disgust me. Some may consider you “an accomplished scholar,” but in actuality, I think you are a weak man who felt he had the right to sexually harass people. While I hope that you feel some semblance of shame for what you have done to these people, I highly doubt that you are capable of feeling culpability or remorse. It makes me sick to think about how relieved you must have felt when you received that $200,000. But you did not win. Those people came forward and spoke out against what you did to them. They are survivors, and you will never be able to take that away from them.
Tara Brankin welcomes comments at tbrankin@mndaily.com.
COLUMN
Our politicians seriously need more guts Trump’s acquittal is part of a long list of events showing our politicians need more guts.
and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.” McConnell — and many other Senate Republicans — hide behind the argument that it is unconstitutional to convict a president who is not currently holding office, even though the founders’, legal scholars’ and originalists’ interpretation of the Constitution argue otherwise. I applaud all seven Republicans for being able to buck the former president and do the morally right thing. That being said, Trump’s impeachment trial reminds me of two situations in our nation’s history: One where the convenient wrong was done, and one where the inconvenient right was done.
J
The convenient wrong This event took place on Sept. 22, 2011, at a Republican primary debate. Stephen Hill, a gay soldier serving the United States in Iraq, asked Rick Santorum about the historically awful policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” As Hill finished asking the question, there were audible boos from the crowd, seemingly unhappy with a gay man in the military. Being upset with this is (or at least should be) obvious to anyone. Instead of acknowledging disgust with the boos or proclaiming that he doesn’t want the vote of anyone who boos an American soldier that was literally in combat, Santorum took the convenient wrong, stayed silent and answered the question.
ust seven days ago, Zach Courtney columnist former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate concluded. Fifty-seven senators voted that Trump was guilty, including seven Republicans (Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey). Although this was the most bipartisan effort ever to convict a president, it was still 10 votes short of the 67 needed to convict. I’ll start with the obvious. On the merits, Trump was guilty as charged. Even overt partisan Mitch McConnell acknowledged as much immediately after voting not guilty, saying, “Trump is practically
The inconvenient right Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ, as he was known) assumed the presidency after the assassination of JFK in 1963. LBJ was a Democrat from Texas. I know that sounds like an odd combination but it was far more common then than it is today (Theodore Roosevelt was a progressive Republican from New York). Then, LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. Although a lot still needed to be done to end racial dsicrimination even today, this was a crucial step in the right direction. When signing the bill into law, he turned to an aide and said something to the effect of, “There goes the South for a generation.” While this is definitely a simplification of the issue, he was right. Southern conservatives slowly turned away from the Democratic Party, and now Democrats seem to be wasting their breath campaigning in deep red states like Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc. Other than four years of Jimmy Carter, the Republican Party held onto the White House from 1969-1982. Sometimes politicians use the term “country over party.” LBJ actually lived and acted upon it, taking the inconvenient right. Oftentimes I love debating public policy whether I agree or disagree with politicians. These situations are far from that. It’s about leadership. Part of being a leader is having the guts to tell others when they are wrong. Trump lost the election — plain and
simple. It wasn’t stolen. Republican congressmen and congresswomen know that. They just didn’t have the guts to do the inconvenient right. Trump incited an insurrection at the Capitol. Republican members of Congress know that. They just didn’t have the guts to do the inconvenient right. Many of those who did stand up have already been either censured or criticized by their home state, or, in the case of Mitch McConnell, have been the subject of a nasty statement from the former president himself. Part of having guts is doing the inconvenient right. No Republican should want the vote of those homophobes that booed Stephen Hill. No Democrat should want the vote of those in the Deep South that opposed the Civil Rights Act. It’s early, but we can already add to that list. No Republican should want the vote of someone who thinks Trump won the election. No Republican should want to win if it means sweeping Trump’s incitement of insurrection under the rug. Even if it doesn’t show in the moment, one thing always shows in the history books: our politicians need guts. Forty-three Senate Republicans failed to do the inconvenient right. Mark my words: History will look upon them poorly. Zach Courtney welcomes comments at zcourtney@mndaily.com
Editorials & Opinions
8 Monday, February 22, 2021
COLUMN
The life and death of a movement What one student’s encounter with UMPD tells us about the future.
I
Emily Eaton n 2017, a new hashtag broke the columnist internet. It was soon plastered everywhere: spread on social media sites, reported on by news organizations and even analyzed by my high school U.S. history class. That’s how big it was — Mrs. Tootell didn’t let just any old hashtag waltz through her classroom door. The #MeToo movement rose like a phoenix from the ashes, giving voice to men and women everywhere who had long kept quiet about their experiences. And then, the phoenix went straight back into the ashes. What became of #MeToo beyond a momentary topping of
the Twitter trending list and pink pussy hats gathering dust in closets across America? Tarana Burke, the founder of the movement, claims it is not over. But, it is no longer at the forefront of our minds. #MeToo became a caricature of itself in 2020, as prominent supporters stumbled over their reasoning for why “Believe all women” had suddenly turned into “Believe all women … except those who accuse Joe Biden.” Early on in his campaign, President Joe Biden faced several sexual assault allegations. Where other prominent political figures, like Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, immediately faced vitriol and hatred for the accusations against them, President Biden received calls for due process. The hypocrisy — and partisanship — of the movement was stark. Black Lives Matter tempts the same fate. On Feb. 1, a University of Minnesota student made an Instagram post detailing a concerning run-in with the University of Minnesota Police Department. Claims of being racially profiled, of being relentlessly questioned and not believed, and eventually being left without even an apology were followed up by a call for students to contact the Board of Regents. The student’s story spread quickly through the community, generating outrage and disgust. That outrage was soon turned back on the student. In response to the allegations, the University of Minnesota’s
Department of Public Safety released dashcam footage of the event in question. For once, the police were not in the wrong. The officer was polite — reluctant to even make the stop — and quickly accepted the student’s story. After it became clear that the student was not in any legal trouble, the student requested a ride home from the officers. All of this is in sharp contrast to the tense, raciallycharged scenario described on the student’s social media. While we cannot police the way anyone feels following a run-in with law enforcement, we can ensure that truth takes precedence. Everyone is entitled to their own fear. No one is entitled to spreading misinformation without repercussions. A disservice has been done to our community. As it was with the #MeToo movement, we want to believe these stories. It’s hard to understand why pain would be publicly hyperbolized. Now that it has, the inherent trust we have in these stories has started to fracture. It is easy to be rash when you are angry. In the moment, it might make sense to spin a situation to further an ideological agenda. And, initially, the student reaped the benefits of their falsifications. People rallied behind the cause, eager to add to the list of offenses committed by the police. Communities of color have faced so much persecution, and it is deeply unfair to them that someone falsely emulated
that experience. In 2017, millions of people took to the streets in what became the largest singleday protest in U.S. history. The #MeToo movement seemed like a force to be reckoned with, the hammer that cracked the glass ceiling. One year later, a poll by the Morning Consult showed that 57% of U.S. adults were equally concerned with the possibility of false accusations for young men, as they were with the chances of a young woman being harassed. Progress does not mean opening doors for some, just to slam the door shut in the faces of others. This past summer, people all over the world marched in the name of George Floyd. The fight for police reform is not over. Do not let the Black Lives Matter movement suffer the fate of the #MeToo movement. When it comes down to it, cooperation and community engagement can create effective change in our communities. It is tempting to throw away the system entirely, to villainize law enforcement, to put pain before progress. Truth must come first: We cannot take our Instagram stories and trending Tweets at face value.
Emily Eaton welcomes comments at eeaton@mndaily.com.
COLUMN
Not all Trump supporters are bad people It shouldn’t be revolutionary to think that 74 million Americans aren’t awful.
I
grew up in Willmar, Zach Courtney Minnesota, a small columnist town in Kandiyohi County, 90 miles west of the Twin Cities. Kandiyohi County, like much of rural Minnesota, is a Republican stronghold, going for Trump by a 25-point margin in both 2016 and 2020. Plenty of my friends, friends’ parents and former teammates voted for Donald Trump. Now, I attend the University of Minnesota and live in Minneapolis, a city that
went for Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020 by massive margins. Nearly all of my college friends voted for Biden. I’ve done a lot of thinking about the last few years of our political climate and how it impacted my life. It turned into an endless cycle of pushing and pulling. First, President Trump would tweet something that was admittedly ridiculous. Then, half of my friends would say that it wasn’t a big deal (sometimes they were right), and half of my friends would say that what Trump said was — well — ridiculous (usually they were right). That, however, isn’t what or who I’m writing about in this column. In my view, public policy and our individual differences in policy preference need to be discussed far more than they currently are. Over the last four years, attacks have turned more personal — ad hominem — rather than staying focused on differences on social and economic issues. Instead, I’m writing about those who have somehow written off the more than 74 million Trump voters as no more than unintelligent, racist homophobes, or as former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton previously called half of Trump supporters, a “basket of deplorables.” Am I smarter, nicer or morally superior than half of my friends — 46.8% of America
— simply because I voted for Biden instead of Trump? I wholeheartedly argue no. As former presidential candidate Andrew Yang put it, if a slim minority of voting Americans do something, we better do our best to understand it. Being a Trump supporter and being a good person aren’t mutually exclusive. Our country would be in a better place if my fellow Biden supporters could agree to this simple statement: Trump supporters are also generally good people who want to see America improve. I’ve long been critical of Trump, and I will continue to be. I don’t think he was a good president — it’s that simple. But he did inspire a massive movement with a passionate base, one that we all need to aim to truly understand. Just because I write off Trump as a bad president doesn’t mean I need to write off millions of Americans as bad, too. He didn’t just pack rallies with homophobic antisemites (though those people were, of course, there). He filled those rallies with moms, dads and my neighbors. And I get it, the argument that we just need to be nicer to other people is a tough sell. I often times will take a political lens on these issues, and I’ll do it again here. I want to get my friends to vote for the same people who I vote for. In the most
recent presidential election, that person was Biden. The worst way to do that is to describe the other side’s people as racist, homophobic, or unintelligent. The best way to do that is to keep the conversation civil and tied to policy. For the most part, Trump voters’ concerns were in good faith. We are in the heat of an impeachment trial at the conclusion of a tense election season, and I’m certain there is plenty of bitterness on both sides. That’s the main reason I wanted to write this column. Valentine’s Day is coming up this weekend. Don’t just love your significant other. Love liberals. Love conservatives. Love Biden voters. Love Trump voters. Love each other. In many ways, we are far more alike than we are different. Or, as an Iowa fan said to me and my friends last year at Kinnick Stadium, “I don’t care if you cheer for the Democrats, Republicans, Gophers or Hawkeyes. At the end of the day, we’re all on the same team.” Don’t worry, Gopher fans. “We Hate Iowa” still applies — but only on the gridiron and in the stands.
Maybe try switching out ramen packet flavors to spice things up, as it were. -Dr. Date
Dear Leftist and Lonely, I get it. You want someone who wants prison reform in the streets and who is a bit more than Minnesota nice in the sheets. That’s understandable — it must be much easier to build a life with someone who believes in a universal basic income. On this campus, I can’t imagine it’ll be hard to find someone who shares your dreams. For now, I would recommend ditching Tinder. I reckon you’ll find more devout activists through student org Instagrams and event pages. Perhaps this: Shoot for restorative justice and land in the Bernie Bros? -Dr. Date
Zach Courtney welcomes comments at zcourtney@mndaily.com.
CARTOON BY NATALIA POTERYAKHIN
Dr. Date, I think my girlfriend’s earring collection is ruining our relationship. We’ve been dating for three years now and decided to move in together three weeks ago, and for the most part, it’s been alright. Most of our trouble has been in respecting each others’ space. For example, I think the bathroom counter is a space to be clean or a space for soap; my girlfriend thinks it’s a place for her dangly frog earrings. I think the spice rack is a space for spices; she thinks it’s a place for her ramen packet earrings. I think our apartment is a place where we should both live happily; my girlfriend thinks it’s an extended cabinet for her eclectic items hotglued onto hooks to stab into her earlobes. How can I tell her that this is my line in the
sand? How do I tell her that I don’t think I can handle looking at one more Skittles wrapper made into jewelry? -Cut the Crafts Dear Cut the Crafts, Compromise is key to any relationship, as I’m sure you know. New living situations can be hard at the best of times, but I’m sure lockdown isn’t helping your situation either. It seems to me like you’re both in the normal stage of becoming accustomed to each other’s habits and routines, which comes with its own associated growing pains. I don’t think it’s wrong to ask your girlfriend to keep her things where they belong and out of common areas. Respecting each others’ space is one of the most important parts of living together. Cleanliness aside, I think you could also stand to be a bit more patient and creative. Maybe try hanging earrings found in the kitchen on the handles of mugs?
Dr. Date, I’ve done everything I can think of — switched my preferred age range, made my bio as specific as possible, literally made my profile a screenshot of the lyrics to “F*** Donald Trump.” Despite my best efforts, I can’t stop matching with moderates on Tinder. It was subtle at first. I thought it was sus when I matched with a guy last January who was a member of the UMN Students for Biden. Then in June, I matched with two different girls who wanted me to come to a socially-distanced party celebrating the Biden nom. Now, I’ve matched with some guy from Wisconsin who thinks a hot date idea includes getting matching “Auntie Kamala” and “unity” line art tattoos. Please help. -Leftist and Lonely
Dr. Date is a satirical advice column dissecting real-world situations. Want advice from the love doctor? Email Dr. Date at drdate@mndaily.com.
Sports
9 Monday, February 22, 2021
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
No.9 Maryland overwhelms Gopher women’s basketball The nation’s highest-scoring offense topped its average.
By Tony Liebert tliebert@mndaily.com The Gophers’ women’s basketball team struggled without its two leading scorers for much of the contest, falling to No. 9 Maryland 94-62. Minnesota’s grueling Big Ten schedule continued on Saturday in a road matchup with a top-10 Maryland team. The Terrapins have been on a tear this season, averaging a division one best 92.4 points per game en route to a 16-2 record. The Gophers were able to hang with Maryland in an earlier contest on Jan. 14 in Williams Arena until the Big Ten’s best put on a master class from beyond the arc, leading to a 90-73 win. What makes the Terrapins so tough to defend is their balanced scoring on offense, with five players averaging double figures. Gophers’
coach Lindsay Whalen was going to need all hands on deck to lead her team to the upset. Whalen’s starting five was missing a significant piece, as the Gophers’ leading scorer Sara Scalia — 14.9 points per game — was absent from Saturday’s game from what the school later called a “non-COVID related illness.” Gadiva Hubbard replaced Scalia in her first start since Jan. 25. The Gophers initially looked up for the challenge, jumping out to a 5-0 lead. The Terrapins proceeded to flip a switch, outscoring Minnesota 24-6 for the rest of the first quarter. Maryland’s pressure overwhelmed the Gophers, forcing six turnovers leading to a 24-11 deficit after 10 minutes. Maryland ballooned its lead all the way to 20 to open quarter number two, but Kadi Sissoko was able to keep the Gophers within a respectable distance. The redshirt sophomore had a team-
high eight points, along with five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in the first half. “I thought [Sissoko] played a really good game,” Whalen said. “She had some really nice energy for us.” Things only got worse for the Gophers as Jasmine Powell went down with a left leg injury midway through the second quarter. The sophomore guard has been battling ankle problems all season, but this one looked significant. The Terrapins took advantage of shorthanded Minnesota, taking a 49-25 lead into the break. “They have some very talented players, and they play extremely hard,” Whalen said. “You add those two things together, and they’re a very tough team. That is why they’re first in the conference.” Minnesota had its back against the wall without its two leading scorers for the second half, as Powell found herself on the bench with ice wrapped around her left ankle.
Gophers forward Kadi Sissoko blocks Eastern Illinois’ Karle Pace at Williams Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The Gophers defeated Eastern Illinois 72-68. (Shannon Doyle / Minnesota Daily) The Terrapins did not hold back in the third quarter, extending their lead to 70-40. Heading into the final quarter, Maryland’s Ashley Owusu and Diamond Miller combined for 40 points, the same number the Gophers had as a team. “I think they have players that can do pretty much anything on the court,” Sissoko said.
“They can shoot, they drive and they can post up pretty well.” The unforeseen circumstances presented other Gophers with the opportunity to earn some playing time. Freshman Caroline Strande, redshirt freshman Grace Cumming and freshman Erin Hedman all got to contribute down the stretch and showed
flashes of great play, but Maryland ultimately came out on top 94-62. “I thought they competed,” Whalen said. “They got to go out in a Big Ten game and show how hard they’ve been working on their games.” The Gophers now fall to 7-11 on the season and will head back home to host Nebraska on Feb. 24 at Williams Arena.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Gophers collapse against No. 5 Illinois A bad first half got worse for Minnesota before halftime. By Nolan O’Hara nohara@mndaily.com Just when it looked like a bad first half couldn’t get worse for the Gophers men’s basketball team, Illinois guard Trent Frazier picked off a pass from Gophers’ guard Tre’ Williams and threw up a shot from half court as time expired in the half. It swished right through the net for the fifth-ranked Fighting Illini, who went into the halftime break with a 48-33 advantage. It was just that kind of afternoon for Minnesota (13-10). The second half went even worse as the Gophers fell 94-63 to the Illini on Saturday at Williams Arena. Gophers’ coach Richard Pitino was visibly frustrated on the sideline throughout the game, players appeared dejected on the bench and center Liam Robbins clearly hasn’t recovered from an ankle injury that’s been plaguing him since Feb. 11.
Illinois (16-5) took advantage of Minnesota’s injuries, lackluster offensive production and bad transition defense in a game that felt very similar to the first meeting between the two teams, where the Illini ran Minnesota out of State Farm Center with a 92-65 victory. With the injury to Robbins, Illinois center Kofi Cockburn attacked the paint for the duration of the game. The Illini scored 48 points inside, primarily coming from Cockburn, who scored a game-high 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Robbins was stellar on the defensive end in the first half, tallying four blocks, but his ankle only allowed him on the court for 13 minutes. “[Robbins] has a fighting spirit … He’s gonna try his 100% best to make sure that he’s able to be on the floor with us,” Gophers forward Brandon Johnson said. “And Liam’s my guy, I try to help him as much as I can on and off the floor.” Without Robbins for much of the game, Minnesota didn’t have the size to match up against Cockburn and the team was bullied in the paint. And Robbins wasn’t
the only player Minnesota missed on Saturday. The Gophers could’ve used their best perimeter defender in starting shooting guard Gabe Kalscheur, who will be out 3-4 weeks after having surgery on his right index finger. Without Kalscheur, Minnesota continually got beat in transition, allowing 31 Illinois points on the fast break. “They did exactly what we didn’t want them to do, which was their strength, which was transition,” Gophers forward Eric Curry said. “We didn’t take good shots.” The Gophers did, however, allow good shots. With Robbins limited and Kalscheur out, the Illini found themselves open shots from behind the arc, to go along with the 48 points in the paint. The Illini shot 7-of-14 from three and 56.1% from the field overall. Frazier led Illinois from behind the arc, making three of his four attempts; he finished with 15 total points. Guard Ayo Dosunmu finished second on the team in scoring with 19 points on 9-for-16 shooting. “[Kalsheur and
Robbins] are our two best defenders. Gabe is our best perimeter defender and Liam obviously is a great shot blocker … I mean we certainly seem a little bit disjointed with those two guys out,” Pitino said. “But we just gotta find a way.” Minnesota didn’t find a way on Saturday, but what the box score doesn’t show is that the Gophers were within reach of the game for much of the first half. Minnesota took a 16-11 lead early, after point guard Marcus Carr knocked down a pair of 3-point shots. But Illinois quickly went on an 8-0 run to retake the lead 19-16. From there, the Illini held a lead for the remainder of the game, while the Gophers bench appeared more and more deflated. “We can’t let guys come in like today and just do what they want to do,” Curry said. “We just got to have pride for the program, have pride for each other and just have each other’s back. We all brothers, we all love each other, we know we got people down, but we just gotta step up.” One player stepping up for the Gophers was freshman guard Jamal
Brandon Johnson rebounds the ball during the first quarter against Illinois at Williams Arena on Saturday Feb. 20. The Gophers lost with a final score of 63-94. (Parker Johnson / Minnesota Daily) Mashburn Jr., who made his second consecutive start filling in for Kalscheur. Mashburn scored a teamhigh 16 points and added six rebounds and three assists. He did, however, turn the ball over on five occasions. Carr, Johnson and Williams also finished in double figures with 12, 12 and 11 points respectively. But it wasn’t the most efficient of shooting, as Minnesota only shot 40.7% in the game. The Gophers are 2-6 in their last eight games
and are currently in the midst of a three-game skid. Minnesota will look to end the losing streak on Feb. 25 when it takes on Northwestern at Williams Arena. “You can think about the game for the day. It’s a tough loss, especially how everything went down, but going into tomorrow, the game should just be erased from your mind,” Johnson said. “You just gotta come in with that energy and just trying to get better and just looking forward to the next game.”
VOLLEYBALL
Samedy, Rollins, Landfair power Gophers offense The hitters’ production has powered the team’s success. By Brendan O’Brien bobrien@mndaily.com The Gophers volleyball team is off to a fast 8-0 start to the 2021 season, and one key reason is the team’s depth of talent. Arguably Minnesota’s most talented position group is its hitters. Opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy holds down the right side of the net while Adanna Rollins and Taylor Landfair rotate through on the left. “As the pins, [they] take the lionshare of
the swings. A lot of our transition opportunities are happening outside or on the right side,” head coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “For them to attack at as good efficiency and effectiveness as they [have done] is a huge thing for us.” Samedy has been a consistent force for the Gophers and rarely has taken a play off. In her senior season, she is averaging 4.29 kills per set, the highest rate in the Big Ten for anyone who has played at least nine sets. With 2021 being an unusual year, Samedy has focused on keeping her energy steady so that she plays at a high level each weekend.
Her steadiness showed recently in Minnesota’s first four matches against ranked opponents, averaging 4.74 kills per set against Purdue and Penn State and earning back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Week honors. Rollins is another familiar face in the lineup for Gopher fans. She played well as a sophomore throughout the 2019 campaign but shined for Minnesota in the NCAA tournament, leading the team in kills and earning the most outstanding player of the Austin Region AllTournament team. She has only led the team in kills once this season, but
she is second on the team in digs in an important defensive role. “She carries a big load for our team, and I don’t think many people understand the weight of being a sixth-row outside,” McCutcheon said of Rollins. And then there is Landfair. Second on the team in kills, she came to Minnesota as the top-rated recruit in the country and has taken over in different spots this year. Every time someone asks him about her, McCutcheon says Landfair is a “uniquely talented” player who still has plenty of “appetite for growth.” Only a freshman, Landfair
always smiles while playing, loving the game despite the unusual circumstances. “I’m beyond excited to play because at first I didn’t really think this time would be able to come. I always have a smile on my face because deep down I love the teammates that I play with and the program that I’m a part of,” Landfair said. Setter Melani Shaffmaster is also a newcomer to the Gophers squad and it is her job to get the ball to these three. At first, Shaffmaster dealt with nerves playing in her first college matches, but setting for Samedy, Rollins and Landfair has
made all the difference for her. “It’s so fun being able to set anyone, and they either kill the ball or keep it in play. All of our hitters are super mature and when the set is not there, they save it and that’s a really great quality that we’re growing in,” Shaffmaster said. The Gophers will need this success from their hitters to continue into the next stretch of the season. After beating ranked opponents in consecutive weekends, Minnesota takes on No. 4 Nebraska this week on Feb. 19 and 21 in a matchup of top-five teams.
Sports
10 Monday, February 22, 2021
MEN’S GOLF
Gophers men’s golf returns winless from Big Ten Match Play The Gopher men’s golfers earned two draws and a loss. By Matthew Kennedy mkennedy@mndaily.com The Gophers men’s golf team was the No. 2 seed going into its first tournament of the season at Hammock Beach Resort. The Gophers ended up losing to eventual champion No. 10 Indiana on Feb. 5 and tying No. 3 Purdue and No. 4 Penn State on Feb. 6. On Feb. 5, the second round of Big Ten Match Play was a giant head-scratcher for the tournament’s top seeds, as all lost to the lower seeds, besides top-seeded
Northwestern, which tied Michigan State. The undisputed star for the Gophers on the weekend was junior Will Grevlos, who went 2-0 over his competition on Feb. 6. Grevlos was the only Gopher on any day of Big Ten Match Play to go undefeated. This was just Grevlos’ seventh time playing with the Gophers in a major tournament. “Will’s determination and passion was at an alltime high this weekend that I haven’t seen from him before,” Gophers head coach Justin Smith said. “He’s just scratching the surface of his talent, and once he starts believing in himself and bringing his best every day, he can be the piece to our team that can put us over the hump.”
Smith also mentioned the Gophers have four golfers that are standards in their lineup and consistently produce low scores in tournaments. Those players are Angus Flanagan, Thomas Longbella, Connor Glynn and Lincoln Johnson. If Grevlos, freshman Ben Warian, who finished 1-2 in the tournament and defeated Purdue’s Herman Sekne, or another player can fill the final fifth spot consistently and generate similar production, the sky’s the limit for the Gophers this season. Smith said it will be an extremely competitive race throughout the season. Flanagan was not present at the tournament due to a Walker Cup commitment for team Great Britain and Ireland.
Thomas Longbella lines up a shot on the putting green in the indoor golf training facility in April 2019. The facility borders the Les Bolstad Golf Course and allows for practice throughout winter months. (Jack Rodgers / Minnesota Daily) Smith expects Flanagan to be with the team in every tournament
moving forward. Up next, the Gophers compete in the Spartan
Collegiate at Sea Island in Sea Island, Georgia, March 8-9.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
A Gopher lead turns into a double-digit loss The Gophers weren’t able to pick up their first road win. By AJ Condon acondon@mndaily.com The Gophers’ men’s basketball team saw another first half lead slowly diminish into a doubledigit loss. A strong outing from the starting guards wasn’t enough as Indiana was hitting shots without Minnesota’s top defender. The Hoosiers held off the Gophers and picked up the win 82-72 Wednesday night. It wasn’t all too unconventional for the Gophers to go into half with a lead, which was in large part because of their starting guards. But before the game, news came out about junior Gabe Kalscheur being out indefinitely with a broken hand. That opened up a starting spot which was filled by freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr. “I was gonna switch it up and put Jamal in [the starting lineup] anyway. Gabe got hurt on the last play of practice, ball just hit his finger and broke his finger. It’s really hard, but obviously with the right hand, tough
Gophers center Liam Robbins leaps for the ball at Williams Arena on Friday, Dec. 4. The Gophers went on to a 76-67 victory over the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. (Parker Johnson / Minnesota Daily) blow, really tough blow,” head coach Ricahrd Pitino said. Redshirt junior Marcus Carr and sophomore Tre’ Williams were just as effective in the first half as the three led the team in scoring as Minnesota went into half with a 37-35 lead. Carr, who has struggled shooting the ball on the road, went into the break with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Mashburn Jr. had 10 with Williams right
behind with nine. “Guys just have to step up. We got a team full of guys who can play and when your number is called, you gotta be ready to step up,” Williams said of Kalscheur’s injury. Without the Gophers’ best defender, Indiana still ran into plenty of problems whilst on offense in the first half. They turned the ball over eight times which resulted in 11 points for Minnesota. Indiana couldn’t
match that number as the Gophers only turned the ball over three times which resulted in no points for the Hoosiers. Carr and Mashburn were both able to tie for the teamhigh Wednesday with 19 points, giving Mashburn Jr. a new career high. Williams didn’t have the best second half but was able to surpass double-digits and end with 11 on the night. “I think [Mashburn Jr.] is a really good player. He can score in a variety of ways, he’s got a unique mid-range game that a lot of people don’t have anymore. He can get to the basket, he was getting to the free throw line,” Pitino said. “I think Jamal will be a terrific player.” The Gophers continued their attack on points off turnovers and kept pace on scoring off the Hoosiers’ mistakes. Minnesota finished with 25 points off 17 Indiana turnovers. Another reason why the Gophers were able to go into the half with the lead was because of their welltimed threes. Minnesota only shot 4-of-11 from deep, but their makes came at the perfect time to get the game back to tied or stop a run. Unfortunately, they finished off the game 0-of-9
from deep and continued to struggle in that area. “We got a little bit 3-point happy there when we needed to keep driving; they were having trouble keeping us in front of them. We got a little bit in love with the three, we gotta keep living at the rim. We were 4-for-20 when we probably should’ve been 4-14, five or six less would’ve been good,” Pitino said. As hard as Minnesota played, the Hoosiers were able to always have an answer for a Gophers push. That was in large part because of their 3-point shooting which seemed to get hot at the wrong times for Minnesota. Indiana shot just 2-of-5 from deep in the first half, but got hot in the second in their effort to fight back and extend its lead. In the second half, the Hoosiers shot 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and that was the biggest difference in the game. It wasn’t just their three game where they got hot; after shooting an impressive 50% from the field in the first half, they surpassed that in the second half as they saw their lead continue to grow. Minnesota had a lead for over half the game, but the Hoosiers shot even better in the second half and retook
the lead and ran with it. On top of their 71.4% shooting from deep, Indiana connected on 66.7% of its shots in the entire second half to turn a close game into a double-digit loss. Another big difference came in the rebounding, but that is expected when a team shoots 40% compared to 57.8%. Minnesota even outrebounded Indiana on the offensive glass 13 to 10, but Indiana finished in front in the rebounding game by 10 boards. “It played a role because they got second chances, pretty much when we needed a stop at that time. It was mainly little mistakes in crucial moments that killed us tonight,” redshirt senior forward Brandon Johnson said. “The times that we didn’t box out, we shot ourselves in the foot for sure.” The Gophers fought until the end, but again, fell short and blew a road, first-half lead. The guard play wasn’t enough to overcome the loss of Kalscheur on defense and the shooting performance Indiana put on. Minnesota is back at home when they host No. 5 Illinois in a revenge game Feb. 20 and try to pick up another top-10 win.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Rutgers’ stifling defense proves too much Rutgers’ talented trio was too much to handle. By Tony Liebert tliebert@mndaily.com A near-perfect second half of defense from Rutgers overwhelmed the Gophers women’s basketball team and resulted in an 83-56 defeat for Minnesota, as the Gophers moved to 7-10 on the season. The Gophers’ unique path through the 202021 season continued Wednesday as they traveled to Piscataway, New Jersey, to face a Rutgers team that has postponed eight games due to COVID-19. After their month-long hiatus, the Scarlet Knights reeled off three straight victories by an average of 16.7 points. Co-Big Ten preseason player of the year Arella Guitrantes leads
Gophers center Klarke Sconiers fights for a pass at Williams Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The Gophers defeated Eastern Illinois 72-68. (Shannon Doyle / Minnesota Daily) long-time Rutgers head coach and Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, C. Vivian Stringer’s team. The redshirt-senior guard averages a team-high 22 points, along with 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.3 blocks. The Scarlet Knights are known for their aggressive
defense, leading the Big Ten in turnovers forced (21.2) and steals (13.4). Minnesota had its work cut out for itself, facing a team that was 5-1 at home before Wednesday, with its only loss coming to first-place Maryland. And Rutgers’ defensive pressure started early
and often, forcing two quick Gophers’ turnovers to jump out to a 6-0 lead only two minutes into the game. Following a brief timeout, Minnesota began to settle in. Gadiva Hubbard came off the bench in her first game appearance in nearly a month, providing two quick-made threes that cut the Rutgers’ lead down to three. The Scarlet Knight responded to take a 21-16 lead. “[Gadiva’s] shooting well opens up things for me in the middle even more,” Minnesota forward Klarke Sconiers said. “I think definitely in the future we’re going to look more playing in-andout because I think that is something that definitely helps the offense a lot.” After a terrific start, Sconiers continued to make her presence felt as the game grew on. The sophomore post player had a team-high 11 firsthalf points coming off the bench and played 18 of 20
possible minutes in the half. “[Sconiers] gave us a really good spark,” Gophers’ head coach Lindsay Whalen said. “When she gets to that left shoulder she’s really effective and really good.” Whenever Minnesota cut into the deficit, Rutgers responded, with Diamond Johnson and Arella Guitrantes leading terrific guard play. Minnesota went into the half trailing 38-28. Rutgers’ patented pressure defense shined in the third quarter. Tekia Mack completely took over the game, recording five steals in the quarter and adding to the Gophers’ total of 12 turnovers in the third quarter alone. Minnesota’s 4-of-13 shooting certainly did not help, extending its deficit to 60-39 heading into the final 10 minutes. “They went strictly to their full-court pressure in the third quarter and we didn’t have an
answer,” Whalen said. “We obviously did not respond like we needed to.” The Scarlet Knights’ tremendous trio of guards continued to dominate in the fourth. Johnson, Guirantes and Mack combined to score 60 of Rutgers’ 83 points. Minnesota simply had no answer after its less than stellar third quarter, resulting in an 83-56 loss. “You learn in every day, every game and every practice,” Whalen said. “Every time you come out here, you learn something about yourself, especially when there is adversity.” Sconiers and Sara Scalia were the only two Minnesota players to score in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Minnesota now has a quick turnaround, traveling to College Park, Maryland for a Feb. 20 matchup with the firstplace Terrapins.
11 Monday, February 22, 2021
Chris Meyer cycles one last round as Park Board Commissioner Meyer’s time focused on student outreach and the habitat By Samantha Hendrickson shendrickson@mndaily.com
Yousif Abdallah thought his boss, District 1 Minneapolis Park Board Commissioner Chris Meyer, was joking when he said they would be biking to their meeting in Fridley one morning. An Uber was out of the question, said Meyer, a passionate environmentalist who does not own a car or have a driver’s license. So, both Meyer and Abdallah cycled an hour and a half from south Minneapolis to Fridley for a meeting in full business suits. “I was drenched in sweat, I was not happy, but I’ll never forget going to that meeting,” said Abdallah, a recent University of Minnesota graduate. “When we told people how we got there, I felt so proud. Chris showed me that you never have to give up your morals and your views.” Meyer was elected to the park board in 2017, and while he is not running for reelection, he has left his legacy and a lot of calories behind him during the last four years. From selling Sturgis shirts to running for Senate
Meyer was born in the famous South Dakota town of Sturgis. At one of his first jobs, he worked in a T-shirt factory for $3 an hour. “[I grew up] in a town of about 6,000 people for most of the year. But for two weeks in August, it was hundreds of thousands,” Meyer said. Growing up gay and with Asperger’s syndrome, Meyer was acutely aware that he did not quite fit in with Sturgis crowd. So at 18, he moved to St. Paul to start his studies at Macalester College before transferring over to the University of Minnesota. Meyer became involved in the Minnesota Student Association and wrote opinion columns for the Minnesota Daily. Several of his pieces caught the attention of city officials and neighborhood organizations. His work included op-eds calling out the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association for lack of student outreach and rent ordinances that limited the number of people allowed to live in one house, which disproportionately affected students. In 2013, Meyer became campaign manager for Minneapolis City Council member Andrew Johnson, alongside now U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar. Johnson said he was so passionate and dedicated that Meyer even moved in with him for a short time.
Minneapolis District 1 Park Board Commissioner Chris Meyer poses for a portrait at Marcy Park on Tuesday, Feb. 16. One of Meyer’s initiatives involves adding more college-age elements, like a dog park and hammocking area, to Marcy Park. (Shannon Doyle / Minnesota Daily) “He was actually one of my very first supporters,” Johnson said. “He brings such a strong policy lens to the work and so I think that’s a real value.” After working on several local and national political campaigns, Meyer ran for Minnesota Senate in 2016. Despite an unsuccessful run for District 60, Meyer was not dissuaded from pursuing politics. He won a seat on the park board a year later. Park board and practicing what he preaches While being an avid environmentalist, Meyer also just really loves parks. When Abdallah met Meyer for the first time as a first-year student at the University, what he expected to be a 30-minute conversation on Meyer’s
park board campaign turned into a two-hour walk around the city’s parks. “He can make the most bland subject interesting,” Abdallah said. He later became an intern on Meyer’s campaign. Abdallah said he also noticed Meyer’s clear passion for student involvement in local politics and commitment to outreach on campuses. He even encouraged students to show up to park board meetings alongside donors and other city officials — and often they would. “Chris taught me that I deserve to be here as much as you deserve to be here,” Abdallah said. “Like, I’m the same as you, I have the same voice as you guys. I pay taxes, too. I live in the city … I get a say in this. Chris is really invested in the youth.”
LaTrisha Vetaw, Minneapolis Park Board Commissioner At-Large, sat next to Meyer for most of their four years together on the board. The two eventually became friends, despite frequent disagreements on key policy issues, like Meyer’s opposition to stationing police in parks. You can often find Meyer babysitting Vetaw’s dog. “Chris is the most loyal, honest person I know,” Vetaw said. “He takes a position to listen, but he believes what he believes in.” Like Abdallah, Vetaw has also been a part of some of Meyer’s hours-long walks. “He refuses to get in my car,” Vetaw said. “I think I’ve walked his entire district with him.” What he’s most proud of Meyer’s bike is his primary mode of transportation. “Parkways are my highways,” Meyer said. “And I wanted to expand them … That was my original reason for getting involved in the park board.” Throughout his time as a park board commissioner, Meyer has successfully added and improved bike lanes around the city, and reduced carbon pollution overall in city parks. He is especially proud of efforts that led to the state public pension divesting from coal and the East of the River Park Master Plan, which outlines the vision
for parks in Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis. He also pushed to complete the missing link of the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway Trail. However, in 2020, the park board came under fire for actions against homeless encampments that grew around the city. After declaring parks as a refuge for people experiencing homelessness following widespread civil unrest, the park board backtracked and limited the size of encampments on park property. Many individuals were evicted and some had their belongings destroyed. Meyer said he thinks the park board’s actions were justified “in a time of crisis.” “I stated repeatedly that we should not remove people from the encampments unless we could tell people where they should go,” Meyer said in an email. “... Every time a notice to vacate was issued, staff communicated the shelter options that were available to people.” Despite his achievements, Meyer is not running for reelection. While he said what’s next is in flux, his dream is to travel the nation evangelizing about the “evil” of minimum parking requirements. “He brings tremendous value in so many other areas,” Vetaw said. “And I can’t wait to see what he does next.”
Ordinance allowing renters to buy their homes could overlook public housing residents Advocates say the act may neglect public housing.
By Lydia Morrell lmorrell@mndaily.com Minneapolis officials aim to give renters the first chance to purchase their home when the property owner puts it up for sale, but some advocates worry that public housing residents will be left out. The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) is a proposed ordinance that would give a tenant first dibs on their building when the landlord decides to sell. Local lawmakers are modeling TOPA after a Washington, D.C. policy that has been in place since 1980, which some residents have used to band together and buy the buildings they live in. “[TOPA is] problematic
in that it feels like the right to purchase only matters if it’s not people who live in public housing,” said Kaaha Kaahiye, a public housing activist and Prospect Park Association staff member. TOPA at the city University of Minnesota-area Minneapolis City Council members Cam Gordon and Steve Fletcher, of Wards 2 and 3, are working on the proposal alongside two other Council members and the Housing Justice League, a coalition of seven neighborhood organizations and housing advocacy groups. “TOPA on its own is not going to solve the housing crisis that Minneapolis is experiencing pre- and during the pandemic,” said Grace Berke, Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association staff member. “But it’s important that we continue to pursue every tool that we
can to begin to really make some of those changes.” Gordon said the Council members are drafting the ordinance and hope to have it ready for a public hearing and vote by late spring or early summer. There are three options for how the policy could look in Minneapolis. The first option gives tenants the right to purchase their building or assign that right to any other buyer. The second option is the same, but if tenants choose to assign their right to another buyer, it must be an approved developer on a shortlist prepared by the city. The third option does not let tenants purchase the building; instead, the right goes directly to the list of approved developers. “The first option, I would say, is the one that maximizes the rights for tenants,” Berke said. Residents could form a
tenant association or partner with a nonprofit organization or developer to purchase the building, Berke said. She added that the Housing Justice League is looking into ways to support tenants so they can organize within the city’s deadlines.
From D.C. to Glendale The city is modeling this proposal off of Washington, D.C.’s TOPA, and in creating the policy, public housing advocates worry that Minneapolis will adopt D.C.’s shortcomings as well. “It’s also that this TOPA that is being discussed at the [Minneapolis] city level is going to be based off of TOPA that’s happening in D.C.,” Kaahiye said. “And currently, we see there are public housing residents who are unable to purchase their homes because of the same things we are dealing with in Minneapolis.” In Washington, the
tenants’ rights nonprofit organization Can I Live is also campaigning to allow public housing residents the first chance to purchase. In Minneapolis, advocates fear that public housing residents will not be able to buy their homes if the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) privatizes their buildings. Gordon said while there should be opportunities to purchase public housing that is up for sale, he wants to keep public housing public and maintain deeply affordable housing. “[TOPA] could be really powerful … as a wealthbuilding opportunity,” Gordon said. “But it also might not be what we want to have happen if we have waiting lists of people still wanting more rental public housing and subsidized [housing].” Ladan Yusuf, Defend Glendale and Public Housing Coalition campaign or-
ganizer, said the policy draft should also include financial support for public housing and Section 8 residents to purchase their home if it goes up for sale. “[If MPHA] doesn’t give people the option to buy the homes, if [MPHA] makes things difficult, then what are the consequences?” Yusuf asked. “Can [residents] take them to court? Can they file a complaint? Will the city protect these residents if MPHA tries to block them from buying the homes?” Kaahiye said she knows many public housing residents interested in buying their homes, and she believes this could help lift communities out of poverty. “We can build community wealth, like be able to have financial stability and homeownership as a tool out of poverty,” Kaahiye said, “especially if it’s public housing residents.”
Not just ‘point A to point B’: U researchers talk transit equity Several UMN researchers talked for Transit Equity Day
By Becca Most bmost@mndaily.com One day when Ania McDonnell was taking the light rail to an internship as a student at Hamline University, she said she was followed after she got off the platform. Throughout college and into graduate school at the University of Minnesota, McDonnell continued having conversations with other women about their experiences on public transit. One woman she talked to was kissed on the cheek by a stranger, and many others had their own stories about times they felt unsafe. “I actually would be curious if there’s a woman who hasn’t experienced some type of harassment on public transportation,” McDonnell said. “It’s definitely something that I think not everyone understands.” For her master’s thesis,
McDonnell researched how people experience transit differently, and how the design of city transportation plans accommodate their needs — or not. Last year, she analyzed the 10-year transportation plans of several cities around Minnesota, including Minneapolis, Bloomington, Little Canada and Centerville. Looking for specific keywords related to gender, as well as how each comprehensive plan accounted for inclusivity, she found almost none of these city plans explicitly addressed how people experience or use transportation differently. Since then, her research has caught the attention of city planners, especially in light of Transit Equity Day on Feb. 4. Based on her research, and the research of others at the University, McDonnell found that women often have different transportation needs and face additional challenges compared to men. On average, women make more trips than men, have greater security concerns in dark
or deserted transit areas and travel during off-peak hours for part-time jobs, like in the caregiving sector. LGBTQ people also are more likely to experience harassment and assault on transit. A system rooted in racism Dr. Yingling Fan, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University, said public transportation systems in the United States are rooted in a larger context of systemic racism, which greatly affects how people access and use public transportation today. Fan said a high-quality, equitable transportation system needs to be accessible, affordable and designed with and for the communities who use it. In the Twin Cities, the thriving Rondo community was destroyed in order to make way for the construction of the 1-94 highway in the 1950s and ‘60s, for instance, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of Black families and the destruction of hundreds of businesses.
Fan said the cultivation of a society that is reliant on private transportation, like cars, contributes to existing inequalities. “Whenever you have a kind of default mode for transportation, then you actually expect to create an underclass,” Fan said. “When you have an entire city kind of reconstructed to serve people who use automobiles, then certainly people who don’t use automobiles will be disadvantaged.” She emphasized the need to properly invest in public transportation, especially as communities of color make up 60% of those who use public transportation to get around. Navigating lengthy commutes Fan’s research has also shown that women typically have a shorter commute time than men but make more stops, possibly related to child care, grocery shopping and other errands, whereas men typically use transportation to commute to one location. McDonnell said public
transportation has not been designed to address these needs. Oftentimes, it is challenging to make multiple trips by bus or light rail, and usually results in long wait times and lengthy commutes. For those who live in suburbs these barriers are even more pronounced. For someone living in north Minneapolis who works at the Mall of America, for instance, there is no direct public transportation connecting those two sites, Fan said. This means people would have to consider taking multiple modes of transportation, like taking the bus to a light rail station, and factor in wait times, commutes, safety and the reliability of public transportation. “I think more innovation will be very important,” she said. “We cannot continue to do business as usual.” ’Redefining’ public transit Rather than simply investing in more buses, Fan said city planners have to redefine what public transit is and looks like. In the future, this could be like
investing in car-pooling or pick up services like Uber that are operated by a public transit service. In her thesis, McDonnell lists a series of recommendations for city planners moving forward. Some of her suggestions include collecting city-level transportation data by gender and providing transportation vouchers to people receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. “It is important to include community voices, because while many of us involved in the transportation field bring tremendous technical expertise to the table, the folks who are most immediately impacted by our decisions are the people who live in the neighborhoods,” said Gloria Jeff, an experienced transportation executive and urban planner who heads MnDOT’s Metro District Livability Initiative. “Focusing on transit is important … [it’s] not just how you get from point A to point B, but also how transportation provides you with access to a variety of other opportunities.”
12 Monday, February 22, 2021
UMN neighborhoods see crime increase compared to start of 2020
Marcy-Holmes saw an uptick in property and violent crimes. By Ethan Fine efine@mndaily.com
Several neighborhoods around the University of Minnesota have seen an increase in crimes since the start of 2021 compared to the same window in 2020, according to data from the Minneapolis Police Department. Both violent and property crimes in the Marcy-
Holmes and Prospect Park neighborhoods are at a fiveyear high. Cedar-Riverside has declined in crime, while Como has remained steady in violent crimes and increased in property crimes. “When we have people under stress and strain, all of which have happened during the pandemic, we probably see a rise in crime,” said Marcus Mills, a former Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association Executive Board member. “If you compare the year so far to the year before, you’re going to find massive increases in crime and all
kinds of hardships.” As of February 16, MarcyHolmes has reported 22 violent crimes since Jan. 1. This is an increase from this time last year, when the neighborhood reported only eight violent crimes. The neighborhood has 70 more property crimes than last year at this time, with a total of 128 property crimes since Jan. 1, according to MPD’s data dashboard. “When you get people who feel isolated and people who are facing regular exposure to potentially lifethreatening circumstances, the idea that some people hit breaking points sooner
than they would ordinarily doesn’t strike me as odd,” Mills said. Since the start of 2021, violent crime in Prospect Park has more than doubled from this time last year, with 11 reported since Jan. 1. Prospect Park has reported 28 more property crimes than last year, with 73 in 2021. Cedar-Riverside, however, has reported 12 violent crimes so far this year, a 33% decrease since the previous year and slightly fewer property crimes compared to last year. Como saw 10 reported violent crimes in 2021, a
slight increase from last year at this time. However, the neighborhood almost doubled in property crime from last year, with 50 incidents. The Southeast Como Improvement Association (SECIA) has taken action against this increase in crimes by creating the Como Cares Team, a public safety group. “The focus of the team is to build community and collectively work to meet the basic needs of neighbors,” said Cody Hoerning, SECIA treasurer. “Research indicates that strong communities, in
which community members can rally around and support those in need, reduce the overall incidence of crime.” Notable crimes There have been two shootings in Dinkytown within the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood since Jan. 1. The first occurred just three hours into the New Year, while the second took place Jan. 30. Both shootings took place on the 1400 block of Sixth Street Southeast. There was also an armed robbery near Dinkytown on Jan. 11., and another in Stadium Village on Jan. 28.
UMN Law clinic that represented Myon Burrell fights against life sentences for juveniles The clinic is working to free those imprisoned at a young age.
By Samantha Woodward swoodward@mndaily.com After hundreds of hours of fighting on behalf of plaintiffs, University of Minnesota Law students often find that their incarcerated clients have too much to contribute to society to be kept behind bars. As part of the Child Advocacy and Juvenile Justice Clinic (CAC) in the University’s Law School, students represent clients in juvenile delinquency and child custody cases under the supervision of the two licensed attorneys who lead the clinic. The students work as their clients’ primary lawyers for free. “[The students have] all been incredibly devoted to our clients,” said Perry Moriearty, a law professor who co-directs the clinic. “They have really engaged with the legal issues, put in thousands of hours to attempt to convince courts and prosecutors that our clients shouldn’t die in prison.” The CAC was created nearly 30 years ago by professor Jean Sanderson and primarily worked on civil custody cases until Moriearty joined the faculty in 2008. Moriearty had a focus on juvenile delinquency cases and brought that expertise
into her co-director role. Then, the CAC began representing people who were serving sentences for juvenile offenses, even if they were no longer kids — including Myon Burrell. Eighteen years of fighting Burrell’s release was not an overnight victory. The 34-year-old was serving life with the opportunity for parole after 30 years for first-degree murder and 15 years for attempted first-degree murder in connection with the death of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards. Burrell has maintained his innocence since his 2002 conviction when he was 16. Burrell’s release in December was the culmination of years of work from family and community — and eventually the CAC team. Last spring, the Associated Press published an investigative report on Burrell’s conviction, poking holes in the evidence. Moriearty said this article helped to create momentum for Burrell’s eventual release. Sen. Amy Klobuchar was the county attorney at the time of the first conviction and was running for president when the article was published. “So people paid attention to it,” Moriearty said. Moriearty and students represented Burrell for his pardon and commutation hearing last December. It was the CAC’s first clemency case. Burrell and his sister filed a petition for a pardon
in November 2019. The CAC team started on the case in August 2020 to add a commutation request — a reduction of the sentence — to Burrell’s pardon application. The CAC challenged Burrell’s punishment, not his conviction. The team argued that the 18 years he had already served were disproportionately harsh, especially because they say he did not commit the crime. They also pushed that he should be released because he did well during his incarceration and had a stable reentry plan. Moriearty brought recent University graduate Matthew DiTullio onto the case, who prepared for the hearing by getting to know Burrell and gathering evidence to support his request. DiTullio said it was the CAC’s job to show Minnesota’s Board of Pardons that Burrell deserved to be let out and that he would come home to “family, friends and a road to employment” if he was released. He noted that Burrell is very close with his family and is deeply connected to his faith after converting to Islam while in prison. Third-year law student Kaitlyn Falk said her role as the student attorney was to gather evidence in support of Burrell’s petition, review 18 years of prison records, meet with family members and work with the team to tell Burrell’s story. Burrell’s family, especially
his sister, was instrumental in keeping the community’s attention on the case. “I think what’s happening with Myon is truly incredible. And it’s also an excellent demonstration that there’s a lot, a lot of work still to be done,” DiTullio said. “And a lot of people who are facing similar circumstances to Myon’s are needing to be out and have so much to contribute.” A few months before Burrell’s release, an independent panel of national legal experts was formed to examine if he was wrongfully convicted and, separately, whether the sentence he was serving was excessive. Prior to his commutation, the panel found both things to be true. “The time that he had served seemed to be enough,” said Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor and sentencing expert who chaired the panel. “If we keep people in prison beyond the point where our goals are fulfilled, we’re just being cruel.” Burrell was advised not to speak to the media while he has an active case. Once Burrell’s petition for commutation was approved, he was released from Stillwater prison on Dec. 15. He is now serving two years of supervised release. “It’s really incredible to see the changes that your work can do for a person’s life,” Falk said. “You can just kind of see the life brought back into him.”
This was the first commutation request granted by Minnesota’s Board of Pardons since at least 1992. But Moriearty said the credit goes to the family and community members who continued to “yell at the top of their lungs, to protest, to get people to pay attention to the fact that he was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated.” Miller v. Alabama and resentencing juveniles facing life without parole In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama that no state is allowed to have a statute or law that makes it mandatory for a juvenile to be sentenced to life without parole. Minnesota had this statute. So after the Supreme Court ruling, Minnesota was required to convert those to 30-year sentences, which applied to eight inmates in the state. One of them — who is currently represented by the CAC — was Brian Flowers. Flowers was convicted in 2010 of two counts of aiding and abetting first-degree murder and was given two sentences of life without parole when he was 16 years old. The CAC has been working with Flowers for over seven years and will represent him at an upcoming resentencing hearing. Students will argue that he should serve his two 30-year to life sentences concurrently, not consecutively. This would mean he would be eligible for release after 30 years.
Following the Miller v. Alabama ruling, courts are supposed to approach juvenile cases differently than adult cases due to a juvenile’s “reduced culpability,” “greater capacity to change” and more outside influence “by their environment,” said Anwen Parrott, a thirdyear law student and a CAC student director working on the Flowers case. “What we know about who our client was then and who he is now … his culpability suggests you should have it a shorter sentence of 30 years,” Parrott said. Nari Kretschmer, a third-year law student and co-student director for the Flowers case with Parrott, said the resentencing of juveniles facing a sentence of life without parole is an uncharted area of law that she is grateful for to be working on as a student. “Brian always tells us that he feels really lucky to have us because most of the people in his position don’t have people fighting for them,” Kretschmer said. Flowers’ next resentencing hearing has been pushed back to May due to the pandemic. He was advised not to speak to the media while he has an active case. “I think we’ve had sort of individual incremental victories in a case,” Moriearty said. “But in cases like Brian Flowers’ case, we don’t see ourselves as done or really having had a victory until they’re out.”
Minneapolis City Council unanimously votes yes on facial recognition and surveillance technology ban
Minneapolis joins several large cities in banning the tech.
By Samantha Hendrickson shendrickson@mndaily.com An ordinance banning city use of facial recognition technology passed unanimously in the Minneapolis City Council on Feb. 10, and advocates are eyeing a statewide ban in the future. The ordinance was spearheaded by Ward 3 Council member Steve Fletcher, with support from the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU) and input from
the city attorney and the Minneapolis community. The new ban will prohibit facial recognition technology by all city entities, including the Minneapolis Police Department. “I feel really strong about it. We really made the case, and everybody was convinced that this was the right direction to go,” Fletcher said. The ban does not yet extend to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office, which often shares resources with MPD and is currently in possession of this technology. A University of Minnesota spokesperson said campus police do not currently use facial recognition technology. Bans on facial recognition
technology are increasing nationally and globally. Cities such as New York City and Portland, Oregon already banned the tech, plus all of Canada. Many experts say the costs outweigh the benefits, as studies have shown facial recognition technology to be largely inaccurate, especially when identifying women, children and people of color. A 2018 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Microsoft found that darker-skinned women are nearly 35% more likely to be misidentified by facial recognition technology than lighter-skinned white men. Munira Mohamed, a policy associate at the Minnesota ACLU, said the organization was grateful
for Fletcher’s help and now is focused on getting the ban recognized at the county and, eventually, state level. “[Passing this ordinance] means we can finally start having a conversation about surveillance technology within the broader scope of police reform,” Mohamed said. The ACLU is also working alongside cybersecurity experts, as part of a coalition called Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology and Military Equipment, on a broader surveillance initiative that would include bans on thermal cameras, drones and unknown, evolving technologies. While the ordinance bans the use of facial recognition technology as a whole across
Minneapolis, departments can submit an appeal to the City Council asking to use the technology in special circumstances. “Surveillance technology is not useless. There are legitimate use cases, whether they be related to law enforcement or whether they be related to unlocking your iPhone,” said Chris Weyland, a cybersecurity consultant who has been working with the Minnesota ACLU. “There’s all kinds of legitimate use cases that don’t violate people’s Fourth Amendment rights.” However, Weyland emphasized that just as dangerous as the technology itself is the harboring of the technology’s data, which is often shared without
consent or stolen from law enforcement databases and “abused or misused.” In 2016, independent journalist Tony Webster made public the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office’s use of facial recognition technology after suing the department for the information. While he said the ordinance is a step in the right direction for those who wish to see the technology banned in Minnesota, he questions how effective it will be. “I wonder if there might be this sort of ‘wink wink’ relationship,” Webster said. “Even if there’s not a formal collaboration on a specific investigation, a lot of what’s called intelligence sharing could happen.”