February 7, 2013

Page 1

NATIONAL SIGNING DAY:

Gophers address needs with 2013 class

Minnesota’s 19-player class ranked last in the Big Ten, but coach Jerry Kill seemed optimistic. u See PAGE 9

FEW SNOW SHOWERS HIGH 29° LOW 11° U OF M

MENTAL HEALTH

For mental health risks, depts. work together The U created a team after the Virgina Tech massacre. BY JAKE STARK jstark@mndaily.com

Seung-Hui Cho had raised red flags in the years before he went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, killing 32 — but information wasn’t shared among officials enough to address his problems. A state report on the shooting partially faulted the school for not realizing the gravity of Cho’s problems: “no one connected the dots,” it said. “Lots of people on Virginia Tech’s campus had documentation about the student, but they didn’t know each other had the information,” said Sharon Dzik, director of the University of Minnesota’s Office for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity. “It wasn’t a well-kept center for information.” In response to that shooting, the University of Minnesota created the Behavioral Consultation Team, made of 25 mental health professionals, legal experts and University community members who

MINNEAPOLIS

THURSDAY

ST PAUL

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM

RESEARCH

U enzyme discovery could lead to breast cancer cure BY REBECCA HARRINGTON rharrington@mndaily.com

A University of Minnesota discover y published Wednesday could lead to a cure for breast cancer. University researchers, led by College of Biological Sciences professor Reuben Harris, discovered an enzyme that

spurs mutations causing breast cancer. The discover y will allow them to more successfully treat the disease. “One can think about ways to stop it,” Harris said. The study, published online in the major scientific journal Nature on Wednesday, was the combination of five years of work and a team of 17 Univer-

sity co-authors. Har ris said the enzyme causes up to half of all mutations in breast cancer. Their discovery could help find ways to stop the enzyme from mutating breast tumor cells by inhibiting the enzyme from being activated or by stopping the enzyme’s effects using drugs.

Michael Burns, lead author and CBS graduate student, said dr ug treatment would more likely be available sooner. The best par t about the finding, he said, is that it could u See CANCER Page 7 The next step is finding how the enzyme mutates cancers.

STATE OF THE STATE

u See BCT Page 4 Other colleges founded similar teams after Virginia Tech.

CFANS

Students to work with Leg. on environment, ag. policy

CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY

Gov. Mark Dayton delivers his third State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate at the state Capitol on Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn. In his speech, Dayton spoke about Minnesota’s job growth, tax reform, after-school programs, his support of gay marriage and his goal of balancing the state budget.

Dayton: Show me ‘Plan C’ The governor asked lawmakers for a budget solution in his annual address.

BY HAILEY COLWELL hcolwell@mndaily.com

Andrew Morrison spent his first three years at the University of Minnesota in a lab doing environmental research. But this semester, the environmental science senior could be one of a dozen students from the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences to get an inside look at the legislative process, learning how to better advocate for agricultural and environmental topics. “I don’t have any experience with policy or government,” Morrison said. “I’m more of a hard-science, research-type person, so I’m really excited to do this.” The new initiative — the CFANS Policy Engagement Program — is an ef for t of three University alumni currently working in state government. Students will attend meetings over the course of the semester, including a day at the state Capitol to talk with policymakers about agricultural and environmental bills. “Some portions of advocacy can be a

Repeatedly, the governor pointed to bud-

BY JESSICA LEE

get decisions of prior administrations from the

jlee@mndaily.com

past decade — noting tax cuts and unnecessary Gov. Mark Dayton is looking for answers.

spending that he said are plaguing the state now.

In his third State of the State address Wednes-

For now, he said “Plan A” for the state is his

day night, the governor challenged legislators

proposed budget of “spending reductions and

and state officials to offer a better plan than his

selective increases.” Plan B is sticking with Min-

for fixing Minnesota’s $1.1 billion budget short-

nesota’s current plan, the status quo.

fall.

“No one would be happier than me to see a

Dayton defended his ideas for revamping the state’s tax code and increasing spending for

good Plan C,” he said Wednesday. “I’m still looking, and I’m sure listening.”

higher education before a joint session of the

Besides the budget, Dayton spoke upfront

Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives

about his view on legalizing same-sex marriage

in the Capitol’s House chamber.

— a topic that got a standing ovation.

u See CFANS Page 22 Peterson and two other alumni drafted the program to give students the tools to be advocates.

u See STATE Page 6

MUSIC

Jug-heads join for annual battle Jug bands have experienced a mini-revival. BY SPENCER DOAR sdoar@mndaily.com

JAAK JENSEN, DAILY

Michael Kennedy and Mark Richardson of the West Bank Jug Sluggers rehearse together at the West Bank School of Music on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, in Minneapolis.

The notion that jug bands are a manifestation of hillbillies-run-rampant is a misguided one. The jug trend of ’20s and ’30s fame was originally an urban, not rural, display with welldressed members in suits. The idea of odd or homemade instrumentation in popular music did

not die with the end of the fad though. The British picked up the skiffle trend — simply folk and blues music involving some form of improvised contraptions. Fast-for ward to the present, and jug bands have experienced a sort of mini-revival, seen locally in the annual Battle of the Jug Bands. “I love jug band music because it’s such happy music, feel-good music,” said Josh Wise, one of the event’s organizers and jug u See JUG BANDS Page 16

LEGISLATURE

Sunday liquor sales bill introduced, again BY ALMA PRONOVE apronove@mndaily.com

A bipar tisan bill that would lift the longstanding ban on Sunday liquor sales was introduced this week in the Minnesota Senate. Bills allowing Sunday liquor sales have been introduced many times in the past but have never gotten far in the Legislature. The authors, Sens. Roger Reiner t, DFL-Duluth, and Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, proposed the same bill in 2011, but it never made it

through committee. “This [bill] is really, at this point, past its time,” Reinert said. “This change should have already been made. That’s not the reality of the 21st centur y. People work on Sundays.” Reinert said he was unsure how far his bill would get this year. Some students and local businesses support the bill u See LIQUOR Page 3 The bill would also allow legalize sales on certain holidays.

VOLUME 114 ISSUE 68


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