CAMPUS & METRO
Dinkytown security plan moves forward
The plan would include hiring four off-duty cops on busy weekends. u See PAGE 3
CAMPUS & METRO
UMPD working to boost its diversity
The percentage of minority officers is increasing, but hiring is still difficult. u See PAGE 4
MOSTLY SUNNY HIGH 16° LOW 2°
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
SPORTS
Professors’ priorities
Williams’ injury leaves scoring void
Some professors’ attention has strayed from their students to research.
Senior Rodney Williams is a gametime decision for Wednesday’s game.
u See PAGE 6
u See PAGE 8
WEDNESDAY
ST PAUL
STUDENT ISSUES
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
THE TRANSITION
Mental health clinic to expand
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
what comes next for student-athletes
Boynton Health Service wants to hire six more mental health clinic workers. BY CODY NELSON cnelson@mndaily.com
To account for increased demand for mental health services, Boynton Health Service is requesting more than $380,000 in increased funding from the University of Minnesota Student Services Fees Committee. The proposed increase — which would begin in fiscal year 2014 — would primarily be used to hire six new mental health clinic workers and eliminate the $10 co-pay for mental health visits. “The visits just keep on increasing,” said Boynton Chief Medical Officer Gary Christenson. “Because of that increase, we have a capacity issue.” u See BOYNTON Page 3 Due to student demand, there are long waiting lists for mental health services at the clinic.
EMILY DUNKER, DAILY
Former Gophers hockey player and new Minneapolis Novas head coach Joe Dziedzic watches his players during an end-of-practice relay Feb. 11 at Parade Ice Arena in Minneapolis.
Former Gophers player Joe Dziedzic is working to revitalize Minneapolis high school hockey. BY SAM GORDON sgordon@mndaily.com
Now, Dziedzic is trying to revive hockey’s popularity and the high
Joe Dziedzic is the last Minneapolis public high school graduate
LEGISLATURE
Tobacco tax increase is in the works Opponents say higher tax rates on tobacco won’t stop the state’s smokers. BY JESSICA LEE jlee@mndaily.com
State legislators want to substantially increase the state’s tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products to prevent smoking and generate revenue. Last month, Gov. Mark Dayton proposed raising Minnesota’s cigarette tax 94 cents and some legislators hope to raise it as much as a $1.60, making it one of the highest in the nation. Health proponents say the increases
to play hockey for the Gophers. If there’s another one, he’ll likely have something to do with it.
school program in his hometown. Minneapolis once had a rich hockey culture, but the sport’s popularity tailed off when the programs in the city’s schools began to fail.
Dziedzic, 41, is the head coach
Only 36 kids from the city’s sev-
of the Minneapolis Novas, the
en schools tried out for the Novas
high school hockey cooperative
this season.
between the Minneapolis public schools.
“Minneapolis probably had its heyday in the mid-to-late ’70s,”
He grew up in Minneapolis, and
Dziedzic said. “The slide probably
his family has long been involved
started after 1990. That’s when it re-
in the city’s politics. His father Walt
ally started to go downhill.”
was a longtime City Council mem-
This year, Dziedzic’s first as head
ber, and his sister Kari is a state
coach, the Novas won their confer-
senator.
ence with a 20-4-1 record. They’ll play
Politics never interested Joe. Sports did.
Minnetonka in the first round of their section playoffs Thursday.
Dziedzic was a blue-chip football
Rebuilding Minneapolis hockey
and hockey player at Minneapolis
is a long-term project, and Dziedzic
Edison High School. He played four
plans on seeing it through. Right
years at the University of Minneso-
now, the Novas play in the Two Riv-
ta and three seasons in the National
ers Conference, one of the weakest
Hockey League.
in the state.
u See TOBACCO Page 12 Dayton’s proposed tax could generate $370M.
u See DZIEDZIC Page 7
CEDAR-RIVERSIDE
PUBLIC SAFETY
Fire Ambassador Program bridges gap 15th Avenue The Mpls. Fire Department works with teens from the East-African community. BY MERITTE DAHL mdahl@mndaily.com
Fire Capt. Mike Fust was preparing teens for an ice rescue. One at a time, he and his crew zipped the group into a taxi-yellow suit with attached boots, gloves and hood, making them look like something out of a sciencefiction movie. The teens were tr ying on ice rescue suits as part of the Cedar-Riverside Youth Fire Ambassador Program. The 15-weeklong program is designed to improve the relationship between the Minneapolis Fire Department and the neighborhood’s large East-African population. The program is led by MFD Capt. and University of Minnesota graduate student EMILY DUNKER, DAILY
Sixteen-year-old Ubah Salad, right, and 20-year-old Mona Abdullahi practice chest compressions on a test dummy Tuesday at the Brian Coyle Center in Minneapolis.
u See FIRE DEPT. Page 4 The city’s fire department fields several unnecessary calls from the neighborhood.
railroad bridge rated ‘poor’ The bridge is owned by two companies that don’t have to report inspection findings. BY KELSEY SHIRRIFF kshirriff@mndaily.com
On a bright, cold Tuesday morning, Christian Skaret stared up at the rusty, hole-ridden steel under the 15th Avenue bridge. “I get really ner vous when there’s a train going over,” he said. “It just feels like it’s going to crumble.” Skaret, a sophomore studying sports management, business and marketing at the University of Minnesota, walks under the bridge almost every day. u See BRIDGE Page 5 The railroad companies are responsible for the bridge’s upkeep, but their reports aren’t public.
VOLUME 114 ISSUE 75