CAMPUS & METRO
CAMPUS & METRO
SPORTS
William Donohue will replace Mark Rotenberg on May 22 until the U finds a new head lawyer.
Skin cancer rates have doubled statewide in the past two decades.
Jordan Dalluge will compete in an amateur show this Saturday.
U dermatologists offer free skin cancer screenings
Kaler announces interim general counsel u See PAGE 3
PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 76° LOW 56°
FOOTBALL
U plans tailgate lot for students
U student Dalluge shows balance as bodybuilder
u See PAGE 3
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
ST PAUL
u See PAGE 8
TUESDAY
MAY 7, 2013
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
Engaged at home, but not married
The University expects the lot to be ready by the start of football season next fall. BY NICKALAS TABBERT ntabbert@mndaily.com
University of Minnesota students may soon be able to enjoy food, alcohol and entertainment outside TCF Bank Stadium before Gophers football games. In an attempt to bring more students to the stadium, the University is creating a proposal for a student tailgate parking lot across the street from the student entrance of TCF Bank Stadium. Student groups on campus have pushed for a student tailgate lot in the past few years. Nearly a dozen tailgate lots surround the area within a few blocks from the stadium, but none are designated solely for students. Executive associate athletics director David Benedict said the Victory Lot — a parking lot northeast of the stadium behind the Thompson Center for Environmental Management — is the only location the University is considering. The Office of the President organized a committee to begin the design of the tailgate lot. Some of the committee members include University Ser vices, Parking and Transportation Services, University Police, the athletics department and the Office for Student Affairs. Members of the committee met with student organization leaders last month to address what provisions students would want the tailgate lot to have. u See TAILGATE Page 8 A University official said police would patrol the lot but not check IDs.
AMANDA SNYDER, DAILY Biology senior Zach Flessert, right, reads the speech he wrote to his fiancé, civil engineering senior Scott Miller, the day he proposed on July 12, 2012. The couple met their freshman year in a physics class and eventually learned they lived in Middlebrook together. They began dating soon after.
For decades, same-sex student couples have been planning weddings — but a state vote as soon as this week will decide if they can finally make it legal. BY JESSICA LEE jlee@mndaily.com
Nearly 40 years ago, two men, one a University of Minnesota law student, became the first to petition the U.S. Supreme Court that they had a constitutional right to marry. Twenty years ago, graffiti painted on the Washington Avenue Bridge read “Faggots Die,” and students were frequently harassed for their sexual orientation. Today, acceptance is higher on campus and nationally, and engaged seniors Zach Flessert and Scott Miller are more accepted now than they would’ve been decades ago. They’ve been dating since freshman year, when they met in a physics class. After they graduate, they plan to have a small wedding ceremony and a big party. But amid all the wedding planning, one question remains: whether their marriage will be recognized by law. The clock is ticking for the same-sex marriage bills to
clear at the state Capitol, and a final vote could happen as soon as this week. On campus, same-sex marriage supporters spurred national debate starting in 1970. That year, law student Jack Baker and his partner, Michael McConnell, tried to get a marriage license at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. When denied, the couple took their case to the courts, culminating with the U.S. Supreme Court refusing to give it a hearing, saying it was a state issue. Now the high court is tackling the issue with cases surrounding the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 decades after the Minnesota couple made the country’s first same-sex marriage request. The national attention surrounding the couple, whose request seemed radical at the time, caused the University’s Board of Regents to renege a job offer for McConnell at the St. Paul campus library. Although it started out shaky, acceptance of same-sex couples is now higher than ever, and the push for recognizing same-sex marriages in Minnesota is strong.
CRIME
SEE SAME-SEX PAGE 4
BIKING
FloCo sees break-ins, violence over weekend Bills to prevent Also, police suspect a connection in two MarcyHolmes burglaries. BY JAKE STARK jstark@mndaily.com
Journalism junior Brie Sievers walked into a chaotic scene at the FloCo Fusion apartment building early Sunday. She and her friend found a man stumbling around a second-floor hallway, his
hands and face covered in blood. When they tried to help him, she said he struggled and punched her in the face. “He missed and only got my lower jaw,” she said. “His hand hit the wall.” Sievers and her friend went downstairs to report the incident to security, she said, but Minneapolis police had already arrived on the scene. “Someone had heard me screaming ‘Stop, stop!’ ” she said. When the officers went to the second floor, Sievers said she heard a girl scream-
ing from the hallway, and the police rushed over to stop the attacker. “It got really quiet,” Sievers said. “The police told me they had to tase him.” The man, who is a University of Minnesota student and resident of FloCo, allegedly broke into four apartments during a 30-minute span, starting at about midnight Sunday, according to a Minneapolis police report. u See CRIME Page 3 The suspect allegedly hit police officers.
For Gunda Georg, writing scientific papers on a weekend is fun. It’s often the
only time she has for that part of her job because the week is full of her other responsibilities. The University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy professor loves what she does,
AMANDA SNYDER, DAILY
University of Minnesota pharmacy professor Gunda Georg will receive the Volwiler Research Achievement Award in July from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
BY BRIAN AROLA barola@mndaily.com
and her colleagues say that’s what keeps her so dedicated to her many roles. Georg is the director of the Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. “I enjoy what I’m doing,” Georg said, “so even if I’m working on the weekends, it doesn’t feel like work.” Georg and colleagues from the University and the University of Kansas recently announced a potential male birth control pill, which the Food and Drug Administration will begin reviewing this summer. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy announced last month it will honor Georg with a research award this July. Georg holds several patents, has published nearly 200 research articles and has mentored more than 110 students, but she insists it’s not that much. “It’s a bit of a juggling act,” she said. Rebecca Cuellar, research assistant professor, said she’s “astounded” by how much Georg gets done ever y day. “They say that people all only have 24 hours,” she said, “but sometimes I’m u See GEORG Page 12 George is co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
u See BIKE LANES Page 3 Proponents cite Chicago’s bike lane laws as a successful model.
U pharmacy prof ‘unrivaled’ in her field BY REBECCA HARRINGTON rharrington@mndaily.com
The legislation has met opposition from policymakers outside the Twin Cities.
Bicycling advocates in Minneapolis and across the countr y often say they want more of their share of the roads, and pro-bicycling legislation at the state Capitol could help grant that wish. Two bills in the transportation omnibus currently being discussed in conference committee would prohibit cars from driving and parking in bike lanes. While biking enthusiasts say the bills are common sense, some politicians from outside the Twin Cities have criticized the bills as only being necessary in state bicycling havens like Minneapolis and St. Paul and as something that should be left for cities to decide. Sen. David Osmek, R-Mound, said cities have the ability to keep cars from parking in bike lanes. “It’s a solution that’s really in search of a problem,” he said during a recent legislative session. “Local jurisdictions already have the ability to assign these locations.” Speaking to the Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee, Osmek said prohibiting parking in bike lanes could take away valuable parking spots right in front of local businesses. But safety is at the forefront of the push for bike-friendly legislation, said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis. “If folks are parking in a bike lane or pulling into bike lanes without any regard for bicyclists in those lanes,” he said, “obviously that creates a pretty significant traffic hazard for bicyclists and drivers.”
RESEARCH
Gunda Georg may have co-created a viable male birth control pill
parking, driving in bike lanes in final stages
VOLUME 114 ISSUE 114