CAMPUS & METRO
FOOTBALL
CAMPUS & METRO
Part two of a seven-week series that profiles Minneapolis mayoral candidates.
University alumnus, professor use phones for chemistry
Cobb steps up in key role for Gophers
A new technique could save high schools thousands of dollars on equipment.
David Cobb was a third-stringer at the start of the season, but he has emerged.
u See PAGE 6
u See PAGE 8
SUNNY HIGH 75° LOW 55°
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
ST PAUL
Candidates talk issues, student advice u See PAGE 12
WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 25, 2013
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
Sticker shock: MSA budget fails calculating the cost of care STUDENT GOVERNMENT
There weren’t enough reps. for a vote, and members disagreed on leadership stipends. BY KYLE STOWE kstowe@mndaily.com
After a contentious debate, the Minnesota Student Association failed to pass a budget for fiscal year 2014 at its Tuesday forum. This delay means MSA won’t be able to disburse grants to other student groups for at least two weeks, or until it passes a budget, possibly causing cancellation of some campus events for groups that rely on the money. At the Tuesday meeting, group members discussed how to spend the undergraduate student government’s nearly $200,000 budget, but they were at odds over how to fund stipends, and not enough voting members were at the meeting to make a decision. Matt Forstie, an MSA member and chairman of the Minnesota Student Legislative Coalition, said delaying the budget will cause “huge problems.” Almost 18 percent of MSA’s proposed u See MSA Page 6 Stipends were also controversial during last year’s student services fees process.
MULTICULTURAL
Three vie for GLBTA spot GLBTA Programs Office director candidates finished public presentations Monday. BY HAILEY COLWELL hcolwell@mndaily.com
The University of Minnesota’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Ally Programs Office is nearing the end of its search for a new director. Three finalists for the position recently gave public presentations that addressed challenges in LGBT acceptance on campus and offered ways to make the University more inclusive. The director reports to the Assistant Vice President for Equity and Diversity and is responsible for communicating the needs and issues of the LGBT community to dif ferent par ts of the University. The director also provides resources to people who experience discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender expression. u See GLBTA Page 3 Candidates said there’s still work to do at the U.
TRANSPORTATION
MHNA works for bikeway The organization asked for MnDOT’s help with a new trail crossing under I-35W.
TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE PROCEDURES IN STATE $242,738
SEPTICEMIA TREATMENT
FAIRVIEW
$239,705
BY MARION RENAULT mrenault@mndaily.com INFECTIOUS AND PARASITIC DISEASES WITH O.R. PROCEDURE
FAIRVIEW
$196,376
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DIAGNOSIS AND VENTILATOR SUPPORT FOR 96+ HOURS FAIRVIEW
$193,498
Fairview consistently charges some of Minnesota’s highest prices for procedures.
MAJOR SMALL AND LARGE BOWEL PROCEDURE
FAIRVIEW
$193,268
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DIAGNOSIS AND VENTILATOR SUPPORT FOR 96+ HOURS FAIRVIEW SOUTHDALE HOSPITAL
$192,865
INFECTIOUS AND PARASITIC DISEASES WITH O.R. PROCEDURE HENNEPIN COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER
$189,554
SEPTICEMIA TREATMENT ABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL
$187,587
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DIAGNOSIS AND VENTILATOR SUPPORT FOR 96+ HOURS ABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL
$184,645
SEPTICEMIA TREATMENT NORTH MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER
$183,172
INFECTIOUS AND PARASITIC DISEASES WITH O.R. PROCEDURE NORTH MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER SOURCE: CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES PROVIDER CHARGE DATA
There is large variation across hospitals for essentially the same service, and this raises a really important issue:
The University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fair view charged $163,690 for gastrointestinal hemorrhage surgery in fiscal year 2011. Nine miles away, the same procedure cost $19,770 — an eighth of Fairview’s sticker price — at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital. This gap illustrates the murky business of how hospitals decide the cost of care. It’s standard practice for hospitals to slap essentially meaningless sticker prices on their lists of procedures — prices that patients rarely pay in full. And Fairview touts some of the highest prices in the state, according to data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services earlier this year. The data include charge information for 50 Minnesota hospitals. Fair view’s prices are often triple or quadruple the cost of the state’s cheapest hospitals. It tops the list for any given procedure nearly 37 percent of the time — more than any other Minnesota hospital. “There is large variation across hospitals for essentially the same service,” said Jean Abraham, a University health policy and management associate professor. “And this raises a really important issue: why?” That question has no clear answer, because the true value of a procedure gets lost somewhere between the sticker price and a patient’s final medical bill.
SEE HEALTH CARE PAGE 4
Jean Abraham
University health policy and management associate professor
ELECTION 2013
Students, candidates talk Dinkytown Eight mayoral hopefuls expressed support for development in Dinkytown. BY ALEXI GUSSO agusso@mndaily.com
Eight mayoral frontrunners were cautiously supportive of development in Dinkytown at their first forum on campus Tuesday. The candidates generally agreed that the development in Dinkytown is a step in the right direction, but all said that safe and affordable student housing is a
necessity. Three student organizations invited candidates Mark Andrew, Jackie Cherryhomes, Betsy Hodges, Don Samuels, Cam Winton, Stephanie Woodruff, Bob Fine and Doug Mann to participate in the event at Coffman Union’s theater. Nearly every candidate said they suppor ted the Opus group’s controversial 140-unit apartment complex that displaced House of Hanson and other local businesses, which is under construction now. Mayoral candidate and current city councilwoman Hodges said she supports a balance of historic buildings and “mom
and pop shops” in the area. Andrew said it’s impor tant for the neighborhood to have more input on upcoming projects. u See FORUM Page 6 Students asked candidates about public safety in the University area. RELATED CONTENT Candidates visited campus during a voter registration event early Tuesday. u See Page 3
BY JANE CAMPBELL jcampbell@mndaily.com
The Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association wants to add a straight bike connection between the Stone Arch Bridge and the Dinkytown Greenway, which currently ends behind the University of Minnesota’s Sanford Hall. The bikeway would run underneath Interstate 35W along the Mississippi River and the railroad tracks near the 10th Avenue Bridge, which connects the University’s East and West banks. It would allow bikers and pedestrians to cross I-35W at a point where there are no cars. Currently, the only place to cross without car traffic is the pedestrian bridge on Fifth Street Southeast. MHNA President Cordelia Pierson requested help on the project in a letter to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. u See BIKEWAY Page 6 MHNA also wants improvements to the Fifth Street Southeast bridge by 2017.
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
Eight mayoral candidates, left to right: Mark Andrew, Jackie Cherryhomes, Bob Fine, Betsy Hodges, Doug Mann, Don Samuels, Cam Winton and Stephanie Woodruff, speak about issues during a debate hosted by MSA and MPIRG at the Coffman Theater on Tuesday evening.
VOLUME 115 ISSUE 14