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Editorials & Opinions www.mndaily.com/opinion
Pure prayer politics The Catholic Church would benefit from moderation and ideological unity.
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n August, Pope Francis alluded to the increasing liberalization of the Catholic Church’s adherents by saying that the church can’t afford to focus on social issues “all the time.” To those who read the inter view in full, it becomes clear that Francis’ comment stemmed not from an ambitious desire to reverse Catholic opinion on social issues such as contraception, marriage equality and abortion — “The teaching of the church,” Francis asser ted, “is clear” — but rather from the need to avoid alienating the devout and any potential conver ts. His words constitute a reactive, not a liberal, message that is designed to pr otect the Vatican’s interests. More questionable than the message’s intent, however, is the manner in which the Catholic bureaucracy will interpret the pope’s call
BRIAN REINKEN columnist
to action. John Nienstedt, archbishop of Minneapolis and St. Paul, ser ves as a good example of how the message could be lost in translation. A few weeks before Francis’ comment, Nienstedt assured his congregation that the “Father of Lies” is “the source” behind “sodomy, contraception, abortion” and “the redefinition of marriage.” Nienstedt’s rhetoric is perhaps the epitome of the language Francis has renounced. The pope, for what it’s worth, could feel exactly the same way as Nienstedt. What separates Francis from his subordinate is that he knows better than to vocalize
his political opinion in such a polarizing way. Ultimately, of course, Francis will be unable to control how his message is received by church leadership. Renowned for his continual harangues against marriage equality and homosexuality, Nienstedt doesn’t seem the type to back away from the social war that he’s become (in)famous for waging. It’s almost certain that some local parishes will disregard Francis’ message and continue to focus the limelight on social issues. In the eyes of the church, however, a message from the pope is a message from God. Francis is literally infallible, and to dismiss his orders sets a dangerous precedent. When a highly centralized bureaucracy begins to defy its supreme commander, the state’s center doesn’t hold. It should be remembered that one of Mar tin Luther’s foremost grievances with the Catholic Church was its doctrine of papal infallibility — and look where he ended up. For better or worse, the Catholic public is now suffi-
DEATHS IN IRAQ: U.S. & COALITION TROOPS: 4,802 — IRAQI CIVILIANS: 114,813- PLUS DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN: U.S. & COALITION TROOPS: 3,374 — AFGHAN CIVILIANS: UNKNOWN
ciently powerful to influence politics within the Vatican. In an age when skepticism and secularism are becoming more and more ubiquitous, the church cannot af ford to squabble within itself. It would benefit from the pursuit of political and rhetorical moderation. Extremism and par tisanism will decrease both the church’s legitimacy and its political ef ficacy. If Catholicism is to remain relevant in a globalized world, it needs to be willing to consider new viewpoints, not merely those who hail from the ancient regime. Compromising with a changing world doesn’t necessarily mean compromising the church’s beliefs. Francis appears to recognize the delicate situation of the Catholic Church. Nienstedt does not. The archbishop should realize that Satan, occupied by his 9-to-5 job at Planned Parenthood, cannot threaten the Catholic Church nearly as well as can the church’s very own bishops. Brian Reinken welcomes comments at breinken@mndaily.com.
STUDENT LIFE
There’s no place like homecoming As students, it’s important to paint the town maroon and gold annually.
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Emily Johnson welcomes comments at ejohnson1@mndaily.com.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Why It Matters: One key issue left on the Vikings stadium deal is how much the team can charge season ticket holders for the right to buy their tickets. It’s the negotiating equivalent of the twominute drill. This week, the Minnesota Spor ts Facilities Commission — the public body working on the new Vikings stadium — is scheduled to approve the final deal with the NFL team, thus allowing the bonds to be sold and allowing serious constr uction to begin. That timeline assumes the financial details are settled. A lot has emerged in recent weeks on that topic. Figures from the Minnesota Gambling Control Board revealed that electronic pulltab sales — intended to carr y the state’s share of the burden — yielded zero funds for the stadium project. This is the maximum possible error in the projection, from $35 million in the first year to zilch, and it should e m b a r r a s s G o v. M a r k Dayton, who bought into the optimism. A judge in New Jersey socked the Vikings’ owners with more than $84 million in fines and damages in a long-r unning lawsuit over civil fraud and racketeering. The Wilfs promise
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EDITORIALS
RELIGION
Vikings stadium deal leaves funding questions unanswered
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
an appeal. Considering that the original lawsuit dragged out more than 21 years, the stadium figures to be open for business long before the Wilfs ever disgorge any of the $84 million. The ver dict pr ompted a clamorous audit of the W ilfs’ enterprises. A financial review confirmed that the Wilfs still have the financial wherewithal to meet their stadium commitments. This doesn’t come as a surprise because it’s now obvious that the Wilfs are not committing much, if any, of their own money to the project. The Vikings’ share is supposed to be $477 million. But $200 million will come from the NFL, and the naming rights to the edifice are expected to yield something in excess of $100 million. And the rest may well come from dunning season ticket holders thousands of dollars for “personal seat licenses.” PSLs are common with new stadiums; it’s a onetime fee over and above the cost of the tickets themselves and generally gives the holder ownership of the seats. The Twins sold personal seat licenses for the Legends Club seating area in Target Field in the range of $1,000 to $2,000 a pop. Dayton, perhaps stinging from the failure of the e-pulltabs, this month ur ged the commission to limit the money to be raised through personal
seat licenses. He wrote that the Wilfs should “provide a significant share of their financial contribution from their own resources, and not from Vikings fans through the sale of expensive personal seat licenses.” The stadium legislation expr essly per mits their PSLs and the naming rights. The issue is how much the V ikings will be allowed to charge. The Dallas Cowboys set their PSLs at $100,000 and $150,000; the San Francisco 49ers’ licenses topped out at $80,000. The V ikings repor tedly did a study on a $30,000 fee; what that revealed isn’t publicly known. Our take on this is that the market will solve it. If the W ilfs charge too much for the seat licenses, they won’t sell enough and they’ll have to come up with the funds themselves. And if enough fans are willing to shell out the cash, there’s no real problem. PSLs are in effect a true user fee. Those who don’t go to the games aren’t paying it. The governor may now regret the stadium bill he helped push through the Legislature. But his regrets, if any, should be about the failed public financing plan, not which revenue stream the private money comes from. This editorial was published Sept. 26 by the Mankato Free Press. Comments should be sent to letters@mndaily.com.
he University of Minnesota student body painted the campus maroon and gold, donned in their own Gopher pride, for homecomADITI PRADEEP ing over the columnist weekend. Few colleges boast the impressive student population the University does. With about 50,000 students on our campus, finding one thing to unite us is a daunting task. Homecoming, however, is a time when every single person could feel the tr ue spirit of the University. What does homecoming mean, though? Is it going to the concer t, or bundling up for the football game? Is it building floats and joining with greek houses to celebrate? The essence of homecoming lies not solely in the activities, but in the word itself. Homecoming gives perspective on where we were compared to where we are now. It’s the realization of our place in a larger world of thousands of intersecting lives. It is the contagious spirit that it inspires out of shared connection. Homecoming is the ritual of walking in the parade, waving to Gophers both young and old. It is exploring the nostalgia that University students share — they feel it when they walk through the mall or revisit Cof fman Union. Most importantly, it’s honoring the moments when you made connections with friends, mentors and your dreams on our campus. Homecoming is a fancy word for showing appreciation for your college experience. It is a celebration of both the spectacle and mundane. I don’t mean to read too far into the event, but whatever you chose to do last weekend, your experience was influenced by homecoming festivities. Perhaps waiting in traffic or going through Facebook was your only reminder, but that may have been enough to inspire remembrance of times past. If you felt this sense of pride and gratification at being here at the University, you experienced the essence of homecoming. In that moment, you were a par t of something bigger than yourself. Aditi Pradeep welcomes comments at apradeep@mndaily.com.
CSL receives poor treatment The relocation of the city’s only plasma center reveals the U area’s NIMBYism.
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he Minneapolis City Council approved rezoning last week that will allow the CSL plasma center to move away from campus, the Minnesota Daily reported Sept. 24. This was the last hurdle for WaHu Student Housing, a massive, long-delayed apartment complex proposed for the site. At 333 units, WaHu is the largest planned development around the University of Minnesota. It will displace the 30-year-old CSL Plasma Center, which takes 400 to 600 donations per day. The drama surrounding the relocation reveals troubling attitudes that have dominated discussion of development throughout the University district. “Better here than Dinkytown,” one commenter said of WaHu on the Daily’s Facebook page. Rather than weighing the needs of students a sustainable community, most have simply said of development, “not in my backyard.” This “NIMBYism” underscored CSL’s attempt to move a few blocks further east into Prospect Park last year. The area’s neighborhood association opposed the move, the Daily reported in December, and business owners complained that the center attracted litter and crime. But the city’s only plasma center also attracts students who donate to make ends meet, and many more people who rely on public transit. CSL’s new location on Lake Street is not as accessible by many bus lines or light rail, especially compared to its current site. CSL and its large community of donors stood to benefit from staying in Prospect Park, but instead a NIMBY attitude needlessly delayed WaHu and stuck the center with a site that’s much less accessible to students. The community’s problems with CSL largely stemmed from poor management. In December, City Councilman Gary Schiff told the Daily, “We hear complaints about badly managed bars, but that doesn’t mean we ban bars.” The neighborhood should have worked with CSL to both improve it and keep it nearby, rather than push a perceived blight on another neighborhood. Furthermore, if students are against large luxury apartment buildings like WaHu — another issue entirely — they should fight to keep them out of all University neighborhoods, not just Dinkytown.
Students should know their loan repayment options The DOE’s outreach program will help students manage their debt more effectively.
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tudent loans are becoming a common burden for college graduates struggling under inflated tuition. And with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimating that student debt is now more than $1 trillion, President Barack Obama has made several proposals aimed at making college more affordable. One of them aims to make the repayment process clearer by contacting borrowers and letting them know their options and whether they qualify for certain payment programs based on their income. The U.S. Department of Education “is planning to send e-mails to those who seem most likely to benefit from the [loan payment] programs, explaining debt-relief plans based on the borrower’s income,” the New York Times reported Sept. 24. Though the Department of Education does not have unlimited access to borrowers’ private financial information, the plan intends primarily to educate individuals on the types of loan repayment programs they may be eligible for. Programs like Income-Contingent Repayment, Income-Based Repayment, Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Pay As You Earn all have different qualifications that may be difficult to sort out for recent graduates as well as those squarely in the workforce, especially without outside help or updates on program changes. This outreach program is a step in the right direction for making college costs more transparent and more affordable. Most any initiative to make the borrowing process less confusing and more accessible to students should be supported. Lawmakers should continue to look for ways to make the college financial process easier to understand.
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF TONY WAGNER = EDITORIALS & OPINIONS EDITOR ERIC BEST = SENIOR EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER WILLIAM BORNHOFT = BOARD MEMBER CASSANDRA SUNDARAM