Seeing red: Nebraska at TCF u See PAGE 9
MARK VANCLEAVE, DAILY FILE PHOTO
MOSTLY SUNNY HIGH 42° LOW 28°
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
ST PAUL
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 24, 2013
STUDENT GROUPS
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
HOUSING
West Bank fights apts.
Student climbers reach new heights
The proposed apartment complex could block a road to a nearby park. BY ALEX BITTER abitter@mndaily.com
BRIDGET BENNETT, DAILY
Minnesota Climbing Team Vice President Joe Zelman climbs Tuesday at the rock wall at the University Recreation and Wellness Center.
Increased interest in the sport is helping the new Minnesota Climbing Team expand. BY JOE KELLEN jkellen@mndaily.com
Spence-Zurek hugged his
Recruiting woes hit small frats
flipped his leg over a handDakota Spence-Zurek
hold and pulled his body up to arrive at the top of the wall.
ness around his waist and
His teammates cheered ec-
considered a route. Ska-
statically, and he effortlessly
punk music blasted as he
came back down to earth.
looked at the wall, trying to solve the vertical puzzle.
ing Team, a University student group that started this
I climb, it’s like the world
fall, has benefited from a
goes away,” said Spence-Zu-
new campus climbing wall
rek, a sociology of law and
and increasing student in-
criminal deviance and politi-
terest in the sport.
cal science junior.
Some chapters say size and location make recruitment a “different game.”
The Minnesota Climb-
“I get so focused when
BY MELISSA BERMAN mberman@mndaily.com
Though University of Minnesota of ficials are working to increase student involvement in Greek life, not all fraternities are growing. The five smallest chapters in the University’s Interfraternity Council have experienced varying trends in membership in recent years. Some said their size has hindered recruitment efforts, while others haven’t experienced much change in membership. Phi Delta Theta is down
The University Recre-
He decided on a tough
ation and Wellness Center,
route, and his fellow Uni-
which opened at the begin-
versity of Minnesota Climb-
ning of September, boasts
ing Team members shout-
a rock wall spanning more
ed advice from below.
than 3,200 square feet. The
“I want to try it so badly,”
old wall in the University
aerospace engineering soph-
Recreation Center was just
omore Lauren Olsen said as
just 390 square feet.
u See CLIMBING Page 14
ADMINISTRATION
BY ALMA PRONOVE apronove@mndaily.com
The list for the new dean of the College of Liberal Ar ts has been nar rowed down to six finalists. After former CLA Dean James Parente announced in March his plans to step down, a committee started recruiting candidates and conducting interviews over the summer to fill the vacancy. The names of the six finalists have not been announced. Over the next month, candidates will participate in public inter views on
to 13 active members this year. Recr uitment Chairman Austin Miller said the challenges of being a small chapter have contributed to the decline. Recr uiting takes a lot of time and effort, he said, and smaller organizations don’t always have enough resources. “Some large chapters could put more men than we have in our entire chapter in charge of recruitment alone,” he said. IFC President Spencer Olson said recruiting can be challenging for smaller fraternities. “They can compete still, but they need to work as hard as the larger fraternities to u See RECRUITING Page 20 Phi Delta Theta is hoping to move closer to fraternity row.
STUDENT MEDIA
CLA dean candidate list narrowed to six The finalists will start giving public interviews next week.
u See WEST BANK Page 4 A historic, century-old former saloon currently sits on the site.
GREEK LIFE
body against a crevice. He
gripped the climbing har-
Cedar-Riverside and the city of Minneapolis are resisting an apartment complex proposed for the neighborhood. Residents say the project, called Five15 on the Park, could increase parking issues, and the city wants to preserve a historic building on the site. Minneapolis-based developer Fine Associates LLC has been working on the project since 2005. The $51.6 million project would add 256 units of mixed-income housing to a vacant lot between Riverside Plaza and 15th Avenue South. Jim White, an associate with Fine, said his firm has consulted with com-
munity organizations in the area each time the project reached a new stage. “We’ve sat and talked for hours,” he said. “If the project evolves, you have to come back and tell them those things.” The firm hasn’t been as receptive to issues raised by residents as it claims, West Bank Community Coalition Executive Director Hussein Ahmed said. Because White attended WBCC meetings when Fine first proposed the project, the neighborhood organization wrote the company a letter of support. The letter stipulated that “ongoing neighborhood dialogue about the plan as it evolves” would be necessar y, but Ahmed said Fine Associates hasn’t met that condition.
campus, give presentations and meet with CLA faculty members and deans from other colleges. “I think they’re all terrific people, and I think there are a lot of very thoughtful notions about the future of liberal arts,” said College of Design Dean Tom Fisher, who chairs the search committee. In July, political science department chair Raymond Duvall was appointed to serve as the college’s interim dean until a replacement is found. The names of the six finalists will not be announced until 24 hours before their respective public inter views “in order to u See DEAN Page 5 The committee conducted private interviews earlier this fall.
Students to rebuild broadcast scene Two groups are aiming to give U students broadcast experience. BY HAILEY COLWELL hcolwell@mndaily.com
Charlie Weierke transfer red to the University of Minnesota in hopes of building his broadcast journalism portfolio — but that proved to be harder than anticipated. The journalism sophomore said when he arrived, he found an inactive student broadcast group and an academic program with underutilized resources. Now, Weierke and other University students hope to change the situation. After a lull in student broadcast oppor tunities on campus, two groups are
HOLLY PETERSON, DAILY
University of Minnesota students Austin Kedrowski, Kassi Vickerman, Matthew Ogbeifun and Tarek Abdelkhalig review video footage from a G-Eazy concert in the Roy Wilkins conference room Oct. 16.
looking to bring back student broadcast media. Ski-U-Media, a news
broadcast group co-headed by Weierke, became a University student group
u See BROADCAST Page 3 U Broadcast, another group, dissolved due to a lack of structure.
VOLUME 115 ISSUE 31