CAMPUS & METRO
CAMPUS & METRO
University student’s flight to NASA
Johanna Lucht spent the summer designing a collision-avoidance app. u See PAGE 3
Biking initiative ends, projects continue
There are about 10 projects to finish with the remaining funds of a grant to encourage biking.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Gophers fall to Syracuse Malik Smith shot 4-for-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 16 points. u See PAGE 7
u See PAGE 4
MOSTLY CLOUDY HIGH 22° LOW 12°
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
STUDENT LIFE
Medical amnesty used little Police haven’t seen a significant rise in calls for care since the law took effect. BY JULIA MARSHALL jmarshall@mndaily.com
Though the state’s medical amnesty law has offered legal protections to underage drinkers for months, University of Minnesota students aren’t using it widely. The law gives legal immunity to minors seeking medical care for themselves or one another, but University police said they haven’t seen those calls increase since the policy took effect Aug. 1. The Minnesota Student Association, which advocated for the law, is now pushing to raise student
u See AMNEST Y Page 3 Underage drinking could still violate the student conduct code.
Study: Harvests must increase BY NICOLAS HALLETT nhallett@mndaily.com
To keep up with increasing food demand, farmers across the world should cultivate their land more often, according to a University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment study published Monday. The study, which analyzed the harvesting of 177 crops worldwide between 1961 and 2011, showed how land that’s used to cultivate crops has changed over time. It suggested increasing how often crops are har vested, rather than previously suggested strat-
egies such as expanding croplands. “Farmers are already har vesting their land more frequently,” said Deepak Ray, the study’s lead author, “but it could move even faster.” The world population is expected to increase by nearly 2.3 billion people by 2050. To keep up, global crop production must increase 60 to 110 percent by that time, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. Ray said farmers do not always reap the full benefits of their har vests. On average, he said, they miss an extra har vest cycle every two years. This creates the “har vest gap” — the u See HARVEST Page 3 Ray said countries with tropical climates would benefit most.
HEALTH
Boynton pushes for textbased mental health help The grant-funded messaging service would resemble a crisis line. BY T YLER GIESEKE tgieseke@mndaily.com
Boynton Health Service is investigating another way to address the ever-increasing demand for mental health resources on the University of Minnesota campus. This time, it’s catering to what often seems like the crux of college students’ lives — the mobile phone. Boynton hopes to give more students access to the help they need by offering mental health intervention services through text messaging. Researchers are applying for a grant to help develop and evaluate the project, but they plan to keep
TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 26, 2013
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime is down, but campus worries over recent uptick
awareness of medical amnesty. University police Deputy Chief Chuck Miner estimated that about 20 to 25 students have claimed medical amnesty this fall. Most of those calls have come from residence hall workers, he said. “There’s really no increase in the number of calls from residence hall staf f members regarding intoxicated people.” Miner said. “But what’s different now is that those calls are turning into medical amnesty cases.” MSA President Mike Schmit said the association sent an email to undergraduate students earlier this
RESEARCH
U researchers say farmers should harvest more to meet demand.
ST PAUL
exploring the idea even without receiving funding. The text message-based intervention would resemble a crisis call line, where students could send a text to staff members whether they just wanted advice or were in a crisis, said Boynton Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gar y Christenson. Researchers still have questions they want answered, he said, like whether staf f members receiving texts should be health professionals or if trained volunteers could also be utilized. He said a similar program staffed with professionals who super vise volunteers has been successful. Carlton County Public Health and Human Services in northern Minnesota u See TEXT Page 4 Student mental health demand climbs about 5 percent annually.
HOLLY PETERSON, DAILY
Freshman Drake Bauer signs the Minnesota Student Association’s safety pledge on Thursday at Middlebrook Hall. MSA members asked students to sign a pledge that they will call 624-WALK or the Gopher Chauffeur instead of walking home alone.
Though campus crime is down, many students say they feel unsafe. BY KIA FARHANG AND NICK STUDENSKI mfarhang@mndaily.com nstudenski@mndaily.com Editor’s note: This is the first in a four-part series on perceptions of crime on campus. Look for part two next week.
While crime on and around the University of Minnesota campus has been decreasing for years, a string of violent incidents in the past month has left many students feeling unsafe.
Police and University of ficials stress that the spike in crime is not the first of its kind and that the area is relatively safe compared to other Minneapolis neighborhoods. But because most stu-
dents only live in the area for a few years, they may not be aware of the longer downward trend in crime. Of ficials say social media, email and text message aler ts also impact students’ perceptions by making crime more visible than ever before. u See CRIME Page 12 The University mirrors nationwide trends in perception of crime.
FOOTBALL
Gophers in position for January bowl game Minnesota is still in contention for a spot in the Capital One Bowl. BY JACK SATZINGER jsatzinger@mndaily.com
As senior defensive back Brock Vereen stepped away from the press conference follow-
ing the University of Minnesota’s 20-7 loss to the University of Wisconsin on Saturday, Capital One Bowl representative Jim Will sprung out of his seat and pulled him aside. “I just want you to know you’re not mathematically eliminated [from the Capital One Bowl],” Will said to Vereen. That’s a silver lining for
a Gophers team that lost to a rival and saw its chances at the Rose Bowl slip away in the same afternoon. Minnesota won’t be headed to Pasadena, Calif., in January, but after playing in the coldest game in TCF Bank Stadium history, it still has a chance to escape the frigid weather for a prestigious January bowl game. The Gophers are one
of the final Big Ten teams being considered for the Capital One Bowl. “[If] Michigan State [is] eligible, [it] would be attractive,” Will said. “Wisconsin’s going to be attractive. And I think [Minnesota] is ver y attractive.” u See BOWL Page 8 Bowl selection committees will also look at teams’ fan bases.
FACULTY/STAFF
Campus foundry loses its overseer After 44 years, sculpture Prof. Wayne Potratz will retire this spring. BY CALLIE SACARELOS csacarelos@mndaily.com
Memorabilia fr om a 44-year career at the University of Minnesota plaster the walls of Wayne Potratz’s office. The foundr y, just outside the sculpture professor’s of fice door, is arguably one of the finest college metal casting facilities for sculpture in the countr y. The space r etains a warm and welcoming feel, per fect for getting hands dir ty making molds and pouring metals for sculpture. The large, industrial space includes a ventilation system, induction furnaces, a large kiln, two cupolas used for melting metals, a pit containing
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
University foundry professor Wayne Potratz sorts scrap metal at the Regis Center on Nov. 19. His final pour before retiring will be Tuesday.
sand for sculpture molds, an industrial crane overhead for heavy lifting and a teapot resting on a gas stove. Potratz has been casting metal and teaching
sculpture at the University for nearly half a centur y, but his last pour as a professor and foundr y master is Tuesday. Potratz made his first cast metal piece in the
basement of his house in 1959, when he was a high school senior. He went on u See POTRATZ Page 6 Due to costs, Potratz said he’s not sure he’ll be replaced.
VOLUME 115 ISSUE 49