December 10, 2013

CAMPUS & METRO

A&E

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

About 240 students displayed original robots at the CSE Robot Show.

Local fashion designer Christopher Straub collaborated with Papyrus to create paper dresses.

Sarah Erickson was hired this summer at Concordia-Moorhead.

Student engineers make robots, learn the industry u See PAGE 4

PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 8° LOW -11°

The fashionista is in: Holiday window fashion

Erickson coaches college at young age

u See PAGE 8

U OF M

MINNEAPOLIS

ST PAUL

u See PAGE 9

TUESDAY

DECEMBER 10, 2013

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM

PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime could scare off applicants The increase in local crime could deter potential students and renters.

BY KIA FARHANG AND NICK STUDENSKI mfarhang@mndaily.com nstudenski@mndaily.com

Editor’s note: This is t he co nclusio n o f a four-par t series on perceptions of crime on campus.

In the last three months, the University of Minnesota has sent more than a dozen crime alerts and attracted media attention for the several violent incidents on and

around campus.

While officials say they don’t think prospective students will be any more concerned about safety at the University than at other schools, some prospective students say the crime is concerning and may affect their interest in the University.

“It just seems like it’s

getting more and more unsafe,” said Eagan High School senior Nissi Kunjummen. “I’m still applying there, but it’s definitely moved down on my list.”

Associate Vice Provost of Enrollment Management and Director of Admissions Rachelle Hernandez said tour guides have noticed more concern about cam-

pus crime, especially from local families who have heard about the crimes.

Her nandez said families are often curious about what the University does to prevent and respond to crimes, but she doesn’t u See CRIME Page 5 The University has sent alerts for 20 crimes so far this semester.

HEALTH

STUDENT GROUPS

Selling trees to stay afloat

Tobacco ban on home stretch The University community can comment on the ban through Jan. 9.

BY T YLER GIESEKE tgieseke@mndaily.com

A tobacco-free policy at the University of Minnesota opened for public comment online Monday, one of the final steps to its approval.

University employees, students and the public will have one month to voice their opinions on the hotly debated ban before it’s revised one more time.

The new policy would expand the current indoorsmoking ban to forbid all tobacco use — as well as e-cigarettes — anywhere on the Twin Cities, Duluth and Rochester campuses.

The proposed ban allows possible exemptions for research studies, Native American ceremonies, theater performances and, in some cases, the interiors of private vehicles.

The comment period ends Jan. 9, when the President’s Policy Committee will either approve or alter the policy before it takes effect.

Enforcement of the ban relies on the University community rather than law enforcement. Police officers wouldn’t be able to ticket violators, said Ferd Schlapper, Boynton Health Service’s director and chief health officer, but he’s optimistic that nearly everyone u See TOBACCO Page 4 Almost 65 percent of University students support a smoking ban.

BRIDGET BENNETT, DAILY

University Forestry Club member David Rudolph carries a tree in a Les Bolstad Golf Course parking lot Saturday morning.

The Forestry Club’s holiday tree sale is its largest fundraiser of the year.

Alum to raise funds for athletics complex

An annual Christmas tree sale keeps the Forestry Club going all year.

BY ANNE MILLERBERND amillerbernd@mndaily.com

Mark and Sue Galatow-

Club receives little University funding, the tree sale is Club President Lauren

course parking lot Saturday

Stuf ft said it makes be-

to pick out their Christmas

tween $10,000 and $15,000

tree.

in profits from the sale.

The couple has made it a

“We don’t really get

20-year tradition to buy their

much money from the

tree at the University of Min-

school like other clubs the

nesota’s Forestry Club annu-

U will fund,” she said. “But

al sale, this year joining hun-

any funding we do get is

dreds of other Minnesotans

very, very minimal.”

doing the same.

Lou Nanne will help drum up interest in the $190 million project.

a necessity.

itsch went to a small golf

BY DANE MIZUTANI dmizutani@mndaily.com

Proceeds from the sale

Because the Forestr y

cover costs for the club

u See TREES Page 5

GREEK LIFE

St. Paul fraternity wraps renovation Alpha Gamma Rho will finish a $3.5 million revamp on its chapter house in Jan.

Lou Nanne will lead the Athletic Facilities Fundraising Campaign with hopes of raising the $190 million necessary to fund a multi-sport campus athletics complex, the University of Minnesota announced Monday.

It’s a step forward in the facilities plan that athletics director Nor wood Teague unveiled in July.

Nanne, a University alumnus and member of the Gopher Athletic Hall of Fame, was general manager of the Minnesota North Stars and currently works as Senior Managing Direc-

tor at RBC Global Asset Management, Inc. Nanne, 72, said he’s grateful for the chance to give back to the University that provided him with “an enor mous oppor tunity” as a student-athlete in the 1960s.

“I’m honored to do it,” he said. “It’s a heck of a challenge, [but] I’m hopeful we can be successful. I know it’s a long, arduous process and it’s always a tough thing to do, but it’s long overdue.”

In addition to heading the fundraising campaign, Nanne will also oversee a new volunteer leadership council designed to meet “the needs of its studentathletes, coaching staffs and u See ATHLETICS Page 10 Teague said in July the project could be done in 6 to 8 years.

DINKYTOWN

Another lifer closes shop DBA President Skott Johnson is moving away at the end of the year.

BY MELISSA BERMAN mberman@mndaily.com

The sound of saws and drills echoed, and the smell of wet paint filled the air as Alpha Gamma Rho chapter President Kirby Schmidt walked through his fraternity’s house Friday.

Schmidt has checked in on construction every two weeks since July, when a major renovation to the home began.

The nearly $3.5 million project is set for completion early next month, and about 40 fraternity members will move into the new u See HOUSE Page 14 The house was built in 1936 and last renovated 50 years ago.

ATHLETICS

BY NICOLAS HALLETT nhallett@mndaily.com

CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY

Construction workers work on the study area at the new Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house in St. Paul on Monday.

When Skott Johnson leaves Dinkytown after nearly 40 years, he’ll take one box with him.

Inside, he said, are keepsakes from the source of Dinkytown’s charm — its people.

Johnson, a University of Minnesota alumnus,

owns Autographics, a printing shop at the corner of Four th Street Southeast and 13th Avenue Southeast. He’s been the Dinkytown Business Association president for nearly two decades. Johnson, 59, is leaving at the end of December to retur n to his hometown of Austin, Minn.

The DBA will hold a replacement election soon, but DBA member and u See JOHNSON Page 6 Burrito Loco owner Greg Pillsbury could take over for Johnson.

VOLUME 115 ISSUE 56

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Daily Review

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1901 The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.

HISTORYCHANNEL.COM/TDIH

VIDEO Vol. 115 Tuesday, December 10, 2013, No. 56

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Boynton Health Service hosts therapy animals every week as part of an effort to increase mental health resources on campus. More than 400 students showed up to pet dogs, rabbits and a chicken. View the full video and others online at mndaily.com/multimedia/videos.

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WORLD BRIEFING

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World leaders to speak at massive Mandela memorial

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JOHANNESBURG — An eclectic mix of world leaders including President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro will eulogize Nelson Mandela before a crowd of nearly 100,000 mourners at a massive memorial service Tuesday in the World Cup soccer stadium where the anti-apartheid champion made his last public appearance.

“What a fantastic gift God gave to us in this Mandela, who quickly became an icon, a global icon of forgiveness, of generosity of spirit,” Archbishop Desmond Tutu told a gathering Monday at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory.

“He really was like a magician with a magic wand, turning us into this glorious, multicolored, rainbow people.”

Nearly 100 world leaders and tens of thousands of South Africans of all races and backgrounds were expected to pay their respects to the man who bridged this nation’s black-white divide at the FNB stadium in Soweto — a locale heavy in symbolism as

the black township that was at the center of the violent struggle against apartheid.

The 95,000-capacity soccer venue was also the spot where Mandela made his last public appearance at the closing ceremony of the 2010 World Cup. His body will then lie in state for three days at the Union Buildings in Pretoria — once the seat of white power — before burial Sunday in his rural childhood village of Qunu in Eastern Cape Province.

South African authorities rushed Monday to deal with the complex security, logistical and protocol challenges of hosting what promised to be one of the largest and most prominent gatherings of world dignitaries in generations. Besides Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were to attend Tuesday’s memorial, along with Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

At the stadium, workers busily constructed a stage protected by bulletproof glass

and police promised “thousands” of officers would secure the stadium. Still, security appeared lax Monday as the owner of a private security company scrambled to hire guards for Tuesday’s event, using his car as a mobile office.

“I’m doing this from the bottom of my heart, just to thank Tata,” Mathabe said, using the Xhosa word for father as an endearment for Mandela, who died Thursday at the age of 95.

“My son is coming tomorrow as a visitor too. He’s going to live in a free country. He’s going to be able to do whatever he likes, thanks to Tata.”

Besides Obama and Raul Castro, eulogies were to be delivered by U.N. SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon and Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao. Other speakers include the presidents of Brazil, Namibia and India, as well as tributes from Mandela’s grandchildren. South African President Jacob Zuma is to give the keynote address.

The predicted turnout

brought comparisons to the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II, which drew dignitaries from more than 80 countries, as well as a crowd of 300,000 people who filled St. Peter’s Square. Millions of others watched on giant video screens set up across Rome.

South Africa’s parliament held a special session Monday in honor of Mandela.

Kgalema Motlanthe, the country’s deputy president and a member of Mandela’s African National Congress, opened the proceedings with a speech describing how the former leader’s death caused a “sweeping feeling of sorrow” around the world.

“He belongs to all humanity,” Motlanthe said.

“Mandela’s ideals saturate the face of the Earth.”

Helen Zille, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance political party, said South Africa inherited “an enormous responsibility” from Mandela.

“He has handed the baton to us and we dare not drop it,” she said.

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Delays possible in Syria chemical weapons mission

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OSLO, Norway — The head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning watchdog leading the mission to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons says there may be delays in transporting the chemicals out of the country.

The most toxic chemicals are supposed to be taken out of Syria by Dec. 31, but that deadline “will be quite difficult to meet,” Ahmet Uzumcu, director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, told reporters in Oslo on Monday.

“This is very challenging, especially in view of the security situation, which is worsening in this country,” he said.

The plan is to ship the chemicals from the port of Latakia, but getting them there in the middle of a civil war is a challenge.

Syria’s deputy foreign minister last week said his country needs armored vehicles and other resources to move chemicals out of the country.

“It’s correct that all material and equipment may not be available for the transportation but we are looking ... for alternatives,” Uzumcu said. “That’s why there might be slight delays in fact in transportation of those weapons outside of the country.”

Norway and Denmark have offered merchant ships to help transport chemicals, and the United States will provide a ship on which the most toxic chemicals can be destroyed at sea. The port where the chemicals will be transferred to the U.S. ships has not yet been determined, Uzumcu said.

Some three dozen private companies also have expressed an interest in destroying less-toxic chemicals, which make up the bulk of the 1,300 metric tons of weapons and chemicals declared by Damascus.

Uruguay to approve marijuana market

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Uruguay is pushing ahead to create a legal marijuana market despite warnings from educators, psychiatrists and pharmacists of dangerous side effects.

The Senate planned to debate the pot plan Tuesday, with approval by the ruling coalition widely expected before the night is over. Because senators turned away all requests for amendments after it passed the lower chamber, their vote will be final.

President Jose Mujica says the point is not to promote marijuana use, but to push out organized crime. The government hopes that when licensed growers, providers and users can openly trade in the drug, illegal traffickers will be denied their profits and go away.

“This is a plague, just like cigarettes are a plague,” Mujica told reporters several days earlier.

The Senate Health Commission was given ample arguments to back away from the plan, which would make Uruguay the world’s only country where the government is at the center of a legal marijuana market.

Marijuana’s negative impact on learning is well known, and “is related to educational failure, behavioral problems and depressive symptoms,” testified teacher Nestor Pereira, representing the National Public Education Administration.

But senate commissions sent the proposal for a floor vote without changes, hoping to avoid a return trip to the lower chamber, where it passed by a single vote.

Socialist Deputy Julio Bango, who co-authored the proposal, told The Associated Press that “this is not a law to liberalize marijuana consumption, but rather to regulate it. Today there is a market dominated by drug traffickers. We want the state to dominate it.”

The project includes a media campaign, launched Friday, aimed at reducing pot smoking by warning of its dangers to human health.

EXTENDED WEATHER FORECAST WEDNESDAY HIGH 1° LOW -5° Mostly sunny

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FRIDAY HIGH 18° LOW 8° Mostly cloudy

SATURDAY HIGH 19° LOW -2° Snow

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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

3

Ukraine’s east still supports closer ties with Russia

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

YENAKIYEVO, Ukraine — In the Ukrainian president’s eastern hometown, the buildings are grimy with black soot from the sur rounding coal mines.

The air is thick with pollutants. The men here die young, sometimes from industrial accidents.

And residents have about had it with the protesters who have besieged Kiev, the capital, and its central square — the Maidan — for three weeks.

“It’s time to disperse the Maidan and force those sponges to work,” said Alexei Dzhugastranskiy, a 46-year-old coal miner in Yenakiyevo. “While we are working at the mine and risking our lives, they are

Newtown asks for privacy 1 year later

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEWTOWN, Conn. — Newtown of ficials asked for privacy and joined victims’ families Monday in calling for people to mark the upcoming anniversar y of the Sandy Hook Elementar y School shooting by per forming acts of kindness or volunteering with charities.

Relatives of more than half the 26 victims said at a news conference that they planned to light a candle on Friday night in honor of their lost loved ones. They also urged people thinking of the victims to find ways to give back to their own communities.

“In this way, we hope that some small measure of good may be returned to the world,” said JoAnn Bacon, whose 6-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was among the 20 students and six educators shot to death in the school on Dec. 14, 2012. She was reading from a statement released by the families of all 26 victims.

The town has no formal events planned for Saturday, and officials have discouraged the news media from coming to Newtown.

“We are trying to respect the world’s interest in us, but we also have a real need in our community to gain a foothold,” First Selectman Pat Llodra said.

The families also announced they have set up a new website — http:// mysandyhookfamily.org — where each family can share information on how they are honoring victims.

“In the midst of our grief we have come to realize that we want our loved ones to be remembered for the lives they lived and how they touched our hearts,” said Krista Rekos, mother of 6-year old Jessica. “We’ve been uplifted by the support of so many people, and we would like to keep that spirit of unity and love alive in all we do to remember those we so dearly miss.”

The gunman, Adam Lanza, killed his mother inside their Newtown home before driving to the school where he car ried out his rampage. He killed himself as police arrived.

The “acts of kindness” theme has been seized on by other of ficials, including Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and members of Congress.

U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal joined the United Way and others at an event Monday in New Britain in calling for a week of volunteer ser vice in memor y of those killed.

Several memorial services are planned for the weekend in Newtown.

At Saint Rose of Lima, the Roman Catholic church that hosted the funerals of eight children, the ser vice will include the dedication of a memorial arch and the ringing of peace bells that also were rung at Virginia Tech after the mass shooting there in 2007 and in New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

striking in Kiev and killing Ukraine.”

The battle over Ukraine’s future has deepened the divide between the western part of this nation of 46 million and its east, where most people still speak Russian, watch Russian television and see ties with their giant neighbor as essential for Ukraine’s economic survival.

The protesters rose up against President Viktor Yanukovych after Nov. 21 when he spiked a deal for closer integration with the 28-nation European Union and decided to restore trade ties with Russia instead.

Hundreds of thousands have rallied in Kiev on the past two Sundays and some protesters have set up camp on Independence Square,

known as the Maidan, to demand that Yanukovych step down.

Opinion polls show that the EU is more popular among Ukrainians than Russia, and many fear that the countr y’s hard-won independence will be crippled if it moves back too tightly into Russia’s orbit.

But in eastern Ukraine, the countr y’s industrial heartland, most people are openly resentful of the proWestern protesters, many of whom are students.

The Kremlin has exploited this deep east-west divide in its determined efforts to thwart the EU deal and keep Ukraine in its political and economic sphere of influence.

Yenakiyevo, a city of 100,000 in the Donetsk re-

gion, is home to nine coal mines, six of which are operational, along with a metallurgical plant and a coke plant.

Outdated equipment and poor safety standards make Ukraine’s coal mines among the most dangerous in the world. At Dzhugastranskiy’s Soviet-era mine, which is named after Karl Marx, a 2008 accident took the lives of 13 miners.

Pollution levels in Donetsk often exceed the officially admissible limit several times over. The average life expectancy for men in the region is 57 years, compared to the national average of 66.

The Donetsk region, which accounts for more than a quarter of Ukraine’s budget revenues, depends on Russian markets and —

most crucially — supplies of Russian natural gas.

“Depriving us of ties with Russia is like cutting off a leg,” said 33-year-old Vladimir Toporov, a foreman at the Yenakiyevo metallurgical plant. “We won’t be able to walk to Europe on one leg.”

Ukraine’s political standoff has been aggravated by its rapidly deteriorating finances. The economy has been in recession for more than a year, and the government is in desperate need of foreign funding to avoid a default. As talks stalled with the International Monetary Fund, Yanukovych has sought a bailout loan from Russia.

Nikolai Zagoruiko, the head of the Donetsk branch of Yanukovych’s Par ty of

Regions, claims the proposed pact with the EU would have forced some the region’s biggest mines and industrial plants to close, with major repercussions felt throughout the country.

“We would have had an explosion in society,” he said. “And the students from the Maidan in Kiev, who haven’t earned a single kopeck yet, would have become the first casualties of the EU.” Donetsk is also home to Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, and other tycoons who have stood behind Yanukovych. Akhmetov funded the construction of Europe’s biggest sports arena in the city of Donetsk, which hosted soccer games during last year’s European championships.

4

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Regents to talk campus safety

AMANDA SNYDER, DAILY

Mechanical engineering sophomore Raymond Bouchart explains his project, which mechanically tie-dyes T-shirts, to a group at the College of Science and Engineering Robot Show on Monday at the McNamara Alumni Center.

Student engineers make robots, learn the industry About 240 students displayed original robots at the CSE Robot Show.

BY KATELYN FAULKS kfaulks@mndaily.com

Mechanical engineering sophomore Joseph Nasvik created a “dish roulette” robot to randomly assign dishwashing tasks to his roommates.

When turned on, the robot’s wheel spins and delegates the chore.

Nasvik was one of 240 University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering students who displayed work from their Introduction to Engineering class Monday at the McNamara Alumni Center.

To receive a final grade, the students must par-

ticipate in the Robot Show.

Though it isn’t competitive, three panels of judges from the engineering field evaluate the students’ work.

“The goal is to help [the students] see what it’s like to be an engineer,” mechanical engineering assistant professor Timothy Kowalewski said.

In the professional field, he said, CEOs and supervisors evaluate created products. The robot show gives students an idea of what that experience is like.

Mechanical engineering sophomore Raymond Bouchar t, who created a robot that automatically tiedyes T-shirts, said he liked making his ideas a reality.

“It’s nice to get my hands wet in the field designing stuff,” he said. “The show gives me a good idea of what the engineering

process is like.”

The introductor y engineering class teaches students programming and some design techniques, Kowalewski said, but what they design is up to them.

The project’s main requirements are that materials cost less than $50 total and that the robot does something “useful and interesting,” he said.

Though it’s tough for students to make robots that haven’t been made before, Kowalewski said, they have new ideas ever y year — so the show never gets old.

Some students this year made robots to help solve a problem or to make ever yday tasks easier.

Individualized studies junior Sophie Martin made a robot that fills a cup with ice and pours a drink.

AMANDA SNYDER, DAILY

Mechanical engineering sophomore Ryan Martinson explains his maze-solving robot to his aunt and uncle at the College of Science and Engineering Robot Show on Monday at the McNamara Alumni Center.

“My friends were joking they wanted a robot that poured drinks, and [my robot] kind of evolved from there,” she said.

Martin said the project taught her how to problemsolve and apply concepts she learned in previous engineering courses.

3M Technology Manager Terr y Boczek helped judge Monday’s show.

Learning how to solve the problems is important, he said, and the skills students acquire to make functional robots directly apply to working in the engineering industry.

Andy Nelson, a part-time mechanical engineering student, said he enjoyed the project because he could “tinker with things.”

In addition to taking classes, Nelson works as an engineer at a business video company.

He said he’s found that combining theory from the classroom with practical experience through the robot project helps students connect their lessons to fieldwork.

“It’s the greatest example of how education should be done — they’re learning way more than they would in class time,” he said.

Nelson’s robot could locate and follow lines made on a flat surface. On a large scale, he said, this machine could drive boxes between war ehouses or deliver equipment within a building.

Martin said she plans to use the skills she learned making her robot as she moves for ward in her academic and professional careers. “[The project] made me feel like a true engineer,” she said.

NSA spying on virtual worlds, online gamers

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON — American and British intelligence operations have been spying on gamers across the world, media outlets reported, saying that the world’s most power ful espionage agencies sent undercover agents into virtual universes to monitor activity in online fantasy games such as “World of Warcraft.”

Stories carried Monday

by The New York Times, the Guardian, and ProPublica said U.S. and U.K. spies have spent years trawling online games for terrorists or informants. The stories, based on documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, offer an unusual take on America’s worldspanning surveillance campaign, suggesting that even the fantasy worlds popular with children, teens, and escapists of all ages aren’t beyond the attention of the NSA and its British counterpart, GCHQ. Vir tual universes like “World of Warcraft” can be

massively popular, drawing in millions of players who log months’ worth of real-world time competing with other players for online glory, virtual treasure, and magical loot. At its height, “World of Warcraft” boasted some 12 million paying subscribers, more than the population of Greece. Other virtual worlds, like Linden Labs’ “Second Life” or the various games hosted by Microsoft’s Xbox — home to the popular science fictionthemed shoot-em-up “Halo” — host millions more.

Spy agencies have long worried that such games ser ve as a good cover for terrorists or other evildoers who could use in-game messaging systems to swap information. In one of the documents cited Monday by media outlets, the NSA war ned that the games could give intelligence targets a place to “hide in plain sight.”

Linden Labs and Microsoft Inc. did not immediately return messages seeking comment. In a statement, Blizzard Entertainment said

that it is “unaware of any sur veillance taking place.

If it was, it would have been done without our knowledge or permission.”

Microsoft issued a similar statement, saying it is “not aware of any sur veillance activity. If it has occurred as reported, it certainly wasn’t done with our consent.”

The 82-page-document, published on The New York Times’ website, also noted that opponents could use video games to recruit other users or carr y out virtual weapons training — pointing to the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers as examples of terrorists who had used flight simulation software to hone their skills.

Important details — such as how the agencies secured access to gamers’ data, how many players’ information was compromised, or whether Americans were swept up in the spying — were not clear, the Times and ProPublica said, but the reports point to a determined effort to infiltrate a world many people associ-

ate with adolescents and shut-ins.

At the request of GCHQ, the NSA began extracting “World of Warcraft” data from its global intelligence haul, tr ying to tie specific accounts and characters to Islamic extremism and arms dealing ef for ts, the Guardian reported. Intelligence on the fantasy world could eventually translate to real-world espionage success, one of the documents suggested, noting that “World of Warcraft” subscribers included “telecom engineers, embassy drivers, scientists, the militar y and other intelligence agencies.”

“World of War craft” wasn’t the only target. Another memo noted that GCHQ had “successfully been able to get the discussions between dif ferent game players on Xbox Live.” Meanwhile, so many U.S. spies were roaming around “Second Life” that a special “deconfliction” unit was set up to prevent them from stepping on each other’s toes.

The regents will also discuss how sexual assault cases are heard.

“This will be a good way to continue the conversations with them,” she said.

BY MEGHAN HOLDEN mholden@mndaily.com

The student representatives will advocate Friday for a new panel specially trained to hear sexual assault cases in lieu of the policy changes to be implemented this spring.

The national Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, which affects reporting and policies on sexual violence at universities, will go into effect

by March.

Under the current system, the Office for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity hears sexual assault cases. If an appeal is made, the case goes to the Campus Committee on Student Behavior, which is responsible for enforcing student discipline procedures.

It also hears cases based on scholastic dishonesty, disorderly conduct and hazing.

Student representatives say sexual assault cases require special attention.

“It seems kind of counterintuitive for [the Campus Committee on Student Behavior] to be hearing about scholastic misconduct, then about this,” Stangler said.

The University’s Duluth and Morris campuses have special hearing panels for sexual assault cases.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents will discuss campus safety, sexual assault policy changes and student recommendations during its final meetings of the year this week.

Regents will review video surveillance, campus design and public accessibility options in an attempt to improve safety on campus at the meetings Thursday and Friday.

The University is currently updating campus buildings that don’t have electronic access control, which allows buildings to be secured instantly from the University’s Public Safety Emergency Communications Center, according to the meetings docket.

The $1.5 million update will be finished by the end of next semester. University Services also recently created three workgroups to analyze how the University can use technology to improve safety on or near campus.

The groups will consider lighting and landscape changes to improve visibility, as well as the possible addition of video surveillance in high-traffic areas on campus, according to the meetings docket.

They will also explore making some University buildings accessible to only the University community and requiring authentication to enter certain facilities.

Security recommendations will be implemented based on priority, feasibility and available resources, University spokesman Matt Hodson said.

The student representatives to the board will also address campus safety in their presentation to the regents.

The Minnesota Student Association, whose representatives will present at the meeting Friday, recently surveyed undergraduate students to examine crime perception after the recent uptick around campus.

Nearly 80 percent of students sur veyed said they feel “less safe” or “a lot less safe” on or near campus after recent crime, according to MSA’s report to the board.

Joelle Stangler, MSA’s ranking representative to the board, said she hopes the presentation will further open the discussion between University officials and students.

Tobacco u from Page 1

will comply when the public reminds violators that they can’t smoke. Schlapper said repeat offenders could face disciplinar y action under the University’s conduct codes.

In the months leading up to the policy’s implementation, Boynton plans to run education campaigns so people are aware of the policy and understand its implications, Schlapper said.

Research shows that with enough time to educate the public on policies that restrict tobacco, 95 percent of the population will comply, Schlapper said.

Geological engineering sophomore Sophie Kasahara said smokers would be less likely to smoke under the ban but didn’t think that people would tell others to stop.

For example, “dr y campuses typically aren’t ver y dry,” Kasahara said.

From smoke-free to tobacco-free

The ban has transfor med throughout the drafting process, expanding its scope.

“This policy has been years in the making,” said Heidi Rieck, a University student who has been involved with developing the policy and gathering student opinions. Rieck is a member of both the Minnesota Student Association and the Student Health Advisory Committee.

Last fall, MSA voted to support a smoke-free cam-

Changes to sexual assault cases

More items The board will vote to appoint Dr. Brooks Jackson as the new dean of the University’s Medical School and vice president for health sciences. He will begin work Feb. 17 pending approval.

The Regents will also vote on the lease agreement for the University’s $160 million Ambulatory Care Center project, located at 910 Essex St. SE in Minneapolis.

The center will house new surger y and cancer centers as well as clinics, and it is expected to open in 2016.

At the meetings, the regents will also vote on the University’s plan to join United Proper ties to own and operate the Days Inn Hotel and parking lot and the Tea House Chinese Restaurant. Both are located on the 2400 block of University Avenue Southeast.

Student representatives will also discuss at the meetings potentially adding gender-neutral housing on the Twin Cities campus, increasing public-private relationships at the University and altering tuition models for professional schools.

pus policy out of concern for students’ health, Rieck said.

At that time, then-MSA representative to the Board of Regents Kyle Kroll said the policy should be smokefree and not tobacco-free.

He said it wasn’t MSA’s role to dictate individuals’ choices unless they harmed other students, like through secondhand smoke.

But the smoke-free distinction didn’t last.

After other stakeholders scr utinized the proposed ban, they voted to expand it beyond just smoking and encompass all tobacco products, Rieck said.

More than 40 Minnesota campuses have adopted tobacco-free policies, compared to three campuses in the state that have adopted smoke-free policies, according to a Boynton document that outlines the policy. A smoke-only ban could lead to increased use of other tobacco products, Boynton says.

Almost 65 percent of University of MinnesotaTwin Cities students support a smoke-free policy, according to Boynton’s 2013 College Student Health Survey. About a quarter of current student smokers support the policy. The survey doesn’t include information about student support for a tobacco-free policy.

Some students are upset the ban includes e-cigarettes, which emit vapor rather than smoke and can include nicotine.

“I think that’s silly,” said chemical engineering senior Molly McGuire, because e-cigarettes are allowed in some bars and don’t emit smoke.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

5

Student assaulted in Marcy-Holmes Also, a woman was the victim of an attempted robbery near the intersection of 13th Avenue SE and Eighth Street SE.

POLICE

OTHER CRIMES NEAR CAMPUS

REPORT

BY NICK STUDENSKI nstudenski@mndaily.com

BRIDGET BENNETT, DAILY

University Forestry Club member David Rudolph unravels a tree in a Les Bolstad Golf Course parking lot Saturday morning.

Selling trees to stay afloat

Jacob Hef fer nan was walking to his Mar cyHolmes apar tment early Sunday mor ning when a man shouted a derogator y term, ran at him and headbutted him.

Hef fer nan, a biomedical engineering sophomore, said he was walking home with a friend near the intersection of Four th Street Southeast and 11th Avenue Southeast when he heard someone shout something “ver y nasty” at him.

When he turned around to see who it was, he saw a man running toward him.

The man knocked Hef fernan to the ground.

“The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and saw blood r ushing down my face and my friend looking down at me,” he said.

Hef fer nan called for an ambulance and walked with his friend to his apartment, which was about two blocks away.

When the ambulance arrived, paramedics told Heffernan he needed stitches, so he walked to the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview.

Trees u from Page 1

throughout the year.

Trees sell for $27 to 90 depending on species and height, said senior club member Frank Falzone.

The sale runs from the day after Thanksgiving until trees run out — usually the week before Christmas.

The club ordered about 1,200 trees for this season’s sale, Stufft said. It could take longer than usual for trees to sell out because of this year’s late Thanksgiving, she said.

Customer and University librar y professional Karen Olson said she and her husband come because the students are knowledgeable.

“We just figure they know what they’re doing,” she said. “They know the trees; they know where they came from.”

From cutting down the trees to selling them, the work sits almost entirely on the shoulders of the club’s 15 members.

To get some of the trees, club members go to Carl Vogt’s tree farm in St. Fran-

cis, Minn. Vogt, a former forest resources professor, lets the students come to his farm and cut down the trees they need in the three weeks before Thanksgiving.

“It’s a lot of hard work, and it can be in kind of extreme weather,” Falzone said. “But I really enjoy it.”

Senior member Dave Rudolph said he works at the tree sale for more than 20 hours each week. But for him, it’s a relaxing way to gain professional experience.

“It’s more of an outlet for stress because I get to kind of forget about ever ything and just work here,” he said. “[I] get to lift stuff and saw through trees and not have to think about anything.”

Funds from the tree sale go toward scholarships within the club, a yearly banquet and the annual lumberjack competition the club participates in, Treasurer Emmie Peters said.

She said the club is hosting this year’s Midwester n Forester’s Conclave, a competition in which 13 schools compete in “timberspor ts” like chopping and sawing as well as technical games

like wood identification.

Because hosting the event provides the Forestry Club with another financial burden, Stufft said, it will seek sponsors to help alleviate costs.

Even organizing the sale itself is costly, she said, because the club pays its members to work in addition to covering other expenses incurred in hosting the sale.

A local competitor in the Christmas tree market, Linder’s Garden Center, closed this year. Forestry club adviser Anthony D’Amato said that could benefit the club’s sale.

D’Amato said the company from which Linder’s bought its Christmas trees still sells them in the shop’s old parking lot, but he thinks the Forestry Club will have a leg up because the business itself is closed.

Regardless of its competitors, he said, Forestry Club members are “can-do” people and always sell every tree.

“I’m biased, but it’s pretty impressive with what these students do,” he said.

“It’s an amazing undertaking led solely by University undergrads.”

Crime: When: Where: Info:

Damage to property, other theft Wednesday Cooke Hall A tree was cut down and taken near Cooke Hall. There is no security camera footage covering the incident.

Crime: When: Where: Info:

Attempt to cause bodily harm Thursday TCF Bank Stadium A man honked his horn at a pedestrian. The pedestrian punched the car, and the driver left the vehicle and hit the pedestrian. The pedestrian said he punched the car because it ran into him.

Crime: When: Where: Info:

Other theft Thursday Applebee’s A man asked to borrow a woman’s cellphone. He walked off with the phone. The suspect also ordered and ate food, then left the restaurant without paying.

Crime: When: Where: Info:

Trespassing Friday Hanson Hall A man was sleeping on a chair in the second floor of Hanson Hall. The man had a trespass warning and a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested and brought to Hennepin County Jail.

He was also issued another trespass warning.

Crime: When: Where: Info:

Trespassing Friday Comstock Hall Officers were called on a report of three men going door-todoor soliciting for money. The men were issued trespass warnings and released.

SOURCE: MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT, UMPD

east and Eighth Street Southeast, according to a Minneapolis police report.

The victim — who is not affiliated with the University — was scraping her windshield at about 4:45 p.m. Sunday when a man approached her, showed her a gun and asked for her money, according to an email crime aler t University Police Chief Greg Hestness sent Monday afternoon.

When the victim’s boyfriend came outside, the suspect fled. The victim

Attempted robber y An attempted ar med robber y took place Sunday after noon in MarcyHolmes near the intersection of 13th Avenue South-

did not lose anything or sustain any injuries.

This is the 14th crime alert sent to the University community this semester. The University sends email aler ts for all crimes on and around campus that may pose a threat to the University, in accordance with federal law.

Starting today, a link to UMPD’s policy on racial profiling will be included in email crime aler ts in response to a request by black students, faculty and staff.

Recent violent crimes could scare off renters, potential students

Second-guessing safety

Syd n e y J a c o b s o n , a Post-Secondary Enrollment Options student, said the recent crimes might deter her from choosing the University.

While she wasn’t worried about her safety when she started attending University classes, Jacobson said she’s felt more “edgy” after the recent crimes.

“I never really thought of a college campus as a place where a kidnapping would happen. But you always hear about that happening in a city, and the U is in a city.”

NOAH SKANTZ Eastview High School senior

Crime on and around campus has been trending downward for years. But

Off-campus housing concerns

Almost all of the crimes triggering aler ts this semester have occurred in one of the four Minneapolis neighborhoods surrounding the University.

But some neighborhood representatives and property owners said they aren’t concerned that the recent crime could discourage students from moving off campus.

Marcy-Holmes Neigh-

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think the concer ns are any greater than at other schools.

“I would say that students are going to be looking at safety questions here and how the University is responding as they would at other campuses,” she said.

In response to the concer ns, Her nandez said tour guides are having more conversations about on-campus safety with prospective students and families, pointing out resources like Gopher Chauf feur and the security escor t ser vice.

“We’re sharing with families the number of hours being put into additional [police] patrol; we’re sharing with families the kinds of proactive messages that go out to students,” Hernandez said. “Our goal is to be transparent.”

FALL 2013 CRIME ALERTS

ES

15

u from Page 1

since the beginning of the semester, University police have sent out alerts for 20 crimes, including two sexual assaults, an attempted kidnapping and several armed robberies.

Eastview High School senior Noah Skantz said he thinks the recent crime has made the University less attractive to some prospective students.

Skantz is still considering the University and said his college decision will ultimately be a financial one.

Skantz said he still considers safety an important factor, and it’s especially important to his parents.

Prospective student Phillip Braun, who recently toured the University, said he hasn’t heard about the recent crimes near campus.

Braun and his father agreed that safety is important, but it isn’t something they’re very concerned about.

“I think I’m pretty safe on my own, so it’s not a huge factor, because I know most schools are safe,” Braun said.

Some current University students say the school’s location makes crime inevitable.

“If you live in a city, there’s always going to be crime,” said urban studies and history junior Cody Olson. “There’s nothing you can do about that.”

Skantz agreed the University’s location plays into its relative safety.

“I never really thought of a college campus as a place where a kidnapping would happen,” he said. “But you always hear about that happening in a city, and the U is in a city.”

35W

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SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CRIME ALERTS, PETER HUYNH AND TIM ISDAHL

borhood Association Executive Director Melissa Bean said crime around the University “ebbs and flows,” but police usually end up stamping out any flare-ups.

Even though many victims are students, Bean said she doesn’t think crime will deter students from moving into the neighborhood.

“It’s just such a convenient location,” she said.

Ward 2 City Councilman Cam Gordon, who represents three of the neighborhoods around the University, said he’s fielded calls from parents wondering whether their children should have moved off campus.

Nic Puzak, who manag-

es several off-campus proper ties, said he has gotten more questions about safety from prospective renters in the past two weeks. But the demand for off-campus housing outstrips supply, he said, and students will continue living in neighborhoods around the University despite the recent crime.

“Where else are they going to live?” he said.

Dinkytown Rentals owner Tim Harmsen said he’s wor ried crime will deter renters from choosing his proper ties, even though the University area is “generally very safe.”

One group of renters already backed out of their lease for a proper ty near

Marcy Park, Harmsen said, after they researched the area and saw a crime rate higher than they expected.

Compared to other high-density areas in the Twin Cities, the University area is relatively safe.

Robberies and assaults make up a smaller portion of total crime in the University neighborhoods than they do in downtown Minneapolis, according to Minneapolis Police Department data.

“But any little incident gets so much PR, gets so inflated, gets so much play … it may skew people’s perceptions,” Har msen said.

First-year medical stu-

dent Amanda Benar roch said the recent crime could raise concerns about of fcampus housing. Benarroch lived west of Interstate 35-W as an undergraduate, but she said she wouldn’t want to live so far from campus in light of recent crimes.

“I can’t say that I would feel totally comfor table walking [from there], and I felt pretty comfortable before,” she said.

Har msen said reluctance to live far fr om school will further increase proper ty values close to campus.

“As a father, you would pay an extra $100 a month to get your daughter five blocks closer.”

6

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Marcy-Holmes tries to boost involvement The neighborhood’s association says getting students involved is tough.

BY ALEX BITTER abitter@mndaily.com

Marcy-Holmes is revamping its neighborhood association strategy to spur resident and student involvement, with changes that will take effect in early 2014.

In an area heavily populated by students, involvement has been a long-term challenge for the MarcyHolmes Neighborhood Association.

In 2010, more than 61 percent of the neighborhood’s residents were between the ages of 18 and 24, according to data

from MHNA. The pr oposals focus more on networking between existing or ganizations than previous outr each ef for ts. They include encouraging collaboration between MHNA’s student representatives and those of similar groups, like the University District Alliance.

University of Minnesota student and Minnesota Student Association representative to the MHNA board Clay Wagar said the initiatives are an oppor tunity to bring new students into the organization.

“In the past three or four years, they have definitely been making an effort to include the University [students],” he said.

Wa g a r s a i d t h e t w o student positions on the

boar d ar e evidence of MHNA’s commitment to including the University community.

The new initiatives are outlined in a Community Par ticipation Program passed by MHNA’s board last month to complement the neighborhood’s smallarea plan.

The program’s outline calls students “underengaged stakeholders.”

MHNA President Cordelia Pierson said the goal of the plan is to engage mor e community members, especially students, in MHNA activities.

She said the MHNA board will discuss details of implementing the participation plan at its Dec. 10 meeting.

Although she said plan implementation is in its

early stages, MHNA hopes to let student representatives on its board play a lead role.

“It’s not so much us defining how it’s going to happen, but rather engaging [the representatives],” Pierson said.

MHNA executive director Melissa Bean said student engagement in the neighborhood has been relatively stable since the early 1980s, when current student positions, including Wagar’s, wer e cr eated.

She said MHNA has tried multiple strategies for increasing student involvement — with mixed results.

“We’ve had in the past a student affairs committee, but it went nowhere,” she said.

Int’l students skip short visit home Some students feel the limited winter break isn’t worth the trip.

BY HAILEY COLWELL hcolwell@mndaily.com

In nearly four years at the University of Minnesota, neuroscience senior Eza Kadir has never traveled home over winter break.

Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a plane ticket and at least a day in transit to return to her native Malaysia, Kadir said she’s used the break to visit Michigan, Chicago and New York.

Like Kadir, some of the University’s international students choose not to return home over winter break after weighing travel costs against the limited amount of time they’d be home and opportunities to travel the U.S. or work on campus.

Some students say it makes more sense to go back in the summer, when

they can be home for three months.

“If you’re going to finally go home, you want to spend a lot of time. It’s … halfway around the world,” said Sarbnoor Gill, an industrial engineering graduate student from India.

Gill said he went home last year over winter break because it was his first year and his parents insisted he come back. This winter, he said, he’ll go to a wedding in Maryland and work on campus, where he can log twice the hours per week he does when school is in session.

Economics sophomore and Chinese Student Union President Yiren Wang said most of the international students he knows go home over winter break when they’re freshmen or sophomores but choose to stay in the U.S. as upperclassmen because they’re more established on campus.

Wang said summer is an ideal time to go back because students have enough time

to take a May session class at the University and spend two months at home.

Most international students return home only once a year, said Chiho Watanabe, an adviser for the University’s International Student and Scholar Services.

Before leaving, most students have to go to ISSS to renew their travel signature, which expires after one year and is needed to re-enter the U.S., she said.

Though students have more time when they go home in the summer, Watanabe said, ISSS is busy in December, April and May as students prepare for trips.

“It gets quite overwhelming in the office this time of year,” Watanabe said.

More than a thousand students came to ISSS last December seeking travel signatures or other pre-travel assistance, she said.

Students traveling home during breaks also need to be sure to monitor their visas, making sure they’re up

to date before returning to the U.S., Watanabe said.

ISSS also counsels international students on any issues they want to talk about, including homesickness, Watanabe said.

When students come into the office feeling homesick, she said, counselors’ first advice is telling students to meet more peers by joining student groups or partaking in other campus programming instead of just going back to their home country.

Economics junior Solhi Musa said he spends time with friends and student groups like the Malaysian Student Association to fill the place left by being away from his family.

Kadir said she reminds herself that she’ll go home this summer, and that helps her get through the year away from her family.

In the meantime, she’ll be traveling to Miami to “run away from the snow” this winter break, she said.

Minn. Senate leader: Sales tax rebate checks unlikely

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Don’t count on a sales tax rebate check like the ones that became popular in prior years when Minnesota ran a budget surplus, the state’s top senator said Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said it’s unlikely his chamber would go that

route if there are extra dollars for lawmakers to allocate next year. An economic forecast last week showed $825 million available, but a new report will come out as lawmakers return in late February.

When Jesse Ventura was governor, he insisted that some surplus dollars be returned to taxpayers by way of

rebate checks.

Bakk, a Democrat from Cook, said his preference is to add more money to the state’s rainy-day reser ves, consider transportation investments and make other one-time decisions that don’t have a lasting budget impact.

“We have just barely got our head above water now with a positive forecast after

we’ve had these nagging problems going back to 2002 and I really don’t want to rush to make permanent changes to the tax side and the spending side with ever ything that’s available,” Bakk said.

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton has already floated the possibility of $436 million in tax cuts, in part by repealing some just-imposed sales taxes.

But in recent years, Bean said, she’s noticed a change in the interest level and quality of the few applicants to the board.

“They actually sent in mor e qualifications on why they should be board members,” she said.

People are now seeking out the board positions, Bean said, whereas in the past, the neighborhood group had to approach MSA and other student groups to solicit nominations.

Wagar said he plans to recruit new student members for MHNA through MSA and other University organizations.

That may be a tough task, he said. Many students who live in the neighborhood don’t realize it, he said, citing his

friends who live in 412 Lofts on 12th Avenue Southeast.

“They’r e completely unaware that they live in Marcy-Holmes,” he said.

“They think it’s Dinkytown.”

Bean said the neighborhood has focused on recruiting students to help with specific ef for ts, such as MHNA’s Ear th Day River Clean Up, instead of seeking more long-term commitments.

“It’s just an easier time commitment, like a Saturday morning,” she said.

She said some of the students she’s asked to join MHNA as r egular members said they don’t have the time.

“They said, ‘When we join, we really want to join,’”she said.

Canada plans claim including North Pole

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TORONTO — Canada plans to make a claim to the North Pole in an effort to assert its sovereignty in the resource-rich Arctic, the country’s foreign affairs minister said Monday.

John Bair d said the government has asked scientists to work on a future submission to the United Nations claiming that the outer limits of the countr y’s continental shelf include the pole, which so far has been claimed by no one.

Canada last week applied to extend its seabed claims in the Atlantic Ocean, including some preliminar y Arctic claims, but it wants more time to prepare a claim that would include the pole.

Asser ting Canada’s rights in the Arctic has been a popular domestic issue for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, though at least one expert on the issue described the planned claim as a long shot.

“We are determined to ensure that all Canadians benefit from the tremendous resources that are to be found in Canada’s far north,” Baird said.

Countries including the U.S. and Russia are increasingly looking to the Arctic as a source of natural resources and shipping lanes. The U.S. Geological Sur vey says the region contains 30 percent of

the world’s undiscovered natural gas and 15 percent of oil. If Canada’s claim is accepted by the U.N. commission, it would dramatically grow its share.

Countries must submit proposals to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to request an extension of their nautical borders. Currently, under international law, Canada, Denmark, Nor way, Russia and the U.S. —the five countries with ter ritories near the Arctic Circle_are allotted 200 nautical miles from their northern coasts.

Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, exclusive claims can be vastly expanded for Arctic nations that prove that their part of the continental shelf extends beyond that zone.

Baird said Canada’s submission last week set out the potential outer limits of the countr y’s continental shelf in the Atlantic — a claim of about 1.2 million square kilometers. He said that’s roughly the size of Alberta and Saskatchewan combined.

Canada’s follow-up submission will include a claim to the Lomonosov Ridge, an undersea mountain range between Ellesmere Island, Canada’s most nor ther n land mass, and Russia’s east Siberian coast. That claim would extend Canada’s claim 200 nautical miles beyond the North Pole.

Another Dinkytown lifer closes shop Johnson u from Page 1

Qdoba Mexican Grill coowner Randal Gast said it will be hard to find someone to fill Johnson’s shoes.

“I don’t know who can do justice to it,” Gast said.

“He always made sure there was a good forum for people to come in and say what they wanted to say.”

People have called and inquired about the position, Johnson said, often asking about the time commitment.

Johnson estimates he spends between five to 20 hours a week connecting with other neighborhood leaders, informing residents and holding meetings as DBA president.

“I don’t want to scare anyone away by telling them,” he said.

Minneapolis city planner Haila Maze said she has “high respect” for community volunteers like Johnson. She said filling his position will likely come down to who can handle the large time commitment it demands.

“That’s hard to replace when you have people who are dedicated and show up for meetings without getting paid for it,” she said.

“We couldn’t really do our jobs without them getting organizations together.”

But Johnson’s chosen successor — Greg Pillsbur y, Johnson’s friend and co-owner of Burrito Loco —

isn’t sure if he wants to take over.

“He’s been my righthand man. He knows what I’ve been doing,” Johnson said. “He’s got enough on his plate to want to take on any more, [but] I’m going to convince him he can do it.”

Letting go When Pillsbur y arrived in Dinkytown 11 years ago to start Burrito Loco with his brother, he found a man taking speakers off the wall of their building.

“I thought I was getting robbed,” Pillsbury said.

The man told him the building belonged to his cousin and he was helping her move out. That man turned out to be Johnson. “ We ’ v e b e e n g o o d friends ever since,” Pillsbury said.

When Gast star ted coming to DBA meetings in 2007, Qdoba was being boycotted after it replaced the original Purple Onion Café. He said the community insight he gained from attending the meetings gave him an advantage over his competition and got them out of “survival mode.”

Gast said he and Johnson have disagreed on political issues over the years, but Johnson always catered to Dinkytown’s best interests in the end.

“I don’t how we find someone who has the time and a good neutral positioning,” he said. “You can’t ask

SKOTT JOHNSON’S DINKYTOWN TIMELINE 1973

Attends University of Minnesota.

1980

Hired by Nelson’s Office Supply; attends first Dinkytown Business Association meeting.

1989

Opens Autographics.

1991

Begins first term as DBA president.

2012

Helps initiate small-area plan for Dinkytown.

2013

Steps down from DBA.

SOURCE: SKOTT JOHNSON

for anything better than that.”

Whether through e-mail, a newsletter or a personal phone call, Johnson said his goal was to make sure everybody in the neighborhood knew what was going on.

Community members said Johnson’s commitment to Dinkytown’s first smallarea plan helped translate community feedback into public policy. Unsettling development in the area inspired the plans, which aim to give residents more say in the area’s future.

“That was a big group ef for t,” he said. “We’ve had some people who have been great about meeting every week.”

Johnson will return to Austin, Minn., to care for his mother, who he’s visited every weekend since his father died three years ago.

Johnson said he enjoys the two-hour trip and sings out loud the entire way.

JULIET FARMER, DAILY

Autographics owner Skott Johnson attends the Dinkytown small-area plan meeting at Burrito Loco on Thursday. Johnson will be stepping down as Dinkytown Business Association president this year.

“I play all my CDs,” he said. “It’s therapeutic time to myself.”

Johnson said he has another community waiting for him in Austin. It’s a small town like Dinkytown,

he said, but with a different cast of characters.

“All the good people here make it worthwhile,” he said.

Pillsbur y said he has tried talking Johnson out of

moving home before, but isn’t going to pressure him into staying this time.

“I’d like Skott to be here forever,” he said, “but we have to let him do what he wants to, too.”

Editorials & Opinions www.mndaily.com/opinion

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

7

The Editorials & Opinions department is independent of the newsroom. The editorial board prepares the editorials labeled “EDITORIALS,” which are the opinion of the Minnesota Daily as an institution but not representative of Daily employees’ opinions.

Columnists’ opinions are their own.

EDITORIALS

CRIME

Iceland sees first fatal police shooting Texting for The 69-year-old country has seen a unique low in violent crime and shootings.

I

celandic law enfor cement shot and killed someone last week for the first time since the nation’s founding in 1944.

The man police killed repor tedly shot first. He also had a histor y of mental illness.

Most police of ficers in Iceland are typically unarmed because the countr y has such a low violent crime rate. The United Nations Of fice on Dr ugs and Crime found in the 2011 Global Study on Homicide that Iceland’s murder rate was never higher than 1.8 per 100,000 people between 1999 and 2009.

The of ficers who killed the man were par t of a special forces team, the Viking Squad, which is allowed to carr y firearms.

Haraldur Johannessen, national commissioner of the Icelandic police, said the

SAM JASENOSKY columnist

murder was unprecedented for the countr y.

Iceland ranks 15th in the world for gun ownership: 90,000 guns are in the countr y with a population of about 325,000. However, gun violence is rare. In 2009, there were only four recorded gun-related deaths in Iceland, including a suicide and an accidental shooting.

Iceland’s low violent crime rate can be attributed to a few things.

It might be due to the strict gun control laws in the countr y. Gun owners in Iceland must register with a national database, and the state licenses all gun owners. Additionally, the Reykjavik Grapevine newspaper

said ther e ar e ver y few handguns in the countr y, and the majority of weapons are shotguns and hunting rifles.

The process for obtaining a firearm in Iceland is dif ficult. Steps to acquire a gun include a medical examination and a written test.

Another explanation for the low violent crime rate is the fact that Iceland has vir tually no class divide. A study of the Icelandic class system by a University of Missouri master’s student found that only 1.1 percent of par ticipants identified as upper class and 1.5 percent identified as lower class.

The vast majority of par ticipants (97 percent) identified as upper-middle class, lower-middle class or working class.

Some Icelanders believe that equality is the biggest reason for the nation’s lack of violent crime. The countr y’s social welfare and education systems also promote a culture of equality.

Statistics from a 2004 National Safety Council repor t show that in the U.S., a citi-

DEATHS IN IRAQ: U.S. & COALITION TROOPS: 4,802 — IRAQI CIVILIANS: 115,654- PLUS DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN: U.S. & COALITION TROOPS: 3,386 — AFGHAN CIVILIANS: UNKNOWN

zen is eight times more likely to die because of a police officer than a terrorist.

When you consider that Iceland has been a countr y for nearly 70 years and just saw its first police-related death, it seems that Iceland is doing something the U.S. isn’t.

It’s managing violent crime.

This Saturday marks the anniversar y of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementar y, when a man shot and killed 20 children and six adults before turning a gun on himself.

As we reflect on that tragedy, we should also reconsider the way guns are regulated in the U.S. Iceland provides an example for the rest of the world through its low crime rates and few police-related deaths. The U.S. needs to look to Iceland to improve the way it regulates guns and maintains its unique gun culture.

Sam Jasenosky welcomes comments at sjasenosky@mndaily.com.

FINALS

Time to ditch the exams Professors should consider alternatives to final exams in their courses.

A

Collin Randolph welcomes comments at crandolph@mndaily.com.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR A complete accounting President Eric Kaler calculates that his administration has reduced the annual cost of administration by $32 million.

But his calculation includes only the administrative costs that have been reduced. It omits the administrative costs that have increased.

For the last two fiscal years, the administration has presented an expense summar y for cost benchmarking to the Board of Regents.

The summar y divides expenses into three broad categories: dir ect mission deliver y (instruction, research and public service), mission support and facilities, and leadership and oversight.

The total expenses for direct mission activities increased by about $33 million — from $1.48 billion in fiscal year 2012 to $1.52 billion in fiscal year 2013.

There were reductions of some expenses in the other two categories — mission suppor t and facilities, and leadership.

But there were increases in other expenditures in those two categories that were even greater. Some of the increases were for the compensation of administrators and staff, and other increases were for non-personnel expenses such as administrative supplies, administrative equipment, repairs and maintenance.

Ther e was a net in-

crease of about $41.7 million in expenditures for mission support and facilities — from $957 million in fiscal year 2012 to $999 million in fiscal year 2013.

There was a net increase of about $7.9 million in expenditures for leadership — from $264 million in fiscal year 2012 to $272 million in fiscal year 2013.

The one expense that is most symbolic of the cost of administration is the compensation of leadership.

The highly paid senior administrators, deans and directors collected more than about $2 million in additional compensation for fiscal year 2013. The total compensation for those leaders in fiscal year 2013 was $104 million.

The administration spent an additional $560,773 on administrative consulting and professional ser vices. The total expenditure for such ser vices in fiscal year 2013 was $35 million.

Note that the total expenditur es for mission suppor t and facilities and leadership and oversight (about $1.27 billion) are almost as much as the total expenditures for the direct mission activities of instr uction, research and public ser vice (about $1.52 billion).

Kaler deser ves credit for recognizing that excessive costs of administration are a financial burden on students, parents and the citizens of our state.

But if Kaler is to be true to his pledge of transparency

and accountability, then he should not be publicizing a partial calculation of the cost of administration.

We need and deser ve complete candor — and a complete calculation — rather than a public relations campaign.

Kaler has promised to reduce the cost of administration by an additional $90 million during the next six years. That total amount is only 7 percent of the total expenses in fiscal year 2013 for mission suppor t and facilities and leadership. We can and should reduce those costs by a substantially greater percentage.

A former interim University president said in a Nov. 16 letter in the Star Tribune, “With real productivity gains, tuition could actually be reduced, not just frozen, assuming that state funding for the U holds where it is at currently.”

Reducing tuition is an objective that can be realized.

Last year, St. Paul’s Concordia University demonstrated that tuition can be slashed — by $10,000 per year — when it recognized that the high-tuition, high-financial aid experiment has failed.

We must once again make higher education af fordable for all our children, just as it was for the senior administrators and regents who set tuition today.

Michael McNabb University alumnus

s finals draw near, students prepare for their last, often comprehensive assignments.

Instead of planning tests, however, instructors RONALD DIXON should consider columnist assigning papers and projects as an alternative.

Throughout my undergraduate experience as a political science major, I have found that I generally benefit more from writing-intensive courses than classes with exams.

The University of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning offers educators alternatives to final exams, including demonstrations and portfolios. The goal of these alternatives is to switch up the testing styles, allowing students to understand exactly what educators want them to learn.

Students can get more out of final assignments that involve a paper or project. These assignments require students to synthesize course texts, lecture notes and/or outside research to produce a comprehensive package.

Tests may force students to memorize an entire course’s teachings in a short time — or even cram the night before. A paper or project allows students to commit teachings to memor y through applying their notes, readings and research.

Papers and projects are also more practical for the real world. I do not support the neoliberal view of higher ed, wherein an education is a way to make money and establish a career. However, if one wants an education that interacts with the community, then exams could do more to help the students.

A paper or project requires skills that better reflect what students will need in real-world scenarios.

Whether they’ll need to draft memos or letters, send emails or collaborate on a presentation, writing is good practice for future careers.

This idea is not limited to College of Liberal Ar ts majors. Engineering students, for example, could use these alternatives to prepare for the professional world. Students could collaborate on a project and/ or write a final lab report instead of having a myriad of final exams.

No matter the academic discipline, educators should consider working alternatives to final exams.

Students may learn more, and alternatives may increase what they actually remember from the course.

Ronald Dixon welcomes comments at rdixon@mndaily.com.

mental health A text messaging system offering mental health resources and advice to students is good for the University.

B

oynton Health Service is looking to expand its mental health ser vices for students through a proposed text message-based program, which would offer help to students in a crisis and students just seeking advice. Boynton will submit a grant application to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute by mid-January in hopes of acquiring funding for the program, the Minnesota Daily reported Nov. 26. Even if Boynton is not granted funding, Boynton’s Director and Chief Health Officer Ferd Schlapper told the Daily that Boynton would still pursue the texting program.

The news of this proposal, aimed at increasing access to mental health resources, comes at a critical time for University of Minnesota students. The 2013 Boynton Health survey reported 19.3 percent of University students have been diagnosed with depression within their lifetime, up from 16.6 percent in 2010. Boynton Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gary Christenson told the Daily that student demand for mental health resources increases by about 5 percent every year.

A scientific literature review analyzing the effectiveness of smartphone delivery of mental health programs, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research in November, indicated that mental health apps have a strong potential for improving treatment accessibility. Though this review focused primarily on downloadable apps for smartphones, it is likely that text messaging programs could provide a similar benefit.

For many students, text messaging is a primary method of communication and would be a useful and approachable mode of delivery for students seeking immediate help or advice. The University should support Boynton’s effort to create a text messaging program, regardless of whether they are awarded a grant.

U workers should promote sliding scale The sliding scale is a viable option and should be discussed in future labor negotiations.

T

he technical, clerical and health care workers’ unions at the University of Minnesota decided to approve contracts allowing cost increases to UPlan, the employee health insurance program, last week. The unions accepted the increases despite more than four months of heavy opposition and even protests against the cost shifts. The Board of Regents committee will review the contracts Dec. 12.

The cost increases are part of an effort to help the University avoid a $48 million excise tax in 2018, which is included in the Affordable Care Act. The tax, which targets “high-value” insurance plans, is intended to lower premiums by pushing employers to change their plans in a way that discourages consumers from overusing benefits.

In response to the proposed increases, three local AFSCME chapters advocated for a sliding scale model of health insurance premiums, under which premiums would be tied to employee salaries.

The sliding scale model, which is used at other schools, including Dartmouth and Amherst colleges, is a good option. Though there may not have been enough time to implement it this year, University officials should be more willing to negotiate a sliding scale the next time labor negotiations between the University and employees come up.

As the Minnesota Daily Editorial Board noted Sept. 23, the University has historically drawn workers because of its quality health care plan, and potential employees are often willing to accept a lower wage in order to receive crucial benefits.

However, the University’s ability to attract and retain quality employees is jeopardized when benefits are reduced without a comparable wage increase.

It’s also unfair to suddenly shift costs onto workers and their families, who have come to rely on the University’s exceptional health plan.

While workers are accepting an increase in costs this year, they should continue to advocate for a sliding scale model.

LETTERS AND GUEST COLUMNS

The Minnesota Daily welcomes letters and guest columns from readers. All letters must include the writer’s name, address and phone number for verification. The Daily reserves the right to edit all letters for style, space, libel and grammar. Letters to the editor should be no more than 600 words in length. Readers may also submit guest columns.

Guest columns should be approximately 350 words. The Daily reserves the right to print any submission as a letter or guest column. Submission does not guarantee publication. letters@mndaily.com Look for online exclusive columns at Fax: (612) 435-5865 Phone: (612) 435-1578 www.mndaily.com/ opinion.

Letters and columns to the editor 2221 University Ave. SE Suite 450 @mndailyopinions Minneapolis, MN 55414

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF TONY WAGNER = EDITORIALS & OPINIONS EDITOR ERIC BEST = SENIOR EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER WILLIAM BORNHOFT = BOARD MEMBER CASSANDRA SUNDARAM

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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

A&E EDITOR

Spencer Doar (612) 627-4070, ext. 3032 sdoar@mndaily.com

ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR Emily Eveland (612) 435-5865 eeveland@mndaily.com

RADIO K TOP 7 1. Los Campesinos! “For Flotsam” 2. Gambles “New York” 3. Danny Brown “25 Bucks (ft. Purity Ring)” 4. Caroline Smith “The One Thing” 5. Kurt Vile and The Violators “The Ghost of Freddie Roach” 6. Gesaffelstein “Pursuit” 7. Mogwai “Remurdered”

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CHRISTMAS

The secret lives of Santas Christmas comes but once a year, but for many Santas, the spirit of St. Nick lives on every day.

BY CALLIE SACARELOS csacarelos@mndaily.com

T

here’s a classic scene from 1983’s “A Christmas Stor y” that depicts a nightmare visit to Santa Claus at the mall.

Ralphie Parker waits in line with delighted anticipation for his last chance to ask Santa for a Red Ryder air rifle. But the crabby elves are rough with the children, yelling at them to move faster and aggressively sitting them on Santa’s lap. Meanwhile, St. Nick is practically shouting his ho-ho-ho’s into their little, terrified faces.

This, coupled with Billy Bob Thornton’s “Bad Santa” character (a sequel is scheduled to begin filming in 2014) and David Sedaris’ account of working as an elf at Macy’s in “The SantaLand Diaries,” give old Kris Kringle and his miniature helpers a bad rep.

But these deviant characters and pessimistic recollections of the Christmas season are a far cr y from the majority of real life Santa Clauses who take their jobs very seriously, putting their hearts into it 365 days a year.

Minnesota’s Carl Immediato, also known as Santa Carlucci, said bad Santas like those portrayed in pop cul-

ture would never last in the real world. Once word gets out, he said, it spreads “like wildfire.”

“I haven’t had an encounter with a bad Santa at all,” he said. “Children, eh, that’s a different story.”

Sometimes parents approach Immediato with the expectation that he’ll be “the hammer” for their naughty children. They list all the bad things their child did in the last year and ask Santa to threaten to give them a lump of coal if their child doesn’t behave.

Thr ough the years, though, he’s learned there’s no benefit in embarrassing a child in front of everyone, he said.

“I’ve recognized that I’m such a powerful figure to children that I can’t possibly do that in front of everybody,” he said.

Immediato said he’ll instead quietly pull the child aside and whisper something in his ear that encourages better behavior.

A Christmas miracle Tim Connaghan, the national Santa for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program, conducts an annual survey of the thousands of Santas who have gone through his nationally recognized Santa training school School4Santas.

Of the 658 Santas from around the country who responded this year, about 80 percent said they volunteer at organizations like Wounded

Warriors or military units.

Many visit children in hospitals or through the Make-AWish foundation.

“The hardest part for me is going to the hospital. The kids couldn’t care less about gifts,” Immediato said. “Children will hold on to you and just beg you to stop the pain.

You’ve got to fight the tears back.”

It’s not just children in hospitals who get excited to see Father Christmas. Connaghan said he once visited a woman with Alzheimer’s and her family. As soon as he walked into the room, the woman looked up and said, “Santi!”

The woman hadn’t spoken in six years but immediately recognized Santa.

Everyone in the room was “watery-eyed,” Connaghan said, and it was “as close as you can get to a miracle.”

More than 12 days of Christmas Santa’s job doesn’t end on Boxing Day — it’s a yearround endeavor, especially for those who spor t real beards.

“It’s impossible to walk around without getting eyeballed and waved at,” Immediato said. He drives a red car decked out with reindeer antlers, a Rudolph nose on the fender and a license plate that says “C SANTA.” “Even during the summertime, I’m always in some kind of red,” he said. “And you get celebrity kind of at-

tention. People always turn into 6-year-olds when they’re around me.”

Although the St. Nick season lasts about 40 days a year, with photo shoots and private party gigs starting in November, real-bearded Santas must play the part whenever they’re in public.

“If a child sees you in the store, you have to be Santa,” Connaghan said. “You can’t ignore them.”

It might be easy to assume that any person with a large stomach and bushy white beard can throw on a red suit and call himself Santa, but Santas who possess true Christmas spirit say it’s much more than that.

“I’ve been through enough guys, and I know who are the real, true Santas of the world,” Immediato said.

“And they all admit, ‘You don’t pick Santa; Santa picks you.’

There’s something that takes over you. It’s very difficult to describe.”

Detailed embellishments like posing with real reindeer or wearing a chocolate chip cookie fragrance do make the experience seem more real, especially for children. And the more tricks a Santa has up his sleeve, the more believable he’ll be. The pros say it’s important to keep improving old traditions.

“It’s like the Madonna tour of 2004. You’re not going to do it again,” Immediato said.

“So we do try to reinvent ourselves every year.”

Whether your Santa boots

THE AVERAGE SANTA AVERAGE AGE

63

YOUNGEST: 35 OLDEST: 89

93.5%

have a real beard

6.5%

have a beard kit

80%

have a real belly 85.7% are married

20%

use padding

AVERAGE WEIGHT

256 lbs LIGHTEST: 150 LBS HEAVIEST: 450 LBS

42.8% said their favorite cookie is chocolate chip SOURCE: 2013 RED SUIT SURVEY, SANTAHOLLYWOOD.COM

are genuine leather or your suits are handmade doesn’t make or break you as a Santa.

While some invest a lot of time, attention and money into their outfits and routines, many say what truly makes a

good Santa is the character of their heart. The key to getting others to think you’re Santa is to believe it yourself.

“We absolutely believe that we are Santa,” Immediato said.

FASHION

The fashionista is in: Holiday window fashion Local fashion designer Christopher Straub collaborated with Papyrus to create paper dresses.

BY MELANIE RICHTMAN mrichtman@mndaily.com

I

f you’ve visited the Mall of America recently, you’ve seen how stores transform into winter wonderlands with strings of lights, holiday decorations and festive window displays.

Like most other stores, Papyrus — known for its offerings of greeting cards, gift wrap and other paper products — has a holiday window display with a distinct twist. It features dresses made out of cards, ribbon and wrapping paper, all designed by Christopher Straub.

The Shakopee, Minn., native has risen to fame as a local fashion designer, especially after appearing on season six of “Project Runway.” The venture with Papyrus came about accidentally when he ran into a high-level executive who just happened to be familiar with Straub’s love of creating garments out of unconventional materials.

Together, they decided to collaborate on a holiday window display, for which Straub designed four paper dresses: three for Papyrus at the Mall of America and one at the Edina Galleria location.

Inspiration for the four dresses came from a discussion about letter writing and the Victorian era. Straub designed the dresses based on the idea of a Victorian girl — but with a modern twist.

“Instead of doing golds and ivories and rich reds and purples that are classic Victorian, I did it in a new way using jewel tones and peacock colors,” Straub said. “I really tried to evolve that thought and make it new, make it now and make it fresh for Papyrus.”

Of the three garments on display at the Mall of America, two are short cocktail dresses, and one is an elaborate floor-length gown. While Straub can’t pick a favorite, he said people tend to gravitate toward the long gown.

“When you do a full-length paper dress, you’ve got to

BRIDGET BENNETT, DAILY Live models wore wrapping paper gowns by Christopher Straub, a local designer and former Project Runway contestant, at the Papyrus storefront in the Mall of America.

know what you’re doing as a designer,” he said. “[People] know it’s not just slapped together. There has to be a lot of thought and a lot of math.”

Straub designed all of the garments to be fully wearable.

Before being topped with greeting cards, ribbons and wrapping paper, each dress started with a fabric base so the model’s skin would never come into contact with paper.

All of the pieces on display at the Mall of America are separates with lace-up corset tops and skirts with zippers down the back.

Straub is no novice when it comes to using unusual materials — he’s made dresses out of burlap, circuit board and photo paper. After his stint on “Project Runway,” he fell in love with using unconventional materials because of the creative freedom it gives designers.

“You’re taking something that someone can respond to outside of fashion. In this case, I took greeting cards, wrapping paper and ribbon — materials that we use all year long, especially during the holidays — and turned it into something completely out of context,” he said.

When Straub isn’t designing paper dresses, he is focusing his attention on his eponymous brand (which opened this year’s “The Shows” at Minneapolis-St. Paul Fashion Week) and designing one-ofa-kind pieces for private clients.

After a fun holiday collaboration, Straub said he hopes to work with Papyrus again in the future.

His designs will be on display at the Papyrus shops in the Mall of America and the Galleria for the remainder of the 2013 holiday season.

BRIDGET BENNETT, DAILY Christopher Straub, a local designer and former Project Runway contestant, designed a holiday window display for Papyrus at the Mall of America.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Sports

9

@MNDAILYSPORTS

THE TRANSITION

what comes next for student-athletes

Erickson coaches college at young age Sarah Erickson was hired at ConcordiaMoorhead over the summer.

BY BETSY HELFAND bhelfand@mndaily.com

At age 23, Sarah Erickson is barely out of college. But what she lacks in years, she makes up for in experience and strong work ethic.

Erickson became the head women’s hockey coach at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., this summer and is ver y close in age to players on her roster.

The for mer Gophers women’s hockey player graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2012 after a successful four-year career that ended with a national title.

This summer, Erickson injured her knee, which dashed her hopes at the winter Olympics in Russia. She bounced back, though, and got the job at Concordia just days after the disappointing news.

“Sarah’s a big believer in things [happening] for a reason,” said her fiancé, Tom Upton. “I think that sured up ever ything in her mind that things do happen for a reason. From something bad came this phenomenal oppor tunity for her to get her coaching career started.”

Minnesota Gophers head coach Brad Frost said Erickson’s leadership “progressed significantly” in her time at Minnesota.

“When she came in as a freshman, she was a little more immature,” he said.

“By her junior year, she ended up getting it and understanding what a leader was all about.”

Erickson, a Roseau, Minn., native, was an assistant captain her junior year and co-captained the 2011-12 team to an NCAA championship.

Senior for ward Bethany Brausen, who was captain last year and again this season, said Erickson was “as good a leader as you’re going to find.”

“She’s got a great personality, and kids will be drawn to her and want to play for her.”

BRAD FROST Gophers head coach

Brausen said there were moments during her sophomore year — Erickson’s senior year — that were hard on Brausen because she didn’t get a lot of ice time.

But Erickson took her under her wing and helped her through it.

“There [are] not a lot of people in my life that I really consider huge role models or heroes,” Brausen said. “In my time here, she quickly became one of my heroes.”

Frost said he doesn’t remember if he talked to Erickson about becoming a coach but said it was evident she’d make a good one.

“She’s got a great personality, and kids will be drawn to her and want to play for her,” Frost said.

Stevens Point Erickson had her sights set on the Olympics after a successful college career.

Erickson joined Up ton — then an assistant

AMANDA SNYDER, DAILY

Former Gophers women’s hockey forward Sarah Erickson coaches her team, Concordia-Moorhead, on Saturday at St. Thomas Ice Arena.

coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point after her graduation. She spent that time training for the national team and also ser ved as an assistant coach for the women’s team at Stevens Point.

“I think it’s really impor tant that when the game gives so much to you, you’ve got to give back to it,” Erickson said.

Her schedule that year was ver y demanding. Upton said she would wake up and head to the gym to work out, then go to the rink and do on-ice training. After training, she’d head home, let the dog out and return to the rink to coach.

Erickson was named to the U.S. national team roster for the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships in April 2013. She said the season she spent coaching made her a better player and coach.

“It was hectic in a good way,” Erickson said. “I think it gave me a really good chance to relate to my players as well as relating to the coaching staff.”

SARAH ERICKSON’S CAREER STATS GP 40 40 37 41

2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 Career totals:

G 10 18 21 20

A 13 22 22 29

PTS 23 40 43 49

158 69 86

155

SOURCE: USCHO.COM

director Rich Glas got Erickson’s contact info from an assistant coach on the basketball team, who also had Roseau roots.

Glas said others were high on Erickson’s playing skills and thought she would make a great coach.

“After we had an opportunity to sit down and talk to her with our committee, we felt the same way,” he said.

Glas said Erickson’s experiences with the Gophers and with the national team put her “ahead of the cur ve,” but her interview put her over the top.

“You want to win games — that’s certainly the case — but she was also in tune with wanting to develop young women,” he said.

Concordia Triumphing over tragedy Olympic tr youts this summer didn’t go as planned for Erickson.

“I blew out my knee the first day on ice, and I was pretty devastated,” she said. “You don’t want that to happen at the Olympic tr youts.”

When USA Hockey announced the U.S. women’s national team’s r oster, Erickson’s name wasn’t called.

“The injur y was disappointing, and it kind of came out of nowhere for ever ybody,” Upton said.

But the timing worked out.

“I’m sitting on the injur y table getting looked at, and I listen to this voicemail, and it says, ‘Alright, we’d love for you to apply for the job,’” Erickson said.

At that point, she thought she still might have a shot at the roster.

But when that didn’t work out, she returned the call.

Concordia athletics

The Cobbers’ roster features 11 freshmen and three new coaches and is ver y much in a building mode. Erickson, who has exhibited success at different levels, is tasked with rebuilding the program.

“I’ve told these girls, for whatever reason, I’ve got an eye for championship teams, and that’s because I know what it takes. I’ve seen it. I’ve been there first-hand.”

SARAH ERICKSON Concordia-Moorhead head coach

Sophomore for ward Anna Westmark said Erickson told the team that because she still wishes she was playing, seeing players give anything less than 100 percent hur ts her.

SATCHELL MISCHE-RICHTER, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Former Minnesota women’s hockey forward Sarah Erickson co-captained the Gophers to a national championship in the 2011-12 season.

Andrea Nichols, another Gophers women’s hockey alumnus, is an assistant coach on Erickson’s staf f.

She said Erickson does a great job teaching the game and sharing her experiences.

“I’ve told these girls, for whatever reason, I’ve got an eye for championship teams, and that’s because I know what it takes,” Erickson said. “I’ve seen it. I’ve been there first-hand.”

When the Gophers had their title r un during her senior season, she said, they wer en’t necessarily the best team, but they were the closest.

That’s the culture she’s tr ying to bring to Concordia.

“No matter what hap-

pens, no matter what we go through, we’re a family and we suppor t each other,” Erickson said.

Family first Erickson cited Frost, Gophers assistant coach Joel Johnson and former Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson as role models and said she tries to mimic the way they coached.

Frost and Johnson instilled a family-first atmosphere at Minnesota, she said, and she’s tr ying to do the same at Concordia.

That hockey-family balance is one that Erickson is tr ying to strike herself.

Upton, her fiancé, is an

assistant coach with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Erickson said the balancing act has been the hardest thing she’s ever done.

Upton said the two don’t see each other as much as they would like, but they make the most of the oppor tunities they have.

While the distance is hard for the couple now, Erickson said they don’t want to wonder “what if” down the road.

“If we’re not chasing our dr eams now, then what are we going to look back on in 10 years and say, ‘Man, I wish I would have’?” Erickson said. “It’s ver y hectic, and it’s hard, but it’s all so worth it.”

10

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

ATHLETICS

Nanne will lead fundraising efforts WITH SAM GORDON

A A practice facility for the Gophers men’s and women’s basketball teams would be included in the complex.

Athletics u from Page 1

athletic programs on a consistent basis,” according to a University athletics release. “[H]e was an obvious choice to ask to lead this,” Teague said in the release.

N a n n e s a i d Te a g u e and University President Eric Kaler approached him about becoming the head of the fundraising efforts.

Nanne said initially he didn’t know if he could commit much time. “They convinced me that I should,” he said. “I want to see it happen, and when I thought hard about it, I thought they were right.”

In July, Teague laid out the plan, which features eight facilities to be built at an expanded Bierman Field complex on 15th Avenue Southeast.

Those new facilities in the plan included a men’s and women’s basketball practice facility, a football complex, a women’s gymnastics facility, an Olympic sport indoor practice facility, an outdoor Olympic spor t track, a wrestling training facility, an academic center and a training table dining area.

Teague said in July the focus of the fundraising efforts would be on athletics donors. Nanne said individual donors will be a big focus, but he hopes to reach out to corporations and foundations as well.

“I think ever ybody has an interest in the [University] if they’re located in the boundaries of the state,” he said. “We have to reach

The proposed complex would have one large building, spanning three blocks along 15th Avenue Southeast. The current complex has two connected buildings and a track and field stadium. out to all these different avenues to reach our goal.”

While the $190 million price is intimidating, University donor Jay Mahler said an athletics facility upgrade is essential. And Nanne is a good person to take on the fundraising task, he said.

“I think that any time you can have an individual … of that stature, it would bode well for the fundraising effort,” Mahler said.

Former athletics director Joel Maturi agreed and said Nanne is a “per fect choice” to lead the fundraising efforts.

“He knows the doors that need to be opened, but most importantly, he has the ability to give the message,” Maturi said. “He can do it with passion and understanding, and because of him, it’s an exciting beginning to this significant campaign.”

Teague said in July that

A new football complex would replace the Gophers’ current indoor complex.

Conceptual designs courtesy of Gopher Sports he hoped the facilities plan would be finished six to eight years from the star t of the fundraising campaign.

That star ted last week, Nanne said, and he’s opti-

mistic it’ll get done.

“I’m tired of hearing people put the University down as far as its ability to raise money … or its ability to compete,” he said. “I don’t want to hear

that anymore. I’m tired of it, and if I can do something about it, I’m going to do it.”

Kaitlyn Walek contributed to this report.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Broman set to battle with hometown squad Anders Broman is the all-time leading scorer in state basketball history.

BY JACE FREDERICK jfrederick@mndaily.com

Anders Broman scored more points than any high school basketball player in Minnesota state history, but it wasn’t enough to attract his home-state school.

Now Broman, a freshman guard for South Dakota State, will face the Gophers on their home court Tuesday.

He said he understood why he didn’t get attention from any Big Ten programs.

“I’m kind of undersized,” he said. “I’m not super athletic, so I don’t have those types of things going for me.”

He might lack the flash and sparkle that major colleges covet from their prized recruits, but he can do one thing better than most: score.

Broman filled it up in high school like the state of Minnesota had never seen.

The previous Minnesota state record for points scored in a high school career was 4,086. Broman finished with 5,119 during his six years

playing for Lakeview Christian Academy in Duluth, Minn. Twice he scored at least 70 points in a game.

But he didn’t receive any scholarship offers until he played AAU ball the summer after his junior year. He joined Howard Pulley and played in the same backcourt as Apple Valley point guard and Duke commit Tyus Jones.

Howard Pulley head coach Antwan Harris said Broman str uggled when he first joined the Panthers because he had to deal with bigger, faster and stronger defenders.

“The first couple of games,

he was having trouble getting his shot off,” Harris said.

But he said Broman was able to adjust to the quicker pace after his first tournament with Howard Pulley.

“It was more of him speeding his game up a little bit,” Harris said.

South Dakota State head coach Scott Nagy said he saw Broman play in the Class A state tournament at the end of his junior campaign, and he didn’t play well.

But Nagy and his staff continued to recruit Broman.

When Nagy watched him play for Howard Pulley at the Peach Jam — one of the AAU’s top summer tournaments — Broman’s improvement showed.

“Anders played really well down there,” Nagy said. “He proved that he was capable of playing with anybody. That’s

where we really, really got interested in him.”

Nagy said he saw a tough kid who was more than just a scorer.

“He just does whatever is needed of him,” he said. “He’s a very unselfish guy.”

As soon as Broman committed to SDSU, he was compared to former All-America guard and St. Cloud, Minn., native Nate Wolters — currently a rookie with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Broman said the success Wolters had at SDSU played a large role in his decision to play for the Jackrabbits, but he doesn’t agree with the comparison.

“Nate’s the best player to ever have played here at SDSU,” Broman said. “I’m not trying to be the next Nate Wolters. There never will be another Nate Wolters.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW

VS MINNESOTA

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

7 p.m., Tuesday at Williams Arena

MINNESOTA: Tuesday marks the last game the Gophers play before taking their traditional finals week break. Minnesota won’t play again until Dec. 20.

Senior guard Austin Hollins is second on the team in points (13.2 per game), which was expected coming into the season.

What wasn’t expected? Hollins is also second on the team in rebounds (6.7 per game).

The Gophers enter Tuesday’s battle riding a three-game winning streak, fresh off a win against New Orleans.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: This is the ninth straight season the Jackrabbits will travel to Williams Arena — Minnesota’s longest streak with a nonconference opponent since it played Drake in 10 straight seasons from 1962-71. The Gophers have won each of the last eight meetings.

South Dakota State graduated its leading scorer from a year ago, point guard Nate Wolters. Wolters, an All-American last season, was drafted in the second round of the NBA draft in June and currently plays for the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Jackrabbits have experienced monumental success lately.

They qualified for the NCAA tournament in each of the last two seasons, but they lost their first-round game on both occasions.

SOURCE: GOPHERSPORTS.COM

s usual, the BCS got it right.

Still, if there was a year where a playof f would be especially fitting, it’d be this one.

No. 1 Florida State against No. 2 Aubur n is the right title game matchup, and both teams boast the best credentials of any of the viable contenders.

I’m expecting a competitive, enter taining game, but I’m also not so sure Alabama isn’t the best team in the country.

That’s pretty much the stor y of the last 15 years.

While the Bowl Championship Series is going to be remembered for helping deliver some of the most memorable games ever — à la USC versus Texas in 2006 — it’s also going to be remembered for barring worthy teams from a chance at the championship.

I’m in the minority as a long-standing supporter of the BCS — the system that aggregates rankings from different polls to determine the two teams most fit to compete for a title.

And more often than not, it has rewarded the two teams with the most complete resumes.

It ensured the regular season’s relevance, and in a sense, ever y game was a playoff game for the top contenders. If a team slipped up, there went its title shot.

Before the BCS, voters named the national champion, giving the title even more subjectivity. In the BCS, the champion earns it.

But college football is the only major sport that is void of a championship tournament.

And after back-to-back one-sided national championship games, and after watching Alabama this season, and after seeing how it lost to Auburn — there’s simply no excuse not to have a playoff system moving forward.

I’ll be ver y clear and say Auburn is more than deserving to play for the ’ship.

The Tigers played an elite schedule and upset the No. 1 team in the nation. But it took an injury to Johnny Manziel, a miracle Hail Mary pass against Georgia and four missed field goals against Alabama to get it there.

I could argue four teams are deserving of a title shot this year.

Aside from the two teams playing for the title, No. 3 Alabama was the most dominant team in the country’s best conference, and No. 4 Michigan State ran the table in the Big Ten. Next year’s playof f system won’t penalize elite teams for losing once.

It’ll end the debate that surrounds the national championship game seemingly ever y year. It’ll eliminate the 20-minute conversations people have with friends about who should be playing for the title. And it’ll flat out be more enter taining for college football fans.

Though I was initially skeptical, I’ve come around and realized a four-team playoff is right for college football. But it couldn’t have happened without the kerfuffle the BCS has created year in and year out.

Here’s to hoping the BCS delivers one last time.

Ya feel me?

Sam Gordon welcomes comments at sgordon@mndaily.com or on Twitter.

@SamuelEGordon

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Classifieds

11

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EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

$13/hr Full time/part time RECEPTIONISTS for office bldg DT Mpls next to the Metrodome.

Greet visitors, handle in-coming calls, must have good customer service, and have excellent fluent English speaking skills. between 7:30am-5:30pm M-F. Call Veena 612-321-0000

Production and Packaging Positions at Franklin Street Bakery. Please send resume to humanresources@franklinstreetbakery. com or visit our web site http://www. franklinstreetbakery.com/careers.html $10-$12/hr

HOUSING

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Events HAVE AN EVENT YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROMOTE IN THE DAILY? Submit your event to have it featured here for free.

If you would like your event promoted here, go to mndaily.com/contact and fill out the provided form.

UPCOMING EVENTS What: Give the Gift of Life | Bone Marrow Donor Registry Drive Who: Be The Match on Campus When: 11 a.m.–3 p.m., Tuesday Where: Coffman Union Price: Free All it takes is a little paperwork and a couple of quick cheek swabs to sign up. You are the key to saving someone’s life.

What: I AM MPLS! Who: Sarah Edwards When: 6–11 p.m., Thursday; show starts at 7 p.m.

Where: Aria, 105 N. First St., Minneapolis Price: $15 I AM MPLS!, the acclaimed fashion/variety show celebrating the talented and creative people of the city, returns on Thursday. The multifacted event integrates comedy, music, fashion and art to form an entertaining evening based on locally grown creative pride. Conceived

by Twin Cities-based stylist and event producer Sarah Edwards, I AM MPLS! is an eclectically vibrant celebration of who we are, what we do and the common bond that ties us to our fair city.

What: California Dreamin’ Open Studio Event in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District Who: The artists of the California Building When: 5–9 p.m., Friday; Noon–6 p.m., Saturday Where: California Building, 2205 California St. NE, Minneapolis Price: Free Meet artists in their studios, see fresh work, engage in lively conversation, enjoy refreshments and perhaps add to your art collection.

Visit www.californiabuilding.com for more information.

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Group submissions are subject to approval by the Publisher for wording, illustrations and typography. Any content that attacks, criticizes or demeans any individual, race, religion, sex, institution, firm, business, profession, organization or affectional preference shall not be accepted.

12

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

BACKTALK sudoku

horoscopes

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.

For strategies on how to solve sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk.

12/10/2013

Yesterday’s solution © 2013 Michael Mepham. Distributed by Tribune Media Services.

All rights reserved.

Today’s Birthday (12/10): Build partnerships with mutual respect to launch your career into the stratosphere this year. Holiday rest leads to a productive surge after the New Year, with extra cash flow into March.

To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

Written By Linda C. Black

Aries (3/21 - 4/19): Today is a 5 — It’s a good time to take stock of where you are and where you want to be — personally, financially and professionally.

Libra (9/23 - 10/22): Today is a 6 — Invest in home, family and real estate to the degree affordable. Avoid reckless spending. Take the time to make things beautiful.

Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): Today is a 6 — Reflection, introspection and thoughtful planning serve you now. Ask questions and study.

Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Today is a 6 — No one needs to know how little you spend. Focus on your work the next two days. There’s no need to be hasty.

Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): Today is a 6 — Others admire your strength and courage. Protect your interests and your family. Receive an unexpected bonus.

Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): Today is a 5 — Schedule time for romance. What you do doesn’t need to be expensive; a picnic, walk in the park or movie at home satisfies.

Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Today is a 5 — Crazy dreams seem possible. There’s too much to do, though, and any change in direction could seem abrupt to others.

Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): Today is a 5 — Make household decisions today and tomorrow, and share the load. A clash between domestic and career responsibilities could slow you down.

Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Today is a 6 — Put in the necessary corrections as you discover them.

Consider all the facts. Increase efficiency, and plan your agenda. Postpone an outing.

Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): Today is a 6 — Don’t mess things up by being rude. Figure out what you need to learn, today and tomorrow. Resist a compulsion to spend, too.

Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): Today is a 6 — Rest.

Review the situation and recharge your batteries. Examine financial facts carefully, and pay bills today and tomorrow.

Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Today is a 6 — Seek new territory. You’re very persuasive now.

Results turn out better than expected, and a goal gets achieved.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

overheard “Living in Minnesota sucks. I’m pretty much forced to quit smoking for, like, four to five months out of the year.”

—Folwell Hall

“I’m not dropping trousers just yet. ...”

—Como

“I don’t care how bad I failed that class. It’s finally over!”

—Church Street

Professor: “What kind of conclusions would you have?”

Student: “Conclusive.”

—Unknown

“I have to learn a whole new language by ... tomorrow.”

—Coffman Union

Girl: “Wait, that’s a nucleosome?!”

Guy: “Why do you care?”

Girl: “I am just trying to understand organic chemistry!”

Guy: “This is genetics. ...”

—Carlson School of Management

Professor: “If you were born 300 years ago and knew how to write this energy balance equation, you could become very famous.”

—Chemical engineering lecture

Guy: “Is Matt Damon good enough?”

—The Whole

Guy: “I don’t mind cross-dressing, but the beard stays.”

— Dunn Bros in Wilson Library

Girl: “So last night, I got locked out of my house with a pizza in the oven. It started on fire, and I had to call the police.”

—Cooke Hall

“I mean, I’m down for anal — at least once.”

—Unknown

“Gross! I don’t do that. And even if I did, I wouldn’t leave the door open.

That’s nose-picking 101!”

—Territorial Hall

“Are you sure you weren’t high? I saw a three-legged deer when I was high once. ...”

—Coffman Union

“That was NOT cum! That was soap and water! My friend licked it!”

—Sanford Hall

High guy: “Keep your friends close ... and your burritos closer.”

—Taco Bell

Girl: “Oh, you have a new girlfriend?

Well, I still have your virginity.”

—Campus Connector

“You can’t unplug a piano!”

—Coffman Union

What did you overhear?

4Post submissions on the “Overheard at U of M” Facebook group.

4Visit mndaily.com and look for the “Connect with the Daily” box on the homepage.

4Email submissions to overheards@mndaily.com.

crossword

FOR RELEASE DECEMBER 10, 2013

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS 1 Says “I do” to 5 Harvest bundle 10 Bone below the knee 14 Big name in skin care 15 Sculpture subjects 16 Jay with a column in Popular Mechanics 17 Smokes 19 Speak wildly 20 Dated song 21 Computer repair pros 23 Fizzle out 24 2013 Literature Nobelist Munro 26 Words sighed after a defeat 28 Ice cream maker Joseph 30 Cultural funding gp.

31 Let loose, as pigs 32 Large group 34 Two-time Oscarwinning director Lee 35 Turkish general 38 Pop star 39 Fortuneteller’s deck 41 Corp. moneymen 42 Sidewalk eatery 43 Suffix for a school of thought 44 Chopper blades 46 Classic role for Nimoy 48 Highchair protection 49 Be a fink 50 “Zip it!”

52 “Aida,” for one 54 Sewn edge 55 Catches in a sting 58 Until now 61 Poor box deposit 63 “Tell me about it” 65 Kennel pest 66 “You’ve Got Mail” co-screenwriter Ephron 67 Complete failure 68 Civil suit cause 69 Philosophy test component 70 Shade trees

12/10/13

By C.C. Burnikel

DOWN 1 Home of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame 2 Villainous 3 Sultry stretch 4 Slow mollusk 5 Fr. holy woman 6 Drink with dim sum 7 Art Deco artist 8 “Be there in __” 9 Vacation with worms?

10 Nikon product, for short 11 Destined for one’s comeuppance ... or what the last words of 3-, 9and 25-Down are doing?

12 Navel type 13 Well-known 18 Queen, in Quebec 22 Additive sold at Pep Boys 25 Slogan on a Boston basketball fan’s shirt 27 Flinch, say 28 Long heroic poem

Monday’s Puzzle Solved

(c)2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

29 Pop, to baby 31 One, for Juan 33 Got some shuteye 34 Pitcher’s asset 36 Jewish wedding dance 37 Lead-in for prof. or D.A. 40 Show curiosity 45 More than heavyset 47 Not at home

12/10/13

48 __ and Herzegovina 50 Golf club part 51 Greeting word 53 John who married Pocahontas 56 Top pilots 57 Buds 59 Molecule part 60 Crunch count 62 Used a chair 64 Boxing’s Sugar __ Leonard

dr. date Dr. Date,

I met this guy a year ago, after I got out of a long-term relationship of two years. My close group of friends is the same as his, and he rooms with three of them right now.

At first, I wasn’t interested because a few friends had crushes on him, but they have all gotten over that, and after a year, our friendship is taking a step forward. We have been hanging out alone more, watching movies at his place, rock climbing, having dinner and doing other activities. Some activities are not as mature as I would like them to be for a more serious relationship.

The real problem is he hasn’t made any moves. There have been lingering hands but no holding, no arm around the shoulder, no hugging and no kissing. He is a shy guy, and I have a strong personality, but I am tired of making the moves. It’s been going on for more than a month now. According to his roommates, he likes me, but for me, he is putting himself in the friend zone. We have a lot in common, we have fun and he has a great body from being in ROTC. Should I try to have a relationship with him going at his slow pace, or should I give up and just be good friends?

—Waiting On Something

Waiting On What?

I fail to see what “moves” you’ve been making. It sounds like your only “move” is waiting around for him to start sucking your face.

And there aren’t only the two outcomes you list to choose from. Swoop in for that smackeroo, and see what happens. Maybe getting him a little heated will prompt his instinctual sexual appetite. This doesn’t have to end in a snail’s pace OR simply friendship. YOU have the wheel; where are YOU gonna take this?

This isn’t prom in the ’50s. There

shouldn’t be any weird shuffling of feet as members of the sexes ponder pairing off. Just go.

Besides, he’s a nice guy. Great bod.

Little shy. Approval of friends. Sounds like the epitome of a keeper. If you don’t go for a guy like this, good luck sifting through the rest of the fish in the sea.

—Dr. Date

Dr. Date,

I’m dating this guy, and things are good, but he’s really weird about money.

He insists on paying but then makes little comments like, “I’m not Rockefeller over here.” (I know, so original.)

When I pay, though, he gets upset and says he should’ve been the one to pay. So either way, I can’t enjoy it. I have a good job and want to treat him — I’m definitely not the kind of girl who expects the guy to pay all the time. I want this to be an egalitarian relationship, and I think that includes respect when it comes to money. How can I talk to him about this?

—It’s On Me

Moneybags,

Discuss it just like you did with me.

Remove any possibility of offending him by making this purely about you (even though it clearly isn’t).

Don’t make this about who has more money, but make it about setting the standard of equality and respect that you want in this relationship. If it’s a matter of you being emotionally content, hopefully he won’t look at it selfishly.

Also, try taking the reins of dateplanning and set up something unbeknownst to him. If the date is your doing, he shouldn’t feel weird about it, since it was constructed as something that was, from square one, going to be “your treat.”

—Dr. Date

Need relationship advice? Email Dr. Date at drdate@mndaily.com.

13

14

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

U students try their hand at Bitcoin Students are trying out the virtual currency, which some say is risky.

BY ALLISON KRONBERG akronberg@mndaily.com

University of Minnesota computer science senior Timothy O’Brien has converted large sums of money into Bitcoin, a controversial and volatile digital currency.

He says he worries about the instability of his investments every day.

Technologically and financially skilled students are getting involved with new investments in the global marketplace, and some say they’ve been lucky so far.

“The people that have taken advantage of it are people who aren’t really that wealthy but who are technically savvy, who are willing to take a risk on kind of a libertarian ideal or economic ideal that they align themselves with,” said University of Pennsylvania student and St. Paul native Matthew Buechler, who has Bitcoin.

A mysterious false identity called Satoshi Nakamoto created the idea for Bitcoin in a 2009 research paper. Nakamoto described it as “a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash [that] would allow online payments” without using a bank.

“You buy at your own risk,” University corporate securities law professor Richard Painter said. “For hundreds of years, people have paid hundreds of dollars for something that doesn’t have a high inherent value.”

Bitcoin is different from

2013 BITCOIN MARKET PRICE IN U.S. DOLLARS

MINNESOTA BUSINESSES THAT ACCEPT BITCOINS

1,200

1,000

800

600

MELD Workshop XPI LLC 2 Encryptomatic.com Nisswa Cabin

400

200

4

Jan.

Feb.

March

April

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

DalekoArts

SOURCE: BLOCKCHAIN.INFO

past attempts at Internet currency because no government regulates it, no one owns it and transactions are anonymous — to an extent.

“It would be really nice to have a form of digital currency that is accepted everywhere around the world,” O’Brien said. “That’s what I thought was so cool.”

Only 21 million bitcoins will ever exist, so those who buy directly from Bitcoin need to “mine” them. Miners need large, expensive servers and computer science savvy to solve increasingly difficult algorithms and earn coins. By making the computer algorithms harder, the currency regulates its own value.

“I wouldn’t sell a bitcoin for less than what I was mining with,” Buechler said, “so that’s where its inherent value

comes from.”

O’Brien started buying bitcoins in 2010, when they were just beginning. He recalled that at the time, he thought $5 was expensive for a bitcoin.

On Nov. 30, the currency hit its highest worth when one bitcoin was valued at $1,203 — a more than a tenfold increase in less than five months. Its value on Monday was $895 per coin, according to Blockchain, a website that tracks the currency’s value.

For Bitcoin to be a true currency, Painter said, its drastic fluctuations in value would need to end.

“Right now, it just seems like people buying in to sell it to someone else who wants it so they make a profit, and that can only go on for so long,” he said.

Bitcoin itself acknowledges that investing means tak-

ing a risk. Its website warns users to never store money in bitcoins that they can’t afford to lose.

“I don’t know if bitcoins are going to be the next kind of currency someday,” O’Brien said. “But I think there will be some kind of digital currency,” Bitcoin’s lack of regulation could lead to the bubble bursting, Painter said, so he advised students to learn about different sectors before investing.

“Educate yourself first, and make your investment decisions based on a firm base of knowledge,” he said.

Despite the asset’s uncertainty, about 1,700 businesses worldwide currently accept bitcoins, including two in Minneapolis, according to Coinmap.

One of these, music and

Hypnosis and Psychotherapy for Health and Healing Slam Academy The Movement Minneapolis Byte Technology

2

Advanced Video Tactics Hawley Productions SOURCE: COINMAP.ORG

electronic arts school Slam Academy, just began accepting bitcoins in November, said Vice President of Marketing and Promotions Leon Jaworski.

“It’s very, very new to us.

We set it up kind of as a way to offer an alternative method of payment,” he said. “To us, it’s just another form of electronic payment that we wanted to open up to, to stay on the cutting edge of things.”

But to some, the anonymous nature of the currency is troubling.

Although a record of ever y Bitcoin transaction is available to the public online, Buechler said some miners attempt to trade il-

legal assets in bitcoins by using multiple encryptions and other methods to hide their networks.

But Painter said the practice itself isn’t illegal because it’s more of a bar ter system than a currency.

“There’s nothing illegal about it,” he said. “The problem is when it gets into fraud — when people are putting in fraudulent trades and manipulating the market.”

O’Brien said fraudulent activity only worries him if it affects Bitcoin’s value.

“So far, it’s been free money for me,” he said.

“So I’m not that worried.”

Abbas aide lambasts US push for framework deal

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

R A M A L L A H , We s t Bank — A senior Palestinian of ficial on Monday railed against U.S. attempts to broker a broad outline of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, saying Secretar y of State John Kerr y is breaking a promise to tr y to negotiate a final agreement in the current round of talks.

The Palestinian leadership is concerned that such a framework deal will accommodate ver y specific Israeli security demands, while of fering only vague promises to the Palestin-

ians, said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas.

“This contradicts completely what we were promised by the American secretary of state at the beginning of this peace process ... to avoid any partial or interim agreements,” he told the Voice of Palestine radio station.

Both Kerr y and President Barack Obama said over the weekend that the U.S. is pursuing a framework agreement, but did not provide details. Obama said it’s possible to reach such an outline over the

next few months.

State Depar tment spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday that the U.S. is not focused on an interim deal, but is focused on a final deal. She also said that there will be a process for getting to a final deal, but did not elaborate.

She said Obama and Kerr y both referred last weekend to a “framework.”

“I think some thought — took that to mean interim,” Psaki said. “It does not mean interim. We still remain focused on a final status agreement.”

Security arrangements

between Israel and a future Palestine would be central to such a framework. Kerr y has argued that progress in negotiations is only possible if Israeli security concer ns are addressed first.

Last week, Kerry presented a new U.S. security plan to Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including arrangements for the border between Jordan and a state of Palestine.

Under the plan, Israel would have final say at that border for at least 10 years and would also have a militar y presence in the strip

of land next to it, the West Bank’s Jordan Valley, according to two Palestinian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details of the negotiations.

Israeli of ficials have said they fear militants and weapons could be smuggled into a future Palestine if Israel gives up control over the West Bank-Jordan border. Abbas has said he is willing to accept an international presence there, but not Israeli forces.

Psaki said that Ker r y met on Monday in Wash-

House

dishwasher broke down last spring after thousands of cycles.

“When you think about having 40 to 50 fraternity men living in this space every year,” Schmidt said, “it’s going to be lived in and take some wear.”

Alpha Gamma Rho also wanted to stay competitive with the housing options offered by other fraternities and private housing companies.

Steve Koziolek, an Alpha Gamma Rho alumnus involved with the project, said the updated house will help attract new members.

“It’s a premier housing option,” Koziolek said. “When [students] go to campus, their parents want them living in a nice, safe house, and this allowed us to create a safe, attractive, quality housing option to offer the men of our fraternity.”

The house will have air conditioning, a computer center and more electrical outlets in every bedroom, Schmidt said.

When planning renovations, Schmidt said it was important to maintain some of the house’s historical integrity. To do this, he said the alumni members opted to keep the original brickwork and a fireplace from 1936.

“We want this to be a place where alumni can come back and still identify this as their fraternity house that they were a part of,” Schmidt said.

During constr uction, Schmidt said crews have found time capsules, initiation paddles dating back to the 1930s and letters written by past members. Crews also uncovered a giant mural of a phoenix hidden beneath sheetrock.

“It was so symbolic because a phoenix rises from

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house near the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus just before spring semester begins.

Program director for the Office for Fraternity and Sorority Life Matt Levine said other University fraternity chapter houses have been renovated in recent years, but a major overhaul like Alpha Gamma Rho’s is uncommon.

“A renovation of this size has not happened at the University of Minnesota in several years,” Levine said. “For AGR to basically rip out every wall and start over — that’s ver y new on our campus, which is great to see.”

Though it will retain much of its exterior, the house, originally built in 1936, is changing significantly. A 1956 two-story addition will be replaced with a new three-story wing, for example.

The renovation also expanded the entr yway and added an elevator to improve accessibility. Overall, the house’s size jumped from 11,000 to 13,901 square feet.

Alpha Gamma Rho, a social and professional agricultural fraternity, turned to its alumni to help fund and lead the renovation. The fraternity has received about $2.5 million in donations so far, Schmidt said, mostly from alumni.

Safety issues prompted the renovation. The house didn’t meet current fire code, Schmidt said, so fraternity members wanted to bring it into compliance with updates like a sprinkler system. The last major renovation to the house took place 50 years ago.

Some of the kitchen equipment was decades old, Schmidt said, and the

ington with Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

She also announced that Ker r y would be leaving Washington on Wednesday to return to the region for more talks with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Abbas in Ramallah.

The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in 1967, but are willing to accept minor land swaps in drawing the final border to accommodate some of the settlements Israel has built on war-won land.

AGR HOUSE OVER THE YEARS 1936

Original Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house is built.

1956

Dorm addition added to the house increases capacity to 48.

1963

Addition adds 800 square feet to the house.

2006

Talks about renovating the house begin.

2009

Members begin to fundraise for the house.

2010

The motion to renovate the house is officially passed in the fall.

2013

The 1956 addition is demolished and construction begins on the house in July.

2014

Construction on the house is set to end in January.

SOURCE: KIRBY SCHMIDT AND STEVE KOZIOLEK

the ashes for a new beginning, and it fit with us,” Schmidt said. “We’re ready to make our own history in this house.”

The house will have room for up to 50 people, as it did before, but it will have bigger rooms that can accommodate up to six people.

Alpha Gamma Rho members have lived in the 17th Avenue residence hall during the renovation, but they’ll be moving soon. The project’s crew is on its home stretch, finishing the floors, installing kitchen appliances and furnishing the house. Schmidt said members have already toured the house and picked out their rooms.

“Everyone was running around like kids in a candy store,” he said. “I just loved seeing everyone’s faces light up — especially the freshmen and sophomores — because they will get to really experience this for the next three to four years of their life.”