TOP HEADLINES INSIDE:
MINNESOTA EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO NINE GAMES PG 6
■■ U creates immigration team to lend support
BASEBALL NOW HAS A 6-0 CONFERENCE RECORD.
■■ Grant policy changes limit PSG food spending
Kaler revealed the new team at his State of the U address. PG 2
PSG amended grant policies at a March 28 meeting. PG 4
SCATTERED SHOWERS HIGH 57° LOW 40° U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
COMO
ST PAUL
EARLY WEEK
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
APRIL 3-5, 2017
ADMINISTRATION
CEDAR-RIVERSIDE
General Mills will no longer clean up TCE in Como area
Students ask U to parse out race data
Remaining pollution is coming from other sites, company says.
Some U students are calling for race data to be disaggregated.
BY EMUN SOLOMON esolomon@mndaily.com
BY CINDY SIMBA csimba@mndaily.com
General Mills will end efforts to mitigate contamination it left in the Southeast Como neighborhood following the dismissal of a class action lawsuit against the company. As more Trichloroethylene, or TCE has been found throughout the neighborhood — the company told the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency last month it had fulfilled its obligations for its share of the pollution in the neighborhood and claimed remaining pollution is from other sources. General Mills also demanded the Southeast Como site be unclassified as a state super fund site, which designated it as a polluted area that merits state money for cleanup. However, the MPCA is working to add the site to the federal version of this list, said Hans Neve, MPCA superfund program super visor. Decades ago, General Mills dumped TCE at its site at 2010 Hennepin Avenue. The TCE has since been found in gr oundwater throughout the neighborhood.
Student Representatives to the Board of Regents called on the University of Minnesota to disaggregate student data, which currently doesn’t distinguish ethnic subgroups. In a presentation of its annual repor t to regents late last month, representatives said more specific data on the racial and ethnic background of University students would lead to a better understanding of the student body. They recommended that the University start asking for more specific demographic information of its students. Since the University’s cur rent data only broadly accounts for race, it doesn’t accurately represent the entire student body, student leaders say. “This topic was really about uncovering trends that we might not be able to see other wise,” said Mike Kenyanya, vice chair of the student representatives. “Disaggregated race data must be put to use to help attract and attain students of color.” Student leaders say the cur rent aggregation method masks trends
CARTER JONES, DAILY
Abdullahi Sheikh explains what high cholesterol is during a healthcare program that educates immigrant and refugee seniors in the Brian Coyle Center on Friday.
Program helps West Bank seniors manage health Abdullahi Sheikh started the class to help seniors handle chronic health issues. BY RAJU CHADUVULA rchaduvula@mndaily.com
While immigrating to the U.S. can be stressful, living in a small apartment with food readily available and not needing to walk long distances to work can also cause health problems for new arrivals. To help immigrants manage their health, Abdullahi Sheikh, a Pillsbury United Communities health programs manager, started a six-week course for people over the age of 60 in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. The program, initially developed by Stanford
u See TCE Page 4
University, is supposed to be a self-management class for seniors who want to know more about their chronic health problems and how to deal with them. Many of the seniors at a class Friday afternoon had chronic issues such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, asthma and diabetes. Sheikh said he started the classes to help immigrant seniors in the neighborhood, many of whom have struggled to adjust to the health care system. Sheikh said the class will also focus on how cultural changes can contribute to health issues and how to work with the health care system.
u See RACE Page 2
u See HEALTH Page 8
MINNEAPOLIS
CAMPUS
Betsy Hodges readies for mayoral race A ‘go-to’ on U history after 40 years
Incumbent Hodges says she’s built trust during her tenure.
Ann Pflaum is working on what could be her final project: a history of U presidents’ wives.
BY MIKE HENDRICKSON mhendrickson@mndaily.com
Betsy Hodges is a dif ferent candidate than she was four years ago. Now the incumbent, Hodges is proud of a record in of fice that could give her opponents the oppor tunity to point out faults in her decisions as Minneapolis’ leader. Hodges said she can take the criticism, adding she’s excited for the April 4 precinct caucuses. “I have a great record to run on, but it also means [that] what I’ve been up to ever ybody knows [about]. I don’t have the luxur y of just saying I’ll do something,” Hodges said. “I have the responsibility to say what I have already been doing. Most of the candidates don’t fall into that categor y.” In a less-crowded field than 2013, Hodges still has some power ful challengers to her re-election bid. J a c o b F r e y, a C i t y
BY DAVID CLAREY dclarey@mndaily.com
COURTNEY DEUTZ, DAILY
Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges talks about running for re-election on Friday in her campaign office in Minneapolis.
Council member, is expected to be her main opponent, bringing energy and a large public persona. Another candidate, former Minneapolis NAACP chapter President Nekima Levy-Pounds could make a dent in Hodges’ suppor t
in Nor th Minneapolis, said Larr y Jacobs, University public policy professor and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance. Hodges has navigated Minneapolis through a tricky time, Jacobs said,
with a focal point in the 2015 police shooting of Jamar Clark and subsequent occupation of the Minneapolis Police’s Four th Precinct, which Hodges said was “incredibly challenging.” u See HODGES Page 8
Walking around campus, Ann Pflaum recounted the stories behind the famed old names on every campus hall. She paused to check for bicyclists at the bike crossings on the mall, which she calls “the most dangerous part of campus.” The 76-year-old grayhaired, University of Minnesota historian was on her daily mission to reach 10,000 steps — she read somewhere it’s good for you — and, to her surprise, was only at 1,400. Pflaum, who has been studying and working at the University for more than half of her life, is a walking stor ybook. She speaks highly of her home and knows it better than anyone else. “At my age you’re not working because of your salary but because you like it,” she said. “Could you
ANN PFLAUM
imagine a more interesting job?” She can’t. “Certainly, she would be the go-to person for the University of Minnesota histor y,” said Mar y Wingerd, author of North Country, a book tracing the origins of Minnesota as a state. Pflaum said she’s concerned that, as her time at u See CULTURE Page 4
VOLUME 117 ISSUE 49