TOP HEADLINES INSIDE:
STREET ARTIST DECORATES TWIN CITIES WITH TINY DOORS PG 5
■ Kaler discusses food shortages, tuition hike
ARTIST ‘MOWS’ REPURPORSES UNUSED PLACES.
■ Women’s hockey advance to NCAA tourney
The Minnesota Daily sat down with Kaler on Wednesday. PAGE 6
The Gophers team will play against Minnesota-Duluth. PAGE 8
CLOUDY HIGH 33° LOW 4°
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MINNEAPOLIS
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MARCH 9-12, 2017
STUDENT LIFE
ATHLETICS
U to report minor NCAA violation involving Fleck The minor violation stems from contact P.J. Fleck had with a Western Michigan player. BY JACK WHITE jwhite@mndaily.com
COURTNEY DEUTZ, DAILY
University students Antonio Elias, left, and Mitch Roldán, pose for a photo during their work on their new Spanish podcast, Hablando Franco, on Saturday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. “We want to connect to people like us, people who are bilingual,” Elias said.
‘Frank talk’ podcast tackles Latino topics — in Spanish A new Spanish-language podcast cofounded by a University student provides news commentary tailored for the Twin Cities Latino community. BY CINDY SIMBA csimba@mndaily.com
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fter working with Latino school kids and parents in Minneapolis, Antonio Elias and Mitch Roldan wanted to give local Latinos a new platform for news. Elias, a University of Minnesota student, and Roldan, a Minneapolis Public Schools employee, created Hablando Franco — a Spanish-language podcast that will fea ture news and commentar y. The podcast, which translates to “frank talk,” launched Monday. The goal of the project is to inform Spanish-speaking people and spark dialogue about impor tant issues relating to the local Latino
community. The pair’s target audience include Spanish speakers from various demographics. “It’s something that we need and something that our community can use to get informed,” Elias said. The duo met while working for Minneapolis Public Schools, where they teach young students and their families about higher education oppor tunities available to them. “There’s so much going on in our community,” Roldan said “We have a lot to talk about.” Roldan said the new presidential administration’s policies could impact programs and institutions such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — a policy that grants young, unu See PODCAST Page 3
HIGHER ED
U ranks third in US for Peace Corps volunteers Seventy University graduates joined the program this year. BY RAJU CHADUVULA rchaduvula@mndaily.com
For the second year in a row, the University of Minnesota has the third highest number of graduates who signed on to be Peace
Corps volunteers. Seventy 2016 U graduates joined the Peace Corps — behind the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s 87 and the University of Washington’s 73. Since 2010, the University has been in the top 20 colleges in terms of Peace Corps volunteers. The University’s 70 volunteers is its highest number since 2008,
when 71 graduates became volunteers. Geof f Wilson, a 2004 University psychology graduate, worked with Minneapolis Public Schools immediately after graduating but always knew he wanted to be a Peace Corps volunteer. “I wanted … to step outside to really see things from a dif ferent perspective,”
Wilson said. Wilson volunteered between 2007 and 2009 in Romania, working with local nonprofits. “I really credit my service for where I’m at today,” Wilson said. He now works for College Possible, a nonprofit organization that works with low-income u See CORPS Page 3
The University of Minnesota will self-repor t a minor recr uiting violation to the NCAA regarding head Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck. An athletics depar tment spokesman said the violation stemmed from contact Fleck had with one of his former players at Western Michigan University but Athletics Director Mark Coyle told the Minnesota Daily Tuesday that the school isn’t recruiting any students from Fleck’s last team. The spokesman said the University would have no further comment. The violation centers ar ound communication Fleck allegedly had with former Western Michigan linebacker Rober t Spillane before he was granted per mission to transfer from the school last week. In a T witter post last
P.J. FLECK
week, Spillane denied that his decision to leave Wester n Michigan was influenced by Fleck. He has yet to announce where he’ll transfer. Kalamazoo, Michigan TV station WWMT-TV — which broke the stor y — also has repor ted that Wester n Michigan of ficials brought concer ns that Fleck has spoken with current Western Michigan players to the University. Mike Hendrickson contributed to this report.
WEATHER
Lack of snow leaves some U ski groups scrambling Many snow-related campus groups have cancelled practices. BY SAMIR FERDOWSI sferdowsi@mndaily.com
With no snow, the University of Minnesota Nordic ski club has resorted to roller skiing on sidewalks. And withbarren slopes, practice for the school’s alpine ski team has been cancelled altogether. For the last 18 months, Minnesota has seen above average temperatures. Last month’s .3 inches of snow tied with the record for lowest Twin Cities February snowfall — first set in 1894. The lack of snow has forced University snow and ski clubs to cut practices and grapple with cancelled races. Some groups report a newfound interest in environmentalism and a reliance on social events for team building. “We want to get everyone who loves skiing and snowboarding together … but it’s definitely more of a struggle when you don’t have snow for
local trips,” said Taylor Stemler, president of the University’s Ski and Snowboard Club. While the group has planned larger trips to major ski resorts like Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, regular outings at local hills like Afton Alps have been canceled several times, Stemler said. The die-hard fans are still excited to go out west and ski, but overall membership has been falling. Stemler said he thinks the warm weather is to blame. “Around campus, it’s been a little bit harder to generate hype for events in the area,” Stemler said. “It just decreases excitement when there isn’t enough snow around here.” Since the group hasn’t been on the slopes too much this year, they are building camaraderie in other ways. “We did a fantastic camping trip in the fall, and there’s a prom in the spring. We even have a ‘waxing party’ where we teach people how to wax their skis. So, there’s still u See SNOW Page 3
CAMPUS
‘Day Without Women’ rally brings students to Coffman Students from the University of Minnesota and other nearby schools protested Wednesday. BY BELLA DALLY-STEELE Idally-steele@mndaily.com
CARTER JONES, DAILY
A student speaks to the crowd outside of Coffman Memorial Union during the Student Day of Action for International Women’s Day on Wednesday.
Around 50 students from Twin Cities colleges gathered in front of Coffman Union Wednesday for a daylong, nationwide strike, called “A Day Without Women.” The strike, which coincided with International Women’s Day, was aimed at levying resistance against President Donald Trump’s administration by skipping work and refusing to spend money. The protest was also centered on calls for equity and justice for women.
On campus, members of the University of Minnesota’s Socialist Students group — who planned the rally — led the crowd in various chants and held a moment of silence for seven transgender women killed in 2017. The rally included student groups like the University’s Women for Political Change and Augsburg College’s Students for Racial Justice, with speakers focusing on the importance of intersectionality. The demonstration began at 1 p.m. and ended at 2 — an hour earlier than planned due to cold weather. The crowd of protestors gathered to chant and listen to speeches and slam poetry performances. Between speeches, Student Socialists member Robin Wonsley led the crowd in a u See WOMEN Page 10 VOLUME 117 ISSUE 44