May 4, 2017

Page 1

TOP HEADLINES INSIDE:

FOR FIRST-YEAR, PIN-MAKING PROJECT TIED TO EDM PAGE 6

■ Student magician hones craft on campus

BADGES HOLD A RANGE OF MEANING FOR FANS.

■ Coach Richard Pitino signs extension with U

First-year Arman Shah’s persona hinges on his tricks. PAGE 3

Minnesota’s basketball coach is signed through 2022. PAGE 7

U OF M

SUNNY HIGH 67° LOW 44°

MINNEAPOLIS

ST PAUL

FINAL SPRING ISSUE

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM

MAY 4, 2017

ADMISSIONS

LEGISLATURE

In final state bills, funding for U is down from request The final proposal at the Legislature is 13 percent of the U’s ask.

Freshman

Transfers

8,000 6,000 4,000

u See ADMISSIONS Page 4

Maryland

Nebraska

Iowa

UC Berkley

Minnesota

UCLA

Michigan

Washington

Purdue

Wisconsin

Florida

Rutgers

Ohio State

0

Texas

2,000

Illinois

More students than ever want to study at the University of Minnesota, but the school’s admission standards have become stricter, pushing thousands to outof-state schools and two-year colleges. The stringent admissions process allows the University to adver tise that its students score higher on standardized tests, a marketing tactic colleges nationwide use to distinguish themselves.

Meanwhile, the University is admitting a rising number of transfer students who don’t report high school grade point averages or ACT scores. As a result, the University’s advertised scores don’t accurately reflect the entire student body. And the University has limited the number of Minnesota high school students admitted, taking higher achieving students from outside the state

10,000

Indiana

BY KEVIN BECKMAN kbeckman@mndaily.com

TRANSFER STUDENTS AT THE U COMPARED TO OTHER BIG 10 SCHOOLS

Penn State

Students often transfer later when their scores aren’t considered.

12,000

Michigan State

High ACTs trump residency as admissions tighten at U

SOURCE:UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

HEALTH

BUSINESS

At Burrigato, couple fuses culinary interests

Report calls on U faculty to confront stressors

Opened by two University of Minnesota alumni, the Dinkytown eatery has averaged around 100 customers a day since April 20.

A U mental health report presented 100 suggestions for staff.

BY RYAN FAIRCLOTH rfaircloth@mndaily.com

BY RILYN EISCHENS reischens@mndaily.com

The Minnesota Legislature’s funding plan for the University of Minnesota is less than 13 percent of the school’s request and less than the original House and Senate recommendations. A final higher education omnibus bill, which included $18.6 million of the University’s $147.2 million requested increase, was approved by a conference committee Monday after a week of negotiations between the House and Senate. In a news release Monday night, University President Eric Kaler said the bill is disappointing for the school and Minnesotans. “This level of funding means students will pay more, research initiatives will be compromised and our contribution to Minnesota will be lessened,” he said in the press release. Originally, the House recommended the University receive $20 million of its request while the Senate pushed for a $29.6 million increase. Funding was lower because the House had to cut its overall budget target to align more with the

A University of Minnesota task force released a repor t Thursday with more than 100 recommendations for instr uctors and administrators to structure their courses to suppor t student mental health. In a 26-page report, the task force outlined suggestions encouraging faculty to pace coursework and interact with students exhibiting signs of mental illness, among other recommendations, in hopes campus-wide changes will follow. I n s t r u c t o r s , U n i v e rsity of ficials and students for med the Joint Task force on Student Mental Health last year in response to rising concerns around faculty response to student mental health. Still, faculty will require additional training, like workshops, before making adjustments. “We’re recommending that faculty take advantage of lots of oppor tunities that already exist and then suggesting that there be more of these oppor tunities made,” said task force co-chair and University biology professor Sue Wick.

u See FUNDING Page 3

ELLEN SCHMIDT, DAILY

Burrigato co-owner Korra Ektanitphong prepares an asian burrito for U.S. Bank employee Alex Beaulieu at the new Dinkytown restaurant on May 3. BY MIKE HENDRICKSON mhendrickson@mndaily.com

University of Minnesota alumni Korra Ektanitphong and Daniel Ringgenberg faced a persistent problem in their time as students on campus — where do we eat? Ektanitphong, 29, always wanted Asian food and Ringgenberg, 25, often wanted Chipotle, so they decided to launch a business venture that married both of their culinar y interests. On April 20, Burrigato opened at 314 15th Ave.

SE in Dinkytown. The restaurant takes dishes from Thailand, Japan and Korea and puts them into a burrito or bowl in under five minutes. “You usually have to sit down [for Asian food]. It’s a full 30-minute to an hour experience,” Ektanitphong said. “We really wanted to develop a concept that is authentic Asian food that is fast and convenient.” The restaurant completed a soft launch April 20 and Ektanitphong — a co-owner and founder along with Ringgenberg — said there would be a bigger opening in September when the new school year starts.

u See BURRIGATO Page 3

u See TASK FORCE Page 10

CAMPUS

For U landcare department, hiring students is a struggle Facilities management usually hires 100 student workers each spring but is 50 short this year. BY DAVID CLAREY dclarey@mndaily.com

CARTER JONES, DAILY

Asian languages and literatures and physiology freshman Jacob Miller, left, and microbiology and biochemistry sophomore Tanoa Thome spread mulch outside Coffman Memorial Union on May 2.

The University of Minnesota landcare department is about 50 people short as its employees begin work for the spring. The division hopes to hire and train a green-thumbed workforce of roughly 100 student workers in mowing, planting, fertilizing, mulching and more. But over the last three years, the team has seen less interest from students, forcing their staff count to hover around 95. Even missing just a few workers makes keeping up with duties difficult.

“It stretches us out,” said super visor Doug Lauer. “We wind up hiring through the whole summer … [but] never hit our target.” The division is responsible for mowing lawns, pulling weeds, trimming shrubs, cleaning litter and other campus maintenance. The worker shortage causes problems across the board, said former landcare director Lester Potts, who retired Monday after a 40-year tenure with the department. He said problems show most in mowing duties. When the weather warms, lawns need to be cut twice a week instead of once. “It’ll be a struggle to keep up there,” Potts said. “Not having enough people to u See LANDCARE Page 10 VOLUME 117 ISSUE 59


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