May 4, 2017 by The Minnesota Daily

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Landcare struggles to hire U students

CARTER JONES, DAILY

Asian languages and literatures and physiology freshman Jacob Miller cleans up mulch outside Coffman Memorial Union on Tuesday. “...working outside 40 hours a week is awesome,” Miller said.

Landcare u from Page 1

man the mowers, … it really throws a wrench into things.” Potts said he has seen other hiring lulls in his tenure, but in recent years, students have become less interested in blue-collar jobs. Starting hourly wage for student landcare workers in $10.25 “A lot of people are laying it on millennials,” he said. “Their desires are different.” As the depar tment races to meet its 100-worker summer goal each year, the months in-between are especially challenging for workers. Hiring ef for ts star t in March but don’t finish until late May, Lauer said. “We are usually just skimming by to meet our needs,” Lauer said. “The gardeners that we have on staf f, a lot of time will work overtime in spring.”

Gardener Danielle Ringoe said she’s still looking to fill all the spots on her 10-person team for repair projects. The depar tment has taken on some external contractors as a result. “This is pretty abnormal,” said Ringoe, who worked for the department all four years of her undergraduate studies and returned for a full-time job. The best scenario for the University’s depar tment is finding a freshman, like Ringoe, who’s willing to stick with them until they graduate, Potts said. “Students are here for education, and if we can pr ovide them financial support, it’s a good thing,” he said. The depar tment has started renovating certain sites into naturalist areas, like the urban meadow next to the law school, Lauer said. These areas take less upkeep, but only a few places around campus can be turned into

these kinds of areas. They also still take years to set up, he said. Some colleges’ land care depar tments have moved away from a student workforce, Potts said. At a Big 10 meeting among landcare of ficials, Potts said other colleges were surprised to hear how many students the University employs. “It’s not a reliable workforce. The tur nover is high. You invest a lot in training and educating people,” he said. Lauer said interest from students follows the job market. In 2008, when the state was reeling from the Great Recession, a lack of outside jobs led to student interest being at an all-time high. “It’s amazing when you give people the opportunity to work with their hands,” he said. “Making something go from not looking good to looking really good, it gives you a lot of pride.”

Witnessing arrests can be traumatic for children Exploring the problem The research also About one-third of all chilcould improve dren who have an incarcerpolice-community ated parent witness the parrelations long term. ent’s arrest, Shlafer said.

how traumatic this was for them and gave this really negative, scary perception of police officers. It really severed that trust,” Peterson said.

BY RILYN EISCHENS reischens@mndaily.com

Arrest polices in Minnesota

At 21 years old, University of Minnesota student Tiffany Hamidjaja is conducting research that experts say sheds new light on policecommunity relations. Hamidjaja, a psychology and sociology of law, criminology and deviance senior, has found in her two years of research that most sheriff’s departments lack formal trauma-sensitive policies for arresting parents in front of children. She says she hopes to design training for law enforcement and eventually craft statewide policy. Her study is one of the first of its kind in the U.S., said her research supervisor Rebecca Shlafer, a University pediatrics professor. “We know there are disparities and systemic inequities in where communities are policed,” Shlafer said. “When we consider how children are exposed to police … that’s certainly part of this broader conversation about, ‘do they see the police officers in a way that they’re helping or hurting?’” Research in this field could limit childhood trauma but also improve police-community relations long term, she said. “It’s not something that’s widely-researched yet,” said Bryce Peterson, who led a pioneering study on children and parental arrest for the Urban Institute. “Oftentimes, of ficers don’t necessarily think about how their actions … can affect children.”

“It’s really hard to think about a situation in which experiencing the parent’s arrest could be anything other than traumatic,” she said. “This is an event that sticks with [children], and they have very visceral memories of their parents being arrested.” Peterson said misunderstandings often make officers reluctant to learn about trauma-informed arrest policies. For example, many officers are trained to complete arrests as quickly as possible to limit potential security risks, he said, which can frighten and confuse kids. While the officers are working to protect the children’s physical safety, they can overlook negative psychological effects those actions can have, Peterson said. “A lot of these people are parents themselves, so sometimes it’s just a matter of explaining what the problem is, and it’s amazing how much that can resonate and change practice,” he said. Hamidjaja said officers can take practical steps to limit potential trauma during an arrest, such as handcuffing parents out of a child’s view or keeping stuffed animals and blankets in squad cars. Officers can also ask arrestees if they have dependents, she said. That way, police can ensure children aren’t left abandoned after the arrest. “We’ve heard from several children who have experienced this themselves who … have talked about

In her research, Hamidjaja called every county sheriff’s department in the state. She found most lack official policies. While some sheriff’s offices follow informal policies, there is still no accountability for officers in those cases, she said. Hamidjaja also asked whether deputies would be interested in trauma-informed trainings. While some were enthusiastic, others expressed concern about paying for a training session, she said. Some also said a formal policy or training wasn’t necessary because they had yet to encounter any issues with how officers treated children of arrested parents. This view is problematic, Hamidjaja said, because if officials aren’t proactive, generations of trauma could go unchecked. She finished collecting data two weeks ago and is analyzing the information. She will create an infographic to share with the public this summer, she said, and will design and implement trainings in Minnesota with the help of community stakeholders. Eventually, she wants to work with state legislators to pass laws that mandate these policies statewide. “It’s just kind of like your responsibility to academia to start the conversation,” she said. “It starts a very much needed conversation in our field and it starts a lot of different questions from it.”

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CHRIS DANG, DAILY

Tiffany Hamidjaja poses for a portrait on April 27, 2017. Hamidjaja is researching the impact of children witnessing the arrest of their parents and the relationship of incarcerated parents to youth violence.

Report gives new guidelines for student mental health in classes

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The report asked professors to adopt practices that reduce stress, like distributing class points across more course material, diverging from previous efforts to increase counseling and treatment services for mentally ill students, said task force co-chair and Boynton Health Chief Medical Officer Gary Christenson. “Instructors are pretty much on the front line,” he said. “We’re not asking instr uctors to be mental health professionals, but … we feel that ever yone has the ability to decrease stigma and to provide a supportive environment.” About one-third of students on the Twin Cities campus have been diagnosed with a mental illness, which can hinder student learning, according to the report. The recommendations come amid increased attention nationwide on providing faculty tools to intervene before a student is in crisis, said Nance Roy, clinical director of The JED Foundation, a national nonprofit focused on young adult mental health and suicide prevention. “It’s about someone who’s in your world on a regular basis, caring enough to reach

out and make a connection,” she said. “If a student reveals an issue that may require professional help, then you have the language or you know who to call.”

‘A balancing act’ The report outlined 13 guidelines for mitigating academic stress, including using sensitive language on the topic of mental illness, giving sufficient time to complete tests and empathizing with students who are juggling multiple deadlines. Still, instructors aren’t expected to compromise academic rigor, Wick said. “I think there may be some people who aren’t going to like some of the recommendations and may think this is imposing too much on them, but to me, it’s a balancing act,” she said. The report also reinforced that instructors must assist students with Disability Resource Center accommodation letters, which has been a point of confusion for many faculty, Christenson said. Disability accommodations are misunderstood nationwide, Roy said. “[The movement is] in its infancy stages,” she said. “[Accommodations] aren’t just extended time on tests or alternative test arrangement. Oftentimes they’re far more

subtle … and not as easy to figure out and implement.”

Institutional support University departments can inform instructors about how to help students, the report says. But effective change requires administrative action, Roy said. The task force is asking University administrators to strengthen policies related to mental health, including allowing priority class registration for disabled students, requiring disability training for instructors and eliminating late-night exams. Task force members recommended the 12-yearold Provost’s Committee on Student Mental Health review the report, Christenson said. They also recommend increased funding and adding faculty leaders to the committee. “We think the committee could have an elevated role, really given more empowerment to advance mental health efforts on campus,” he said. Going for ward, Wick said she hopes the report will lead to lasting change at the University. “We can’t just let this be a paper that sits on the shelf and gathers dust,” she said. “We really will be pushing in whatever way we can to make sure this doesn’t just die.”