TOP HEADLINES INSIDE:
JOSE RIVERA’S “MARISOL” LANDS ON UNIVERSITY STAGE PAGE 10
■■ University will appeal state ruling on union
THE 1992 PLAY WILL DEBUT AT RARIG ON NOV 3.
■■ University crime reports increase in 2015
Faculty union advocates called the move ‘obstructive’. PG 7
The U has spent $4M on campus security since 2013. PG 6
MOSTLY SUNNY HIGH 50° LOW 36°
U OF M
MINNEAPOLIS
LATE WEEK
ST PAUL
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
ATHLETICS
U suspends 4 wrestlers for violating team rules
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT MNDAILY.COM
OCT. 20 - OCT. 22, 2016
Grad groups feud over funding
Police documents show that the four wrestlers were implicated in the team’s drug ring. BY JESSIE BEKKER AND BRIAN EDWARDS jbekker@mndaily.com bedwards@mndaily.com
Four University of Minnesota wrestlers have been suspended from competition until January, a team spokesman confirmed Wednesday evening. An informant also previously named the four men as drug dealers, according to police documents, although the reason for their recent suspension is unknown. Redshirt freshman Larry Early and sophomores Ethan Lizak, Tommy Thorn and Brandon Krone will remain on the team but are barred from competition until Jan. 1, 2017 for violating team rules, said Jake Ricker, the team spokesman. u See SUSPENSION Page 3
RESEARCH
Group claims U broke law with fetal research The University is being sued by a Chicago pro-life law firm over fetal research practices. BY DAVID CLAREY AND ETHAN NELSON dclarey@mndaily.com enelson@mndaily.com
CARTER JONES, DAILY
Council of Graduate Students President Mia Divecha counts votes during a General Assembly meeting in the Cargill Building on Monday.
Following concerns over funding inequities, several graduate student groups butted heads over how the Council of Graduate Students should distribute certain funds. EXPECTED PASS-THROUGH FUNDS 2016-17 $1,560 Pharmacy College Board $1,950 School of Public Health Student Senate
$336 Public Affairs Student Association
$1,093 School of Dentistry Council
$14,697
total expected funds $6,525 GradSEHD
$1,968 Medical Student Council $1,265 College of Veterinary Medicine Student Council
SOURCE: OFFICE OF STUDENT AFFAIRS
A pro-life group is suing the University of Minnesota to prevent it from performing research on fetal tissue, which the group says is a violation of state law. The Thomas More Society filed a petition in Hennepin County District Court Wednesday that asks the court to stop the school’s fetal tissue research, claiming it violates the Minnesota state statute prohibiting most fetal tissue testing. The Thomas More Society, which is representing other petitioners, such as Pro-Life Action Ministries, says the school’s policy — which allows acquiring tissue from clinics outside of Minnesota — is an illegal circumvention of the law. The state law the society cites allows testing tissue from aborted fetuses if it is “necessary for the health of the woman or her future offspring, for purposes of a criminal investigation u See SUIT Page 3
BY RILYN EISCHENS reischens@mndaily.com
A
graduate student council fund that distributes thousands of dollars each fall was withheld this year, creating tension after some groups claimed they had no say in the change. The Council of Graduate Students (COGS) typically distributes the funds to constituent college councils for operating costs, but this year they might tr y a new system because of inequity concerns. Some councils, like Graduate and Professional Stu-
dents in Education and Human Development (GradSEHD), said they were left out of the decision-making process and believe students will suffer as a result. Tensions between GradSEHD and COGS about the withheld funding came to a head at a series of meetings Friday. The councils arrived at an agreement in which COGS will vote on giving GradSEHD a third of their expected por tion and the other six councils, so far, receive nothing. Medical Student Council (MSC) u See FUNDS Page 9
STUDENT LIFE
On campus, some say conservative voices are muffled In a 2012 survey, 21 percent of freshman reported having farright or conservative views. BY DAVID CLAREY dclarey@mndaily.com
For some conser vative students at the University of Minnesota, the presidential election has silenced their political speech. Fear of being ostracized for vocalizing suppor t for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has created an uncomfortable situation for some conser-
HEALTH
vative students, who say the University’s left-leaning campus has left little space for their opinions. Communications and management senior Ashley Reut said she noticed differences in the political situation between the University and Southern Methodist University in Texas where she was formerly a student. She considers herself a strong conservative and wasn’t surprised by the political differences between the two campuses. “Going to the U, you kind of feel like a minority in your opinion”. Mason Nuss, president of Students for a Conser vative Voice and editor-in-chief
of The Minnesota Republic said the campus political atmosphere is “heated.” “I think all conser vative students go into a class … with the assumption that the majority of people here are liberal or ver y liberal and vehemently disagree with their opinion,” he said. “They think it’s a lot smarter to just not discuss [their opinions.]” Nuss, a senior, said his group provides an outlet for students to come and talk about their views with other likeminded individuals. These meetings, he said, come as a welcome respite for him u See POLITICS Page 12
Campaign bolsters visibility of healthy relationships A new social media campaign by the Aurora Center shows what healthy relationships look like. BY RYAN FAIRCLOTH rfaircloth@mndaily.com
CHELSEA GORTMAKER, DAILY
Second-year Ph.D. student Nai-Chia Chen and third-year Ph.D. student Hsuan Lin get their photo taken by sophomore Niti Gupta on Wednesday on West Bank.
With Domestic Violence Awareness Month in full swing, campus representatives are working to shed light on an otherwise dark topic. The University of Minnesota’s Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education is holding events throughout the month focused on healthy relationships and victims of domestic violence. Taylor Roberts, a student coordinator
with the Aurora Center, said the focus on sexual assault sometimes causes domestic violence to be ignored. To start the conversation, she said she and another student coordinator, Prerna Subramanian, came up with an idea for a social media photo campaign. The coordinators asked students what healthy relationships look like and then posted their photos on social media, Roberts said. The idea, she said, was modeled after the Minnesota Student Association’s “how are you?” campaign, which ran last spring. “The reason [we chose] healthy relationships is because we wanted to put a u See AURORA Page 14
VOLUME 117 ISSUE 14