Just like the two free throws Grant Williams guaranteed he’d make with 0.8 seconds remaining against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics have been disastrously off. I mean, a 5-5 record over the past 10 games is nothing to scoff at, but if you’re trying to command the top seed in an NBA conference, the expectations remain much higher. Thanks to this mediocre stretch, combined with a 16-game Milwaukee Bucks winning streak, the no. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference has changed hands once again.

It could be because of injury, sure, but look at Milwaukee. They added a few more games to their winning streak while two-time MVP forward Giannis Antetokounmpo nursed a knee injury. The Bucks probably could be a playoff team without Antetokounmpo, but luckily they do have him, so that shoots them all the way up to top-three contender status. The Celtics may still have a chance, but it really comes down to the play of Jayson Tatum. Jaylen Brown can and will deliver just like he did in the Finals last year, but Tatum — who is no doubt the better player, mind you — needs to consistently show up in the big moments if he plans on winning a title this year. My gut believes in him, despite my eyes telling me differently.

The Philadelphia 76ers are on Boston’s tail, however, and if Joel Embiid continues to play absolutely out of his mind like he has recently, they have a chance to steal that no. 2 seed. Even the New York Knicks — yes, the Knicks — have been especially hot as of late. Julius Randle has powered New York to a 9-1 record over the past 10 games and elevated the club to the no. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. At the end of the day, they are still the Knicks, so it’s likely unwise to place any faith in them overtaking the Celtics. However, the odds — as slim as they may be — aren’t zero.

In other pressing news, Memphis Grizzlies superstar guard Ja Morant continues to amaze not just me but the entire basketball world. No, not from his explosive play on the court — but his terrible decision making off of it. Morant flashed a gun on Instagram Live at a nightclub in Denver on March 4 and subsequently became the talk of the league. He may have also punched a teenager in the face last summer, but the gun incident takes priority at the moment. The NBA has since launched an investigation, and Morant may be suspended for as many as 50 games. Morant has since been away from the club, but a 50 game suspension would obviously derail the 3-seeded Grizzlies chances at a title.

I love sports drama as much as the next guy. I feel against the world when I say this, but I particularly love when a team or player is universally hated solely because they annoy other teams. Chris Paul calling a player out for having his jersey untucked? Call it despicable, but I can’t express how much I love his craftiness in that situation. Jared Dudley taunting the 76ers in the playoffs, despite only averaging 4.9 points per game in the regular season? Simply incredible. These moments provide a mere instant of joy for a fan like myself who occasionally grows bored of the monotony of basketball. Sometimes, I want to watch the world burn.

However, this feels different. Everybody, and I mean everybody, hates the Grizzlies and Morant right now, and this time it’s not funny and I do not enjoy this. Why is that? Because what they do feels like a charade. Morant claiming that Memphis is “fine in the West” despite never advancing past the second round in his career rubbed myself and other realistic fans the wrong way. I mean, sure, you can say that, but save that chirping for the season after you at least make it to the conference finals, got it? Then Dillon Brooks had to go and run his mouth about the defending champions Golden State Warriors and future Hall of Famer Draymond Green (argue with a wall). I proudly dislike Golden State, but just to reiterate my point — the Grizzlies have not earned any of this. I love trash talk, and I quite clearly love cutthroat behavior, but you must earn the right to do so. That is my one requirement, and no one, not even the superstar Morant has been given the authority to do so. At least, in my opinion.

Now Morant had to go and record himself brandishing a firearm. That’s got to be an all-timer in the realm of brainless athlete antics. Instead of proving how “unafraid” he is of the rest of the league, the suburban-raised Morant makes a fool out of Memphis once again. If you despise Memphis like the majority of fanbases right now, please continue to do so. I won’t stop you. And if their universal hatred is new to you, then watch that video of Morant on YouTube. I can almost guarantee that you’ll feel the same level of loathing I currently feel. This is a young roster on the rise playing for a franchise that has been titleless for decades now, akin to the 2021 Cincinnati Bengals that captured the hearts of fans everywhere. I want to root for them so badly. If only they’d shut the f–k up.

In my next column, hopefully we can stop talking about Morant. Seriously, this is supposed to be about basketball, not idiotic 23 year olds. We will be less than a month out from playoff basketball, and the race for the final spots will be nearing a sprint to the finish. 

Dominic Varela is a sophomore writing about all things NBA as the playoffs draw ever closer. His column “Fast Break” runs every other Thursday.

The post Fast Break: The king in the East and a jester in the West appeared first on Daily Trojan.

On its way out of the door, UH can add one more chapter to its legacy in the AAC by becoming the first team to win the conference tournament three times. | Anh Le/The Cougar

The beauty of a conference tournament is that every team, regardless of its regular-season record, has a shot at the big prize — a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

With the stakes being so high, the target that Houston, the American Athletic Conference’s No. 1 seed and the country’s current top team in the AP poll, has played with all season grows even larger.

“Coach lets us know that whoever we play, they’re going to come out and play their hardest and try to punch their ticket (to the tournament) through us,” said guard Tramon Mark. “We’ve got to come out and play hard. (We) can’t let that happen.” 

While UH doesn’t have to worry about making the NCAA Tournament, likely having one of the four No. 1 seeds already locked up after going 29-2 in the regular season, the Cougars can add one more chapter to their dominant stint in the AAC as they head out the door for the Big 12.

No team has ever won the AAC Tournament three times. UH, having won the last two conference tournament titles, has a chance to be the first over the weekend in Fort Worth.

Though things are amplified in the postseason, UH head coach Kelvin Sampson’s approach of focusing on what is right in front of him doesn’t change.

“If you don’t win, there is no second game,” Sampson said. “So, I don’t worry about three games in three days. I worry about one game in one day.”

One of the biggest challenges in a conference tournament is the teams know each other well, most having played each other twice during the regular season.

That makes winning a game in the conference tournament that much harder.

“It’s hard to beat a team twice,” said AAC Player of the Year Marcus Sasser. “It’s even harder to beat a team three times.” 

On top of that, hoisting the AAC Tournament trophy one final time will require the Cougars to win three games in three days.

“Three games in three days is not easy,” said UH point guard Jamal Shead said. “(It takes) learning how to play on a heavy set of legs.”

Heading into what could potentially be a taxing three days for UH, Sampson’s No. 1 priority is to stay healthy for  “the bigger picture” which is the NCAA Tournament.

Of course, the 67-year-old head coach still wants his team to be the one lifting up the trophy on Sunday.

“You don’t go into any game not trying to win,” Sampson said.

The journey starts Friday at noon, where UH, which has won 11 straight and 20 of its last 21 games, will play the winner of No. 8 seed South Florida and No. 9 seed East Carolina at Dickies Arena.

The Cougars’ goal remains the same as it has been all season.

“Just keep winning,” Shead said.

sports@thedailycougar.com

—
“AAC Tournament preview: UH goes for third consecutive title” was originally posted on The Cougar

Teknologi telah membawa banyak manfaat bagi manusia, salah satunya adalah dalam mengatasi krisis kemanusiaan di seluruh dunia. Berbagai teknologi telah diterapkan untuk membantu mengatasi krisis kemanusiaan, termasuk bencana alam, krisis migrasi, dan konflik bersenjata. Berikut adalah beberapa contoh teknologi yang digunakan dalam upaya mengatasi krisis kemanusiaan.

Drones
Drones atau pesawat tanpa awak telah digunakan dalam beberapa tahun terakhir untuk membantu mengatasi krisis kemanusiaan. Drones dapat memberikan bantuan dalam memonitor daerah-daerah yang sulit dijangkau, misalnya daerah terpencil yang terkena bencana alam atau daerah konflik bersenjata. Drones juga dapat mengirimkan bantuan seperti obat-obatan dan makanan ke daerah-daerah yang sulit dijangkau oleh manusia.

Aplikasi Kemanusiaan
Aplikasi kemanusiaan, seperti aplikasi bantuan bencana atau aplikasi bantuan migran, dapat membantu mengkoordinasikan upaya bantuan kemanusiaan dengan lebih efektif. Aplikasi tersebut dapat digunakan untuk memetakan daerah-daerah terdampak, mengumpulkan data tentang jumlah korban, dan mengirimkan bantuan dengan lebih cepat dan tepat sasaran.

Teknologi Robotik
Teknologi robotik dapat digunakan untuk membantu mengatasi krisis kemanusiaan seperti bencana alam atau konflik bersenjata. Robot dapat digunakan untuk mencari dan menyelamatkan korban dalam kondisi yang sulit atau berbahaya. Robot juga dapat digunakan untuk membersihkan reruntuhan dan mengambil sampel untuk membantu tim medis dalam melakukan diagnosa.

Blockchain
Teknologi blockchain dapat digunakan untuk mempercepat distribusi bantuan kemanusiaan dan memastikan bahwa bantuan tersebut tepat sasaran. Dengan menggunakan teknologi blockchain, distribusi bantuan dapat dilakukan secara transparan dan akuntabel, sehingga meminimalisir kemungkinan terjadinya penyalahgunaan atau tindakan korupsi.

Dalam situasi krisis kemanusiaan, teknologi dapat menjadi alat yang sangat efektif dalam membantu mengatasi masalah. Namun, teknologi hanya bisa memberikan bantuan yang efektif jika digunakan secara bijak dan sesuai dengan kebutuhan. Oleh karena itu, perlu ada kerjasama antara pemerintah, LSM, dan sektor swasta dalam menggunakan teknologi untuk membantu mengatasi krisis kemanusiaan di seluruh dunia.

The post Ketika Teknologi Membantu Mengatasi Krisis Kemanusiaan di Dunia first appeared on mustangdaily.net.

Displacement in Salt Lake City is getting worse, and disproportionately impacting communities of color, according to Thriving In Place, a community anti-displacement strategy overseen by the Salt Lake City Department of Community and Neighborhoods.

“Some of the findings from that summary report was that displacement in Salt Lake City is significant … it’s getting worse, there’s a lot of concern about it,” said Caitlin Cahill, a professor who taught a community engagement class in the graduate program for the University of Utah’s City and Metropolitan Planning Department in Fall 2022. “This was something that the Urban Displacement Project has not seen before in their work around the country, is that there are no more affordable neighborhoods in Salt Lake City, where lower-income families can move once they’re displaced.”

The class Cahill taught was informed by the anti-displacement framework created by Thriving In Place.

“I think something that’s really important for the work that’s being done on the West Side communities is that the patterns of displacement reflect the historic patterns of discrimination and segregation,” she said. “So those areas that experience high [displacement] were those areas that were redlined in the past.”

The class was a partnership with Housing SLC, the city’s new housing plan centered on affordability, which is set to be adopted by June 30, 2023. Cahill explained the class intended to enrich the city’s community engagement.

“This was also like trying to reach out to folks who are not often engaged with,” Cahill said. “And so that’s a larger context. So unsheltered folks, folks who are living on the West Side, folks of color, queer folks, I mean, there’s not usually specific engagement.”

Cahill said policy work can often be “extractive.”

“The very communities that are often getting the most studied do not often get a sense of how their participation actually affected the policy, or in this case, the Housing SLC plan,” she said. 

This directly influenced how Cahill structured her class — students partnered with different community organizations and completed projects that determined appropriate outcomes for how their engagement could be used by the community partner.

This model was informed by the University Neighborhood Partners’ guidelines on community-based research including shared goals and values, community strengths, equitable collaboration, collective benefit, trusting relationships and accessible results. 

“It isn’t just kind of like an intercept interview on the street, but actually a way to really center the concerns and priorities of those who are most affected by the issues,” she said.

Mapping Stories

Lucas Horns and Jeresun Atkin, two students in the U’s city and metropolitan planning graduate program, partnered with the Nuanua Collective, a “social support group for LGBTQ+ Pacific Islanders,” as described on their instagram. Together, they created focus groups to discuss housing issues. 

From their first conversation with members of the Nuanua Collective, they saw the reality of queer geography. 

“Queer communities are being shaped, for sure, by rising housing costs,” Horns said. “It’s not that queer communities necessarily are being displaced or disenfranchised, but they’re becoming more white. And so queer people of color are kind of the ones facing this kind of unique burden when it comes to gentrification.”

The focus group documented spaces that felt LGBTQIA+ and racially inclusive. They then made a story map to visually respond to the question: “How is gentrification affecting the geographies of race and queerness in the Salt Lake region?”

Horns said overlaying different maps was helpful to visualize trends of dispersal. 

“The concentrations that are in the urban core in kind of these like more liberal, more affluent neighborhoods near Salt Lake City, the queer populations kind of doubled down and became more concentrated, but those are the same neighborhoods that also became more white,” Horns said.

The project reports, “The majority of LGBTQIA+ inclusive establishments identified during the mapping activity were located in Salt Lake City. However, many of those within Salt Lake City – [particularly] those in the urban core – were not identified as racially inclusive,”

They further looked into census data, analyzing demographic changes in the last decade. They found as LGBTQIA+ individuals concentrated in the urban core of Salt Lake City, people of color were displaced to surrounding areas, where it is less safe for them to be queer and a person of color, according to Jakey Siolo, the director of the Nuanua Collective.

“We showed some voting data showing that these districts where they’re moving to are represented by legislators who vote on … anti-trans and anti-queer legislation,” Horns said.

According to Horns, as the city becomes less affordable, it also becomes less diverse. 

“As costs go up, as we found in our project, you know, the city is losing its diversity of culture and gender that makes it appealing in the first place,” Horns said. 

Atkin said from a planning perspective, understanding how to engage with different communities is crucial to inclusivity. 

“And ensure that planning practices are creating better urban areas for everyone and not just excluding some along the way for the profit of like, better luxury apartments or bigger chain business establishments that do prevent people from experiencing that inclusivity that everyone does deserve in an urban area,” Atkin said. 

The Meaning of Home

Partnering with The Road Home, an organization that assists people experiencing homelessness, Kaden Coil, a master’s student in public administration at the U, created a photo voice project allowing unsheltered individuals to share their stories. Coil and the organization noticed in the summer and early fall that a lot of the families who were seeking shelter were being turned away from shelters because capacity had been met.

“We saw a lot of people staying in their cars or in places not meant for human habitation,” Coil said. “So when that happens, a lot of families tend to stay in the shadows to avoid contact with [police] or DCFS in fear of like, having their kids removed and a lot of societal stigmas and judgment. So we don’t really know their needs. We don’t know their stories.”

After noticing this, they started to ask participants to take photos of what home means to them and what they’d want the city and community to know, which allowed people experiencing homelessness to “control windows into their life,” Coil explained. 

One photo entitled “The End Game,” depicted a child sitting on a bed, across from a dog.

“When someone is hospitable enough to offer you shelter-repay them with good deeds. … Use the sleepless nights to find a way out of this mess. … Expect failure, a win or two–more failure; just don’t lose sight of the end game,” the description read. 

They also created 15 rules for navigating homelessness. The first rule: minimize. 

“When you get the heads up you’ll no longer have a home- sell whatever you can that isn’t important- throw away the rest,” the brochure read. 

Coil explained the visual component of this project was about control. 

“There’s a lot of stigmas or a lot of stereotypes about people experiencing homelessness, especially families, so allowing them kind of to control and show … this is my life in this moment, we found that to be most impactful,” Coil said. “And it’s more an element of control for them rather than having to engage in and be at the whim of somebody else. They have the control of what they’re showing.”

The project was both about home and the systemic factors perpetuating homelessness.

“I think the largest finding we found was the cliff effect of our social service network,” Coil said. “So as families are encouraged to do better for themselves, then we start to remove this social safety network, so we cut back their food stamps, we make them pay their insurance, and we take away their childcare which only contributes to this cycle and they were right back to where they are.”

Another finding was that access to reliable transportation “is the lifeblood of an unsheltered family,” Coil explained.  

With Salt Lake City residents becoming increasingly rent-burdened, Coil said more people are at risk of becoming homeless.

“Homelessness affects all populations — it doesn’t discriminate,” Coil said. “And it is more common than you’d ever imagine.”

Coil explained this project was crucial for improving public administration specifically. 

“When we are dealing with nonprofits and we’re providing goods and services that are issued from the government, we are dealing with the most vulnerable at times and marginalized and so having an understanding of their experiences, knowing their stories and their voice, being exposed and educating ourselves is vital if we are to continue to provide those goods and services in a better fashion,” Coil said. 

Cahill explained the partnerships between the students and their respective community organizations were powerful collaborations, mentioning the significance of the trust the community partners placed in the students to do meaningful work. 

She’s also grateful for the students. 

“It’s not always easy work,” she said. “But these projects, they really understood what it meant to collaborate, and what equitable collaboration looks like and how to foreground the strengths and the assets of the community.”

k.silverstein@dailyutahchronicle.com

@chronykayleigh

The band Immigrant’s Child has garnered a dedicated fanbase thanks to their blend of indie music, heritage-inspired lyrics and storytelling. 

The band visited the KCSU radio station March 5 to tell their story.

Immigrant’s Child is a Denver-based band that was started a few years back by Mario Martinez-Varelas, guitar, and siblings Keeana Martinez, vocals, and Josiah Martinez, bass. They later recruited their current drummer, Colin Hill. They describe their genre as indie with blends of alt rock and math rock.

“You hear Spanish intermingled as well, and as I mentioned, I want to live up to that. We want to be true to ourselves, and we want to make sure that that’s coming across in the music.” –Mario Martinez-Varelas, guitarist for Immigrant’s Child

As a collective, they have produced a handful of singles and EPs and plan to further expand their catalog of music, not only in the sense of quantity but in the overall message the band hopes to communicate.

Immigrant’s Child wants to get a little more in touch with their roots and heritage and did so with their latest EP “Papalotl.”

“You know, we are called Immigrant’s Child, so these influences, I want to make them more apparent,” Martinez-Varelas said. “I wanted to be very clear that this is who we are. This is where we come from.”

“Papalotl” deals with numerous themes; however, mental health is a very powerful topic touched on multiple times.

Keeana Martinez puts emphasis on mental health being at the forefront of her lyrics by stating that the song “Overthink” is specifically about her struggles with self-hate and feeling like an outsider to her Mexican culture.

“I always struggled with self-hate and being OK with myself, so “Overthink” is a lot of like an ode to myself, like, (the lyric), ‘You’re not as beautiful I know, while you reached desperately for air, watch you choke,’ was like a lot of the feelings that I feel in my own self-hate,” Martinez-Verales said. “Feeling like I’m not Mexican enough.”

The emphasis on heritage and family is very present in “Papalotl,” which features a song titled “SAP (Spanish Audio Programming)” completely sung in Spanish.

“The point of this EP was to get a bit more in touch with Latin music on our end,” Martinez-Varelas said. “This is an expression.” 

Immigrant’s Child takes direct inspiration from the 2000s indie scene, math rock and Brit. rock. However, they still want to integrate their Latin heritage into their music.

“We’re gonna start injecting that Latin influence again,” Martinez-Varelas said. “We have the base songs, and this is where the experimentation part comes in. Like, how are we going to throw in these sounds and cultural aspects to it?”

Immigrant’s Child puts heritage at the forefront of their music. They remain conscious of the indie genre and the sound they want to produce, but they incorporate the history of their families and heritage into their lyrics, which pushes the message of their record even further.

The varying genres and themes within Immigrant’s Child’s music breathe new life into the indie-rock genre, and this is only the start.

“You hear Spanish intermingled as well, and as I mentioned, I want to live up to that,” Martinez-Varelas said. “We want to be true to ourselves, and we want to make sure that that’s coming across in the music.”

Immigrant’s Child can be streamed on all current popular streaming platforms and serves as an important band not only to the indie genre but also to the Latinx community as a whole.

Reach Christian Arndt at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.

H.B. 116, “Intergenerational Poverty Solution” aims to stop the cycle of poverty with an educational savings program and is a good first-step towards alleviating Utah’s class divides.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Norman Thurston, has been in the works for four years and owes its conception to the Intergenerational Poverty Initiative, from which it gets its name. It hopes to set our focus on intergenerational poverty (IGP) in Utah and help those suffering from IGP rather than situational poverty.

Utah defines IGP as experiencing poverty in two or more successive generations, measured through the utilization of public assistance for at least a year as an adult and a year as a child. H.B. 116 establishes the Education Savings Incentive Program for qualifying individuals with an eligible 529 college savings account. An estimated 3,000 Utahns are expected to participate in the program.

This program encourages individuals and families to save for a higher education by matching the money put into the account $1 to $1. The maximum amount matched by the fund is $300 per qualifying individual per year. Once the money is in an individual’s account it is available for them to use for education. If one previously qualified but doesn’t currently qualify, they will not have to pay any of the money back.

Thurston believes this fund will “motivate [impoverished] kids to graduate from high school, go to college or a technical college or some other form of training,” calling it a “pretty good investment.”

Lack of an education or access to education keeps people impoverished. A 2017 paper by UNESCO claims that “if all adults completed secondary school, the global poverty rate would be more than halved.” It follows that this bill attempts to bridge the gaps and encourage people to get a higher education — it’s shown time and time again to reduce the cycle of poverty.

Conceptually, H.B. 116 has a net positive impact. In practice, its effectiveness may be up to debate.

An average University of Utah semester costs around $9,000 just for tuition and fees. If one saved $300 a year, along with the extra $300 that the fund will match, it would still take 15 years to save up enough for a single semester. The fund will match only up to $300, even if there is surplus money left over. It’s a step forward, but perhaps not a large enough one. I can’t help but feel a little disheartened since tuition prices are consistently rising, having increased by 4.63% between 2010 and 2020. The average college tuition has increased 747.8% since 1963.

According to the Intergenerational Poverty Report of Utah 2022, women continue to make up the majority of adults suffering from IGP, and historically have always experienced it at greater rates than men. The report also states that less than 10% of all adults experiencing IGP had a postsecondary education. There is a reason for these trends — access to education opens doors.

Not only does education increase an individual’s job opportunities, it can help them keep their jobs. During the pandemic, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found that the more educated a person was, the more likely they were able to work remotely. A higher education can lead to an improved health and reduced risk of a premature death. Simply speaking, obtaining an education keeps an individual happy and healthy.

If H.B. 116 can encourage students to work towards attending college, this state will be all the better for it. If the Educational Savings fund truly makes a difference in peoples’ lives, good. However, managing to obtain the funding for the program was a feat that should not go unnoticed, especially considering that this bill is unprecedented for Utah.

The pessimist in me, however, believes that $300 a year isn’t enough. Perhaps, with time, the fund will have the ability to match larger amounts that a family has saved. And since it passed, I hope to see what H.B. 116 manages to do moving forward.

Increasing access to education is vital. H.B. 116 is important for Utah and those who live here. Identifying the root of poverty and working to eradicate it is a good first step, and I only hope it is a step in the right direction.

k.lien@dailyutahchronicle.com

@kaylahlien

Tiara Young scored career-high 26 points in UH women’s basketball’s win over Wichita State to advance to the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship game. | Andy Hancock/AAC

Houston woman’s basketball is one win away from earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, beating Wichita State 72-64 on Wednesday afternoon behind Tiara Young’s career-high 26 points to advance to the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.

After Wichita State took a 53-51 lead early in the fourth quarter, Young scored eight consecutive points as part of a 13-0 UH run that the Cougars used to pull away and secure the victory.

The Cougars will face the winner of Memphis and East Carolina in the title game on Thursday night.

Junior guard Laila Blair came out hot, scoring 11 first-quarter points. Blair finished with 19 points.

UH went on a 10-3 run to end the quarter, holding a 23-17 after the game’s first 10 minutes.

The Shockers used a 13-4 run to take the lead in the second quarter. The Cougars responded by closing the quarter with a 4-0 run to take a 34-32 into the half.

Britney Onyeje added 13 points.

The Cougar bench scored 29 points.

sports@thedailycougar.com

—
“UH women’s basketball advances to AAC Tournament title game” was originally posted on The Cougar

File Art

UH women’s golf finished second at the Trinity Invitational Tuesday, notching a record-low score in the final round as a team with 274.

All but one Cougar scored under par in the round.

All five Cougars finished at par or better for the tournament, with junior Nicole Abelar and senior Annie Kim recording the team’s lowest-scoring rounds with 67 in the last round.

Freshman Natalie Saint Germain was the only UH player to score par or better in all three rounds, though fellow freshman Moa Svedenskiold was the Cougars’ lowest scorer, thanks in part to a 69-stroke second round.

Svedenskiold finished tied for fifth place on the individual leaderboard, while Saint Germain and Kim ended just one stroke behind.

The lady’s golf squad will travel to Arizona next Friday to compete in the MountainView Collegiate.

sports@thedailycougar.com

—
“UH women’s golf turns in record final round at Trinity Forest” was originally posted on The Cougar

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More than 25 years after the University of Minnesota sold its campus hospitals to Fairview Health Services, the institution has the opportunity to buy them back if the Legislature approves. 

Fairview CEO James Hereford and Sanford CEO Bill Gassen co-signed a letter endorsing the transfer of the East and West Bank hospitals to University control if the health care entities are allowed to go through with their proposed merger. Fairview and Sanford are seeking to consolidate after Fairview lost $300 million last year. 

In January, the University announced its five-point MPact Healthcare Innovation Plan, which includes plans to reacquire on-campus medical facilities from Fairview. The plan’s estimated cost is about $1 billion. 

The University has proposed to pay $300 million for the reacquisition of the on-campus hospitals as a low-cost “transfer” of “charitable assets.” Fairview leaders have stated they believe the price will be higher than that. 

Following Monday’s announcement from Hereford and Gassen, the Minnesota Legislature held committee hearings Tuesday featuring testimonies from the attorney general, two former governors, Hereford and Gassen and the University. 

Since Fairview and South Dakota-based Sanford’s initial public announcement of the intent to merge, the University, some health care workers and medical students and other University community members have vocally opposed the proposed merger. 

The original intent was to complete the merger this month, but Fairview and Sanford leaders delayed the completion date to May 31. 

UMN opposes the merger to preserve the medical facilities’ academic mission 

The University is opposed to the proposed merger because its current structure would give ultimate authority to an out-of-state entity, according to Myron Frans, the University’s senior vice president for finance and operations. 

Fairview’s board of directors currently includes several University administrators as members, including Frans and Medical School Dean Jakub Tolar. Sanford has stated if the merger takes place, there would still be a local Minnesota board; however, it would fall under the umbrella of the parent board in South Dakota. 

According to Tolar, the medical facilities tied to the University would then be governed from another state with different political and geographical ideas about health care. Many individuals opposed to the merger have raised concerns that it could impact reproductive health care services currently offered at these facilities. 

Gassen said at the Senate Health and Human Services committee hearing Tuesday that Sanford does not currently have a corporate policy on reproductive health services and does not plan to create one in the future. 

University administrators have also said they believe Fairview and Sanford should have involved the University earlier on in the intent to merge process.

Additionally, the University has raised concerns that while Sanford is a profitable health care system, “it has no experience in urban health care or academic health care,” Tolar said. 

The University’s mission is to combine patient care with physician training and medical research as an academic health care institution, which opponents to the merger say Sanford might not prioritize. 

“I see the academic environment of the University as the only solution to get out of the misery of the American health care business,” Tolar said. “The only hope for the United State health care business is coming from academia because we will bring forward value-based care.” 

At the House Higher Education Finance and Policy committee hearing Tuesday, Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) raised concerns about the lack of available information from the University on its nearly $1 billion plan, saying she would like to know the properties’ values among other details of the plan. 

“I do not think that the state of Minnesota needs to commit $1 billion dollars to this at this point when we have so little information,” Robbins said. “I personally hope that we allow ourselves the time … to figure this out and what’s in the best interest of the state.”

MN attorney general investigation continues 

During the Senate committee hearing Tuesday night, state Attorney General Keith Ellison announced a “new phase” of his office’s investigation into the proposed merger, which began in November 2022.

Ellison said his office is investigating the proposed merger for potential violations of nonprofit and charity laws and its impact on industry competition within the state. Recently, the office began demanding sworn statements from stakeholders, though he did not name who.

“Whether the merger would substantially lessen competition, unreasonably restrain trade or result in monopolization of certain health care services are matters which we consider to be critical to get to the bottom of,” Ellison said. “Information we’ve discovered has heightened this concern.” 

Ellison said his office has conducted several community meetings and collected more than 5,000 messages from the public regarding the proposed merger. The office has also acquired documents from both Sanford and Fairview. 

Because of ongoing document collection, Ellison said the office cannot provide a firm timeline and believes the May deadline is still too soon because Fairview and Sanford did not discuss the new deadline with his office. 

Merger meets renewed skepticism from lawmakers and public

Former Govs. Mark Dayton and Tim Pawlenty shared concerns about potential impacts on the quality of the University’s medical school if the merger goes through. Dayton said the original sale of campus hospitals to Fairview was a “grievous mistake” that should now be rectified through University reacquisition.

“We attract best quality students who graduate as well-trained professionals, most of whom remain in Minnesota and provide top-level health care services to all the rest of us,” Dayton said. “The University faces a challenge now to either move ahead and remain among the very best medical schools in the country or fall behind into stagnation and mediocrity.” 

Pawlenty said he was unaware of another instance of an out-of-state company controlling a flagship academic medical center, which he considers “very concerning and very noteworthy.” 

Gassen reaffirmed support for the MPact Plan but said “nothing would change” for the University if Sanford took control. 

“We are ready to work with the University on evaluation and purchase of those assets,” Gassen said. “We have stated that we would also like to maintain a clinical partnership between our combined system, the University of Minnesota Medical School and University of Minnesota Physicians. We look forward to continuing discussions about what that optimal partnership looks like.” 

Several testimonies, including that of Mary Turner, the president of the Minnesota Nurses Association, raised concerns about the impact large health care system consolidations have on patient care.

“Tonight we’ve heard a lot of promises, and we’ve heard a lot of statistics,” said Turner, who is the final candidate for the University’s Board of Regents representing District 3. “But I and the nurses that are here in this room and all 22,000 of us, do you know what we’re concerned about? We’re concerned about our nurse-patient relationship in our communities.” 

Turner said past mergers have meant “your services will dwindle and your prices will go up.” She said consolidations often also lead to clinic closures, impacting most those living in rural communities who are forced to drive farther distances to receive care.

“So many hospitals close in this pursuit of consolidation that ultimately, someday what we are going to have is six different cities across Minnesota where everyone has to go for their healthcare,” Turner said. 

The Minnesota Nurses Association submitted a report to legislators outlining concerns with Sanford taking over, including skepticism behind the company’s intention for the merger. The report details several examples of Sanford attempting to merge with other Midwest health entities in what the association called a “growth-at-all-cost strategy.” 

“Sanford’s track record of attempted mergers of the last decade, including a failed merger with Fairview in 2013, speak to its interest in growth for the sake of growth,” University medical student Colin Whitmore said during the hearing.