By: Nick Wicker

Minneapolis government is now more transparent, thanks to a new online tool.

The city’s Financial Transparency Platform, which launched earlier this month, allows visitors of the official Minneapolis website to easily sort through the government’s budget, broken down by department.

The database exhibits the city’s involvement in a wider national trend of transparency initiatives.

Ward 11 City Councilman John Quincy said the website was created to make city financial information more accessible.

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By: Alida Tieberg

Aside from a sexual assault reported in Marcy-Holmes, crime in the University of Minnesota campus and surrounding neighborhoods was low over the weekend.

A peeping tom incident was reported in Marcy-Holmes early Sunday morning, according to a Minneapolis Police report. Police found a beer can where the suspect was standing but didn’t know whether the can belonged to the suspect, according to the report.

Public Information Officer John Elder said those incidents are relatively uncommon in cold temperatures.

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By: Charlie Bartlett

Accessing the second floor of certain University of Minnesota-Morris buildings can be a challenge.

Several buildings in the mall area — the campus’ central hub — don’t have elevators.

And though school officials and student leaders say they want to increase the buildings’ accessibility, several of them are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, making them difficult and expensive to renovate.

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By: Benjamin Farniok

Minnesotans aren’t traveling as much as in past years, according to a study by University of Minnesota researchers released earlier this month.

The findings may inform decisions regarding future transportation infrastructure and policy.

Overall, Minnesotans aren’t traveling as often because of demographic and economic changes, said David Levinson, a civil engineering associate professor and the project’s primary investigator.

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By: Ethan Nelson

Mohamed Khatib says he’ll make most of his life’s mistakes in his 20s, just as he enters the job market.

And as he gets older, the University of Minnesota marketing sophomore said he hopes to learn from those mistakes — especially regarding his career plan — and then make improved decisions that move him closer to his goals.

Khatib is right to be aware of his life decisions at this point because according to a report involving a University researcher published earlier this month, they will likely influence his future earnings.

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By: Haley Hansen

University of Minnesota administrators are moving ahead with an initiative that provides school leaders with resources for hiring diverse faculty members.

The initiative, which administrators introduced months ago, aims to eliminate unintentional biases and ensure best practices within colleges’ and departments’ hiring processes.

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By: Parker Lemke

The Student Services Fees Committee released its initial funding recommendations for administrative units on Monday, responding to more than $56 million in requests from 10 organizations.

While many groups are on track to receive most of their requested fees allocation, some had tens of thousands of dollars of their request left unfunded.

During the student services fees process, two committees — one for student groups and one for larger administrative units — allocate funding to campus organizations.

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By: Alida Tieberg

A University of Minnesota student was sexually assaulted early Saturday morning in Dinkytown.

The student had left a friend’s apartment when she was either forced or willingly got into a vehicle at about 2 a.m. near the intersection of 5th Street Southeast and 14th Avenue Southeast, according to a crime alert sent to the University community Monday.

The suspect drove her to an unknown location and sexually assaulted her, the alert from University police Chief Greg Hestness said.

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By: David Nelson

The shootout, the 35-second shot clock and forcing freshman student-athletes to sit out their first year at school are well-intentioned concepts, but each one is as asinine as the next.

Last Thursday, a report from the University of Maryland’s student newspaper — the Diamondback — said Big Ten officials are discussing the implementation of “A Year of Readiness.”

Essentially, the plan would put a mandatory redshirt on freshmen.

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By: Sam Kraemer

A group of about 75 students attend every home game the Gophers men’s basketball team plays — both the nonconference cupcake matchups and hardcore historical rivalries.

Each student is proud of the Gophers, evident in the dedication shown to cheers, free-throw distractions and animal costumes.

This group is called the Barnyard — the student section for the men’s basketball team — and it calls Williams Arena home.

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